Safe life of opened can of catfood?

[Novus888]

My cat will only eat the Fussy Cat brand, which is very hard to find lately, and I'm down to six cans, so I need to conserve. Since he only eats half the 2.8 oz can at a time, I have been putting the leftover in the fridge, but he is starting to reject it once it has been refrigerated...and especially frozen. Yes, I do pull it out in time to allow it to come to room temperature. I stir it up with my finger to make sure it's not cold. I think freezing it changes the texture, but no idea how my little guy can tell it has been in the fridge!

My question is how long after opening can I leave it unrefrigerated before it becomes unsafe for him to eat?

 

[LTS3]

Canned food is a cooked product so it can be left out all day if the room temperature isn't super warm (say over 80 F) or humid. In the summer, a few hours tops would be safe.

 

[tabbytom]

My cat will only eat the Fussy Cat brand, which is very hard to find lately, and I'm down to six cans, so I need to conserve. Since he only eats half the 2.8 oz can at a time, I have been putting the leftover in the fridge, but he is starting to reject it once it has been refrigerated...and especially frozen. Yes, I do pull it out in time to allow it to come to room temperature. I stir it up with my finger to make sure it's not cold. I think freezing it changes the texture, but no idea how my little guy can tell it has been in the fridge!

My question is how long after opening can I leave it unrefrigerated before it becomes unsafe for him to eat?

My boy is also on Fussie Cat brand. He eats only the chicken formula in gravy Gold. From my experience, once the can is opened, the color and flavor changes after a few hours. So I never feed him if the used can is opened for 5 hours.

What I do is I use a all purpose cling film to wrap up the can but I don't refrigerate the left over. It's too cumbersome to thaw it to room temperature and my boy eats when he wants to and there's not enough time to thaw it to room temperature. Furthermore, my boy is very fussy with his food. Once he doesn't like the smell or taste of the food, even though it is a new can, he refuses to eat.

So within 5 hours, I still can feed him with the opened can unless he turns up his nose on it.

 

[FeebysOwner]

If you are leaving the unused food in the can, try to store it in the refrigerator in another type of container - just to see if that is impacting the taste. If you have to freeze it, try the freezer baggies to see if that might help as well.

If you have access to these web sites - I just found Fussie Cat (maybe not the one(s) you are looking for) on chewy.com and Amazon.com.

 

[Juniper_Junebug]

I heat food from the fridge for 8 seconds in the microwave. Mostly I do it because there is no way I am going to consistently pull food out the fridge early to allow it to reach room temperature or put it in a bag and run it under hot water-- I decided early on that I was just not the kind of person who would ever consistently do that, so I needed a fast solution. The added plus of microwaving is that it helps the food smell a little stronger, which I think helps make it a bit more appetizing.

 

[Novus888]

My boy is also on Fussie Cat brand. He eats only the chicken formula in gravy Gold. From my experience, once the can is opened, the color and flavor changes after a few hours. So I never feed him if the used can is opened for 5 hours.

What I do is I use a all purpose cling film to wrap up the can but I don't refrigerate the left over. It's too cumbersome to thaw it to room temperature and my boy eats when he wants to and there's not enough time to thaw it to room temperature. Furthermore, my boy is very fussy with his food. Once he doesn't like the smell or taste of the food, even though it is a new can, he refuses to eat.

So within 5 hours, I still can feed him with the opened can unless he turns up his nose on it.

Yep, sounds like Buddy. He eats a fourth to half can about every four hours, so at worst that should eliminate at least most of the waste. I wonder if a vacuum bagger would do any good?

 

[Novus888]

If you are leaving the unused food in the can, try to store it in the refrigerator in another type of container - just to see if that is impacting the taste. If you have to freeze it, try the freezer baggies to see if that might help as well.

If you have access to these web sites - I just found Fussie Cat (maybe not the one(s) you are looking for) on chewy.com and Amazon.com.

Chewy says 'No Longer Available'. I gave Amazon the boot over five years ago. I went on the fussy cat website and have some leads on local sources. I'll try out your suggestions. Thanks.

 

[tabbytom]

Yep, sounds like Buddy. He eats a fourth to half can about every four hours, so at worst that should eliminate at least most of the waste. I wonder if a vacuum bagger would do any good?

You can try vacuum bag it. I've not tried it before.

If he eats almost the whole can within 5 hours with a little left over, I think it's pretty good. not much wastage here.

 

[le_petit_chat]

when I used to feed my kitty wet, I would keep the food in the fridge a maximum of 1 day

 

[Caspers Human]

I heat food from the fridge for 8 seconds in the microwave.

You can also heat a bowl of water, using either the mic or a teapot on the stove. When the water is hot, put the open can into the bowl and give it a few minutes to warm up.

It's not as fast as putting it directly into the microwave but you'll never overheat the food. Besides, overheating can make food taste different.

If your cat is picky, heating this way might help.

 

[Novus888]

You can also heat a bowl of water, using either the mic or a teapot on the stove. When the water is hot, put the open can into the bowl and give it a few minutes to warm up.

It's not as fast as putting it directly into the microwave but you'll never overheat the food. Besides, overheating can make food taste different.

If your cat is picky, heating this way might help.

Yeah, that's how I been warming it up to room temperature, but once it gets cold in the fridge, he seems to know. By the way, persistence paid off...I scored 60 cans of the Fussy Cat Tuna & Salmon Aspic at the local PetClub. Hopefully I'll find a more stable source in a months time.

 

[Caspers Human]

Y'know... It's often not the food but the fussing associated with feeding time that makes cat like to eat or not.

Casper's Girl-Human makes his food most of the time. She's got a certain routine and a way of doing things. When I make Casper's food, he sits there and looks at me as if he's saying, "You're not doing it like Mom does!"

She fixes up his food, puts it down and he goes right for it.

When I fix his food, he goes over, sniffs then walks away. He'll come back, later, and eat once I've left the kitchen. Maybe five or ten minutes.

What you might be seeing is not necessarily the result of a preference for a certain food but a preference for a certain routine.

If the package is a different color, if you use a different spoon, put it in a different bowl or even do things in a different way, the cat might be noticing.

Warming the food up to 80 or 90 deg. F. is probably the best way. If a cat lived in the wild and had to hunt its own food, it would be warm. It makes sense to feed a cat warmed food because it's more like the way things happen in nature.

However, if you don't usually warm the food then suddenly start, that change in routine might throw your cat off its feed.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Although, I think there are 'underlying' issues attributing to Feeby's eating/food preferences, it seems that after the food has set out for a few hours, there is not much I can do to get her to eat it. So, for her, it seems to be 'air exposure' that make a difference - that and how well she likes a particular food, of course.

I can even take a can from the fridge - one that was opened earlier in the day but covered and refrigerated right away - and get a better response from her than what was left sitting out in her dish for a while. Even cold...

The only thing I have found to help her eat the 'older' food is FortiFlora, or sometimes one of the Delectable Bisques or a Temptations Lil Gravies. She is mainly fed 3 oz cans - and I still manage to have to throw away a fair amount at the end of the day.

Maybe things will improve now that you found Fussie Cat some of your issues will be resolved by themself!!!

 

[ladytimedramon]

I don't know if this helps anyone, but SurePet makes a bowl similar to the microchip feeders, but it's not microchip operated. It's just motion activated. So when kitties aren't there, it's closed. When they approach it seals.

The SureFeed Sealed Pet Bowl from SureFlap

If it seals like the microchip versions, then from my experience the food will still be moist and pretty fresh. I put the girls' food in at about 6:45am and when I come home around 5-6pm, in the rare event they haven't licked the plates clean, what's left is pretty moist.

 

[daftcat75]

I love the suggestion for the SureFeed. I used one of those to feed an outdoor stray until I learned he was actually a neighbor's cat. I miss that guy. But I'm glad he's being kept inside once again.

For reheating food, I scoop the portion into a baggie, press it flat as I can, and seal it up. Then I submerge that baggie in hot water for a minute or two. I'll run it under the hot water pressing all the cold out (that's why I press it flat before sealing.) When it feels prey temperature (lukewarm) through the baggie, I'll turn it out on the plate. My angel kitty Krista used to go for it this way. Indeed, in her last couple of years, every portion--whether first from a fresh can or leftover in the fridge--got the warm prey treatment.

My current kitty, Betty White, seems to be a nibbler no matter how I prep the food. On the rare instance I can get her to eat a raw portion, I have all the raw already portioned into Betty-sized "meals"--what I assume she'll eat in the 45 minutes I will allow raw to be left out--and stored in the freezer in pressed flat baggies. It adds another minute or two in the hot water bath going from freezer to plate vs. fridge to plate. But I toss far fewer uneaten portions if I keep those in the freezer. However, most (99%) of her meals are a 3 oz can emptied on a flat plate and left out for up to 12 hours. It can sometimes take her the full 12 hours to finish the plate. Then I repeat with the next 3 oz can. She eats two cans a day and it takes her nearly 24 hours to get through them.

I also have timed feeders which I use when I need to pace her (hairball days like today.) I will probably also use these to keep food fresher longer when the days start to warm up. Or maybe she'll use the SureFeed.

 

[ladytimedramon]

I have 2 of the microchip connect versions since each girl has a separate meal plan. But I'm glad I splurged on the connected version. It's how I was able to tell my newer kitty was a grazer, and how I can keep track of whether or not she eats and how often. Before Fancy I had Delilah on a timed feeder (rotating style) but it wasn't working for us since sometimes she napped through a meal and missed it.

I wish I had a better suggestion on warming. But for the way she eats I'm basically making a soup each meal with kibble croutons. So I use warm water when I thin down the pate. She doesn't like just kibble, and she's not big on pate (and there's no LID rabbit that is a shred or tidbit).

 

[Telstar]

1-2 days. But then your cat may not eat the leftover anyway. They know before you if the food is spoiled

 

[Novus888]

Although, I think there are 'underlying' issues attributing to Feeby's eating/food preferences, it seems that after the food has set out for a few hours, there is not much I can do to get her to eat it. So, for her, it seems to be 'air exposure' that make a difference - that and how well she likes a particular food, of course.

I can even take a can from the fridge - one that was opened earlier in the day but covered and refrigerated right away - and get a better response from her than what was left sitting out in her dish for a while. Even cold...

The only thing I have found to help her eat the 'older' food is FortiFlora, or sometimes one of the Delectable Bisques or a Temptations Lil Gravies. She is mainly fed 3 oz cans - and I still manage to have to throw away a fair amount at the end of the day.

Maybe things will improve now that you found Fussie Cat some of your issues will be resolved by themself!!!

Yep, Buddy is the same. Once a 2.8 oz can is opened, it's a sure bet at least a quarter is gonna be rejected. Anything leftover in his dish is not happening, no matter how long it sets out. Of the three-fourths of the can put into the fridge, a fourth may pass under his radar, the next fourth has a 50-50 chance, and the last fourth is getting shot down. Warming it up in steam bath has sometimes helped, and me holding the bowl up to his nose while he eats sometimes works.

 

[Telstar]

Yeah... I have to buy the smallest cans I can find. Warming does help with wet food, that's also true.

 

[ailish]

I might keep it refrigerated with one of those tight fitting can lids on it for a couple days. Never seems to be a problem. I warm in microwave, never had an issue. She prefers a fresh opened can, but that ain't happening every meal and I'm not spending extra money on little cans. She already gets expensive food, so sometimes leftovers are what's for dinner. Anybody who can eat a stink bug can eat food that was opened this morning and then refrigerated