Maggots In Cats Food - Help!!

[Ashleyannmerk]

So I fed my fur baby a can of Fancy Feast today and added plenty of water because I finally let her go outside today and it’s brutally hot. ((((Side note: I don’t particularly like her going outside but I got her as an adult and she was pretty much left outside to die by her previous owner. I tried to build her a catio, but she cried in it and got really stressed and she has very bad anxiety problems. I am moving into my own house soon and I’ll be cat proofing the entire yard, so her going outside into the neighborhood is a temporary thing. And she only goes to the one neighbor’s house 95% of the time.)))) So, I go to pick up her plate of cat food a few hours later and I see tiny maggots on what she didn’t eat!!!! I definitely would have noticed because I mixed water in and the maggots were not mixed in they were grouped together on top of the mixture. But my question is did she eat maggots eggs? Was the food bad? I leave her food outside ALL the time and I’ve never seen maggots appear. We also feed two ferals and sometimes we’ll leave their food out all day with no maggots appearing!!! I am freaking out that she’s going to be sick!! I’m about to give her fresh food now and she seems fine but I don’t know!!! Help !!!

 

[duckpond]

Its summer. Bugs happen. I know, nasty as all get out, but your cat would most likely not have eaten the food, unless she was starving. And if she did honestly i dont think maggots would hurt her in the least. Once they hit her stomach acid they would die, and she would have digested them like any other bug, or food, imo. Gross as all get out to us, yes, but nothing to worry about i dont think. Cats and dogs eat a lot of nasty stuff outside.

I try to feed more often, and less at one time, especially with wet food, this time of the year. Dry food is not such a worry.

If you are worried, have a vet visit. But honestly i would not be too concerned, of course if she get sick or acts off, then a vet visit is in order.

 

[Ashleyannmerk]

Its summer. Bugs happen. I know, nasty as all get out, but your cat would most likely not have eaten the food, unless she was starving. And if she did honestly i dont think maggots would hurt her in the least. Once they hit her stomach acid they would die, and she would have digested them like any other bug, or food, imo. Gross as all get out to us, yes, but nothing to worry about i dont think. Cats and dogs eat a lot of nasty stuff outside.

I try to feed more often, and less at one time, especially with wet food, this time of the year. Dry food is not such a worry.

If you are worried, have a vet visit. But honestly i would not be too concerned, of course if she get sick or acts off, then a vet visit is in order.

Thank you so much!! I’ve been seriously worried sick! And yes, I’ve been doing wet food with extra filtered water 3-4 times a day with a little bit of kibble out overnight. She seems fine but lethargic, which is pretty typical when she goes out when it’s hot and boy is it hot!! I have work tonight so I’m going to have my sister “babysit” her and keep an eye.

She was pretty much abandoned by her former owners/my neighbors, so she had taught herself how to hunt (EXTREMELY well might I add) and eat her kill and I’ve never once had her throw up or get sick so I have a feeling she has a tough belly! I was just concerned as to whether or not they could live in her digestive tract, like worms can, or if that meant the food was bad. We have a vet visit scheduled Friday for her nails and she has horrible allergies and since she’s outside quite often and eats things, I was going to bring a fecal sample in. Thank you for putting my mind at ease. I am such a helicopter catmom as it is so I can’t handle stuff like this!!

 

[duckpond]

I understand, i worry about my guys a lot too. Most of the time its needless, but i would always rather be safe than sorry. Keep us updated on how your girl is doing!

 

[orange&white]

Can you feed her meals inside, or feed smaller meals that she will eat with no leftovers? I TNR'd a feral cat last year, and started out feeding her on the patio. I did notice that houseflies would land on the food and start laying eggs in a matter of minutes. For a while, I sat outside with her while she ate waving any flies away. After gaining her trust, I started feeding her 3 meals a day inside the house.

 

[maggiedemi]

It's the heat. We just got maggots the other day in our meat scrap bucket that we scrape the cat food into that they don't finish. It really grossed me out. I don't think they will hurt her, when we had chickens, they ate a few and nothing happened. Sorry your catio didn't work out for Ari. Does she go in it at all?

 

[Ashleyannmerk]

It's the heat. We just got maggots the other day in our meat scrap bucket that we scrape the cat food into that they don't finish. It really grossed me out. I don't think they will hurt her, when we had chickens, they ate a few and nothing happened. Sorry your catio didn't work out for Ari. Does she go in it at all?

Ugh she really hates it the only time she really goes in is in the evening time. I usually bring her inside between 5-7pm before it gets dark and then she’ll stay in the catio pouting and refusing to come into the garage and go inside the house. So now when I bring her in, I let her hang out in the catio until it’s dark then if she’s still mad and won’t come in, I’ll pick her up and lock up the catio and garage. I don’t like to pick her up and move her unless I HAVE to but she’s been much better with the routine!! She usually comes home for dinner and then spends another hour or so in the Catio. So it wasn’t a complete waste of time and money, but next time I won’t bother. When I move into my own house in a few months, first order of business will be a privacy fence with a mesh screen “ceiling” so she can go out and I don’t have to worry.

 

[Ashleyannmerk]

Can you feed her meals inside, or feed smaller meals that she will eat with no leftovers? I TNR'd a feral cat last year, and started out feeding her on the patio. I did notice that houseflies would land on the food and start laying eggs in a matter of minutes. For a while, I sat outside with her while she ate waving any flies away. After gaining her trust, I started feeding her 3 meals a day inside the house.

The problem is that in the morning she’s soooo fixated on going outside that she doesn’t eat her breakfast. I tried keeping her inside until she ate half of it but she refuses and stands by the door crying. So I sometimes have to feed her a snack or lunch out there and since today was SO hot, I wanted her to stay hydrated so I put the food out with a lot of cool water mixed in.

 

[Ashleyannmerk]

I understand, i worry about my guys a lot too. Most of the time its needless, but i would always rather be safe than sorry. Keep us updated on how your girl is doing!

I certainly will!! She seems fine so far. After being over in the neighbor’s yard, she came home and hung around our yard before I tricked her into going into the Catio I built attached to the garage and locked her in, much to her dismay. After about an hour of sulking in the Catio, I got her inside and she’s been napping since. She’s usually pretty lethargic when it’s warm so I’m not surprised but my sister is going to “babysit” tonight when I work just Incase!!

 

[valentine319]

I’m assuming she’s fixed. I’m assuming her wanting to stay outside is behavioral.

It’s so hot. More than likely you would have noticed if the food was bad when you put it out. She could eat the maggots. If she vomited once you keep an eye her. Constantly then you get to an emergency vet. That being said more than likely she’s completely fine.

Mine wasn’t eating dinner. I walk over to see her looking for something. Then she grabbed an ate a spider. We’re indoors only. So same thing you keep an eye on them but their stomach acid is strong stuff enough (even for spiders) to just get more protein from the bug if she had eaten any of the maggots.

 

[orange&white]

The problem is that in the morning she’s soooo fixated on going outside that she doesn’t eat her breakfast. I tried keeping her inside until she ate half of it but she refuses and stands by the door crying. So I sometimes have to feed her a snack or lunch out there and since today was SO hot, I wanted her to stay hydrated so I put the food out with a lot of cool water mixed in.

Yes, mine wants to go out first thing in the morning too. I've been making her sleep in the house after bedtimes meals, even though I think Misfit would much rather for me to become an "outside human" versus her ever becoming and "inside cat".

I let her out when I get up and then make myself a cup of coffee. It's 20-30 minutes before I'm serving the cats' breakfast. Misfit is definitely happy to come back in when I open the door and she sees her saucer of food in my hand, but I know what you mean about waiting by the door to get out in the morning instead of wanting food immediately.

 

[maggiedemi]

Ha, ha. Outside human, that's funny, and so true. They would prefer us to live outside with them. Yeah, maybe try Orange's idea of letting Ari go out for an hour in the morning and then maybe she would come back in for breakfast.