How long can canned food be refrigerated after it is opened?

[meezersrule]

My cat has a new prescription (clomipramine), which the recommended method of delivery is mixing with canned food. Since his diet is primarily dry food I am only using a small spoonful of the canned food to mix his medicine with. How long can I safely refrigerate one of the small cans of IAMS for?

 

[pat]

I wouldn't do so for more than 24 hours, but I tend to be conservative about such things

 

[lor]

I only give now and again, i usually keep it in the fridge with a lid on for about 3-4 days. It would probably keep a little longer but it starts to dry out and i dont think it would be to healthy or as tastey.

 

[purrfectcatlove]

If you keep it longer in the fridge , I would place it in a differend container and seal it real good .

 

[hissy]

yep- if you take it out of the can and put it in a air-tight container it will keep for about a week- but in the can opened you are looking at 1-2 days tops

 

[meezersrule]

I've been putting the can in a snack size ziploc bag (a new one for each can).

 

[jcat]

Last year there was a tremendous argument going on another forum about whether a can "oxidizes" once it has been opened. No real consensus was reached, but just in case, I'd put the food in a little Tupperware-like container, or in a clean glass jar with a tight plastic lid.

 

[acemoose]

I've been able to keep it (IAMS) frozen (squished down to serving size, in a plastic baggie) for several weeks. Then I "reconstitute" it by unwrapping it and thunking it into their timed feeders. Did a "dry run" to make sure it was edible/palatable and it seemed to be fine.

ONly one problem.....

I forgot to mark it as cat food --- and one day when I wanted to add some hamburger to the rice I was cooking, I unwrapped....guess what....and didn't realize what I had done until I shoveled a spoonful in my mouth.

At that point (in a hurry, almost late for work) I figured -- "hey it won't kill me, so I'll eat it.....!" AND "you better believe I'll never do that again!!!!" So now it's nicely marked "CAT FOOD", in its own spot in the freezer.

 

[purrfectcatlove]

AceMoose

how funny LMAO

 

[jcat]

Originally posted by AceMoose
I've been able to keep it (IAMS) frozen (squished down to serving size, in a plastic baggie) for several weeks. Then I "reconstitute" it by unwrapping it and thunking it into their timed feeders. Did a "dry run" to make sure it was edible/palatable and it seemed to be fine.

ONly one problem.....

I forgot to mark it as cat food --- and one day when I wanted to add some hamburger to the rice I was cooking, I unwrapped....guess what....and didn't realize what I had done until I shoveled a spoonful in my mouth.

At that point (in a hurry, almost late for work) I figured -- "hey it won't kill me, so I'll eat it.....!" AND "you better believe I'll never do that again!!!!" So now it's nicely marked "CAT FOOD", in its own spot in the freezer.

That's funny! I grew up in a household with several large dogs, and we (usually I) cooked their food, usually chicken, rice, and vegetables. One time I made up a huge pot of food, and after it had cooled I put it in the fridge. Some friends of my sister's came over that evening (starving teenaged boys), and raided the refrigerator. You should have seen their faces when I bitched at them for eating the dogs' food!
My husband uses liverwurst instead of butter, and often buys canned liverwurst. He has frequently managed to grab a can of cat food instead of liverwurst in the morning, and then has asked me, quite perturbed, what the cat is complaining about!

 

[purrfectcatlove]

Jcat

OMG how funny

 

[meezersrule]

These stories are too funny! I shudder to think of the aftermath if my fiancee ate cat food by mistake! Thanks for all the suggestions, I think I'm just going to give the rest of the can to the critters after getting the one cat medicated.