How Long Can You Really Leave Wet Food Out?

Frank123

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I did google this question and got results ranging from no longer than 30 minutes to all day is fine.
I usually feed my cat in one meal either one whole 3 oz can or a half of a 5 oz can. Most of the time she'll eat it all in at once.
However, sometimes she'll either only eat half because she may not be that hungry at the time, or may be in one of her finicky moods where she'll thumb her nose up at it and walk away because she's excepting something better. When she realizes she's not getting something else, she'll return about an hour or two to finish it.
Is there any harm to leaving food out that long? Right now it's the middle of winter and the room temp is around 65F.
 

Gizmobius

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I don't think it's that's bad to leave it out for an hour or two. Canned food is cooked so it's not nearly as dangerous as leaving something like raw food out. The canned food may get a little dry and crusty but I don't believe it diminishes the quality of the food in any way. I wouldn't leave it out all day or anything but I think a few hours is absolutely fine.
 

LTS3

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Nope. Canned food is cooked so it won't spoil or go bad if left out all day unless the temperature is hot like the middle of summer in a hot climate. An hour or two left out isn't going to harm the cat.

A programmable timed feeder works great to offer multiple canned food meals during the day. Some have ice packs to keep food cool or you can just freeze the food into a meal size portion and put the frozen food into the compartments to slowly defrost.
 

duckpond

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My cats nibble the wet food too. I normally feed wet before i leave for work, when i come home at lunch its normally eaten. I then feed again about 5 and i leave it out until i go to bed so 5 hours, if they haven't finished it i toss it then. If i were only feeding wet i would put more out so they have a nibble at night, i feed dry as well, so i leave that out for the night time grazers. I have never had a problem doing it this way.
 

EmmiTemmi

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If you want the science approved answer, 2 hours. Once you open a can, particularly a high-moisture low-acid canned food like wet food, you open it up to all the bacteria, molds, fungi, etc floating around in the air. The wet food substrate is the perfect food for them (just like it's a great food for your cats!) and so they can multiply rapidly. That being said, cats have pretty hardy immune systems, and so can probably handle higher bacterial loads than humans can. And the shelter I work at leaves out the cats' daily wet food portion for 24hrs. My degree was in human food science though, and old habits die hard, so my boys' food is only ever out 2 hours max. I'm sure it could be left out a bit longer though.
 

Summercats

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I leave it till it starts to look like it is drying out usually 2/4 hrs. Cats naturally eat raw food so their stomachs can tackle food humans cannot. I notice my boy prefers it fresh, so if it has been out a bit he passes it by and I just replace it.
 

ej x

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Instinct Customer Servie told me between 6 to 8 hours.

I honestly leave it for several hours. But I let them become hungry. Either I leave out not that much food at night so in the morning there is none left or hide their food at 5am, go to the gym, and come home and give them the can around 9am. they will eat it fast, then I serve them kibble and leave it out.
 

epona

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Depends how hot it is, and whether there are flies around.

Middle of winter, can be left a couple of hours longer than in the middle of summer
 
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