I'm looking for tips on how to store kibble for my 10 year old girl. My girl is a light eater and the smallest bag of her RX food is 6lbs and will last her 6 weeks but by the end of week two there is a noticeable difference in her enthusiasm with the food. She's also picky and if the kibble sits out for more than a few hours (3) she won't eat it. She likes her food FRESH...anything else is a knock down drag out fight.
Right now we're doing what the food manufacturer, Purina, said to do which is to fill a good plastic container with a day or two's worth of food and then fold over the top of the bag and use a potato bag clip to seal it. I've read a lot that says after opening its best to keep the kibble in the bag b/c it's designed for storing the food. Purina said that when I called them. This seems to be the one consistent thing about storing kibble. However with such large bags, how do you keep it from going bad? This seems to work ok-ish except by week 3 she's not as interested in the food and I can either fight my cat on every meal (light eater means 13 meals a day) or I pitch the bag for a fresh one.
Would it be better to split the kibble up into ziplock bags after initially opening it? My thinking is it would prevent air from getting into the kibble better as we access a bit for day to day use.
What about freezing the kibble in ziplock freezer bags? I've read vague posts where people do that but there's not enough information. What type of bag? What is the portion size? How long do they allow it to remain in the freezer? Never enough detail.
For ziplock bags, does the closure type make a difference? Slider vs the non-slider? Is ziplock the best brand of bag to use? Should I look into a vaccum sealer?
Something else??
If you do this for your kitty and have success, it would be helpful for your step-by-step (go into as much detail as possible...assume I'm an idiot b/c I am and you're teaching me your method, "war and peace" your reply!) so that I don't miss out a crucial step.
Right now we're doing what the food manufacturer, Purina, said to do which is to fill a good plastic container with a day or two's worth of food and then fold over the top of the bag and use a potato bag clip to seal it. I've read a lot that says after opening its best to keep the kibble in the bag b/c it's designed for storing the food. Purina said that when I called them. This seems to be the one consistent thing about storing kibble. However with such large bags, how do you keep it from going bad? This seems to work ok-ish except by week 3 she's not as interested in the food and I can either fight my cat on every meal (light eater means 13 meals a day) or I pitch the bag for a fresh one.
Would it be better to split the kibble up into ziplock bags after initially opening it? My thinking is it would prevent air from getting into the kibble better as we access a bit for day to day use.
What about freezing the kibble in ziplock freezer bags? I've read vague posts where people do that but there's not enough information. What type of bag? What is the portion size? How long do they allow it to remain in the freezer? Never enough detail.
For ziplock bags, does the closure type make a difference? Slider vs the non-slider? Is ziplock the best brand of bag to use? Should I look into a vaccum sealer?
Something else??
If you do this for your kitty and have success, it would be helpful for your step-by-step (go into as much detail as possible...assume I'm an idiot b/c I am and you're teaching me your method, "war and peace" your reply!) so that I don't miss out a crucial step.