How Long To Leave Out Raw Food?

[Gauntylgrym]

What's the general concensus on how long to leave out raw food (chicken)? Shiva has always been a grazer, so I'm wondering how long is "too long", understanding that cat systems can handle bacteria much better than humans.

I saw an article here that mentioned leaving out no longer than 30 minutes but that seems rather silly.

So what say the community? Certain period of time or just leave it up to the cat to determine that it's been too long by their refusal to eat it?

 

[Gauntylgrym]

Also...I apologize if this has been beaten to death. =)

 

[Azazel]

I never leave raw food out for long if the cats don’t eat it. I only serve what they will eat at once.

If you want to let it sit out for a bit I would use something like frostybowlz where the bowl has an ice pack underneath. Even with that I wouldn’t leave it for more than 30, maybe 60 mins tops.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - I'm not sure about raw, but I know that kibble that's been moistened can't be left out for even an hour, --I think, not very long in any case, due to bacteria growth.
I'm assuming the same for raw. Can you obtain a feeder where you can put an ice cube or pack in the bottom of the tray, where the food sits in another tray above the ice?
Ah, A Azazel beat me to it LOL

 

[Gizmobius]

I read an article or blog post once where somebody talked about how they watched a mountain lion take a full week to finish the carcass of a kill and obviously it remained just fine. Not that that means to leave out raw food for our cats for a week or anything, but it kind of gave me the impression that the feline system (at least most feline systems!) is very advanced when it comes to bacteria and how it’s handled. It calmed my fears for the few and far between moments where my male cat will leave his meal to do something else for a little while before coming back to finish.

I personally don’t freak out if it sits for an hour or so, but those who commented before mentioned the great idea of a temperature controlled bowl if your kitty needs her food to sit out longer than that.

 

[dhammagirl]

I think it varies depending on the ambient temperature. If it's a hot day and you're feeding outside or have the house open, bacterial growth will be faster than if it's cooler or you're feeding inside.
That being said, I don't worry about it too much. If it's been sitting out for a couple hours and kitty snubs it, then it goes to the dog or the wastebin.

I have one kitty who will eat some and leave some and, usually, finish it within about an hour, so I just give her a little at a time, as the raw food is rather pricey to be tossing out.

 

[sophie1]

If the food is eaten within a few hours, you can leave it out with no worries - it'll be fine until it starts to dry out. The 30 minute rule is overkill.

I used a Frostybowlz for years, and found that I needed to change ice packs 2x/day in winter, 3x/day in summer. When I switched to meal feeding and quit using it, the cat who threw up after eating at least once a week stopped doing it - even though I just feed them cold food right out of the fridge.

I do plan to use it as a chilled water bowl in the summer though.

 

[Azazel]

I read an article or blog post once where somebody talked about how they watched a mountain lion take a full week to finish the carcass of a kill and obviously it remained just fine. Not that that means to leave out raw food for our cats for a week or anything, but it kind of gave me the impression that the feline system (at least most feline systems!) is very advanced when it comes to bacteria and how it’s handled. It calmed my fears for the few and far between moments where my male cat will leave his meal to do something else for a little while before coming back to finish.

I personally don’t freak out if it sits for an hour or so, but those who commented before mentioned the great idea of a temperature controlled bowl if your kitty needs her food to sit out longer than that.

I think I read that on Dr. Pierson’s site too. I still don’t risk it because I’m not feeding a fresh kill.

 

[abby2932]

For my HEALTHY cat, when I go on vacation, my pet sitter feeds breakfast from the fridge and puts her frozen raw dinner in an auto feeder. The frozen cube of raw sits there to thaw from about 9AM to 7:30pm when my cat is fed. It probably takes an hour or two to thaw and sits there the rest of the time. I've had no problems the past couple of years that I've done this.

 

[Gauntylgrym]

^^This is basically what I've been doing the past few days. I'll put out the raw in the morning along with her regular canned (transition). Sometimes I come home and it's all gone and sometimes there's still a bit of the raw left, and then she won't touch it the rest of the night. So I've figured out that she more or less indicates when it's no longer good, so I toss it, wash the bowl with soap, then replace the food.

Good to know you've not seen any ill effects from leaving the raw out throughout the day.