Cat Not Keen On Eating Wet Food From Fridge

[Selarah]

Hi all,

I have a cat that refuses to eat wet food that comes straight from the refridgerator, unless it comes to room temperature again. I've tried warming it up faster with sitting his bowl in hot water, but he isn't keen about that either. He will only eat it if I let it come to room temp naturally. Is this something I should avoid doing? I noticed it took 30+ mins for it to warm up again, but I don't want to risk him being exposed to more bacteria. Should I spend more and buy the smaller cans to avoid any risks? Thanks!

 

[leechi]

I do that too, and I think it's perfectly safe. Sometimes when I leave my kitten some canned food for while I'm at work, she doesn't eat it and my adult cat eats it when I get home before I pick it up, even though it's been sitting out for hours. It's never made her sick

 

[Jem]

Does he eat it all in one sitting? If so I think it would be safe. To be honest sometimes food gets left out for a few hours at my house before it's all eaten. They have ALL (3 cats) been fine with this.

 

[MissMolly08]

I actually do this too...
We open a 5.5 can of food in the evenings and feed half of it for "dinner" then put the other half in the fridge for the next morning. In the morning, I pull it out of the fridge and let it come to room temp while I'm getting ready. It sits out about 45 minutes before I feed it to her. She eats it all in one sitting.

 

[Selarah]

He will JUST be able to finish a 3oz can in one sitting (sometimes not all of it), no way able to eat a full 5.5 oz can. I just bought a case of 5.5oz cans and fed him half of it, which he ate all and refridgerated the rest. I tried feeding him the other portion and he had non of it until it was room temp And yes, he eats it all in one sitting once its at the right temp.

 

[Azazel]

What about adding some warm water? Will he eat it right away then?

 

[kittyluv387]

It's safe to leave canned food out while you're gone for work even. No worries about 30 min.

 

[Selarah]

What about adding some warm water? Will he eat it right away then?

I haven’t tried that yet

 

[Azazel]

I haven’t tried that yet

If that doesn't work then I think it's fine to just leave it till it hits room temperature, but I wouldn't fill it with warm water and let it sit out. Either do one or the other.

 

[Gizmobius]

I second adding some warm water. I usually add hot water because the cold of the food from the fridge and the hot of the water usually cancels each other out to be warm once it's all mixed together.

 

[LadyLondonderry]

Hi all,

I have a cat that refuses to eat wet food that comes straight from the refridgerator, unless it comes to room temperature again. I've tried warming it up faster with sitting his bowl in hot water, but he isn't keen about that either. He will only eat it if I let it come to room temp naturally. Is this something I should avoid doing? I noticed it took 30+ mins for it to warm up again, but I don't want to risk him being exposed to more bacteria. Should I spend more and buy the smaller cans to avoid any risks? Thanks!

You mentioned sitting your cat's bowl in hot water. My cat sitter/groomer/vet tech taught me a slightly different warming technique for canned food: sitting the can, with the plastic Kitty Kap lid still on it, in a small dish of hot water (the dish is just slightly bigger than the can, and the water comes about two-thirds of the way up the outside of the can). It takes only about five minutes to take the chill off the leftover food.

 

[maggiedemi]

I do this every single day, let it warm up on the plate on the counter for 15-20 minutes. I've left it out for up to 3 hours before. After that it gets kinda crusty and I throw it away.

 

[Selarah]

Tonight I tried mixing a tiny bit of hot water in the food and he ate it! Thanks! @azalia

 

[Selarah]

You mentioned sitting your cat's bowl in hot water. My cat sitter/groomer/vet tech taught me a slightly different warming technique for canned food: sitting the can, with the plastic Kitty Kap lid still on it, in a small dish of hot water (the dish is just slightly bigger than the can, and the water comes about two-thirds of the way up the outside of the can). It takes only about five minutes to take the chill off the leftover food.

I actually don’t have a plastic kitty cap thing, but I ought to get one! Good too, I’ll try that too.

 

[Selarah]

Good tip*

 

[Azazel]

Tonight I tried mixing a tiny bit of hot water in the food and he ate it! Thanks! @azalia

Glad it worked!