Reheating wet food in microwave...

keycube

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I do this for around 10 seconds just to take the chill off, and my question is for anyone else that does this:

Have you ever noticed sparking within the food? Not constant, and not every time; just the odd pop/flash. I did a google search, and there are others that have noticed it - one person chalking it up to minerals in the food - but no definitive answers.

For the record, it's Pro Plan kitten food; decent stuff, I would suspect.

Thoughts?
 

goldenkitty45

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I never reheat in micro for any amount of time. I did that a few times and the cats would not touch the food. I mix chilled food with hot water and stir it up and they eat it right down.

You have to test the temps of micro canned food for any hot spots that would burn their tongue.
 
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keycube

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I never reheat in micro for any amount of time. I did that a few times and the cats would not touch the food. I mix chilled food with hot water and stir it up and they eat it right down.
That's a good idea; plus, any extra water in their diet can only be a good thing. After my Tiko had a UTI, I'm now obsessive about all of them getting enough water.
 

jugen

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I never reheat my canned food. I make sure they have enough at their morning feeding that I don't have to put any away.. Of course with 6 cats you can do that.
If I tried to give my spoiled ones food out of the fridge and it wasn't lunch meat, they'd never touch it...
 

strange_wings

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You do realize that the very way a microwave heats food makes it pop like that, right? That's why whenever you heat anything up in the microwave you either use a cover for the dish, a piece of paper towel, or wax paper. Otherwise you get little bits of food all over inside the microwave. Cat food is no different.


I'll heat Sherman's C/D up sometimes. I then add water to it, stir it, and set it aside because I have 6 other cats' dishes to make up. I don't think microwaving makes any difference with C/D.... it's gross to begin with.
 

bellaandme

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I used to warm cat food up in the microwave until I read someone's post here that they added warm water to their food instead. I liked that idea better so that's what I do now. I can control the temp. better since my microwave isn't the greatest
 

otto

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I also heat food with hot water. (don't own a microwave) I add the water to Jennie's food, Tolly doesn't tolerate water added to his food but I first heat the dish by running hot water over it, then put his food in the hot dish and stir until the food absorbs the heat. If his food is cold from the fridge, it gets an additional few minutes in a hot bath, meaning the dish of food sits in another dish of hot water to warm up.

I've been heating their food this way since 1984. The reason I remember the date is because I had just recently moved from Texas to Albany NY. My youngest sister was at my house watching me feed my cats (Baby and Sissy, then). She watched me chop up the chunks in their canned food and said jokingly "my goodness, I'm surprised you don't warm it up for them too". I thought she had a good idea, disregarding her sarcasm (she had not yet had pets of her own at that time) and have been doing it ever since.
 

silva_unt

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If its pate i heat with warm water. If its a gravy kind i heat in micro for about 8-9 seconds and do the whole stir and blow thing. Neko likes it either way
 

goldenkitty45

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One other thing (if you own dogs too). The juice from warming the canned food up with hot water is added to the dog's food - she doesn't get the actual cat food, but only the flavor in the juice
 

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We normally do a warm water bath to heat up food. We use the small square Ziploc or Glad disposable plastic dishes, and fill with about 1/4" or so of water. Warm for 2 minutes in the micro. While this is heating, we mash up the cat food and add a touch of water to the food, then plop the bowl into the water bath for about a minute or two. Remove, wipe off the bottom of the bowl and serve. The kitties LOVE it!

If we're using a small saucer, I let the tap run til it's quite hot, using it to rinse any dishes that might be in the sink and any previously used cat food dishes. Mix in a couple of teaspoons of hot water, then stir and serve.
 

momto3cats

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I warm up chilled wet food in the microwave all the time. Just 5-10 seconds, depending on how much food there is. I have never seen any sparks or "flashes" doing this. That can happen if there is anything metal in the microwave, though. You don't put the can in there, do you? Probably not, but I thought I should ask.


I've tried the warm water trick, but my picky cats won't eat it with any amount of water added.
 

nerdgirl5

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I'm experimenting with it all. My cat LOVES food when it's fresh out of the can, but I feed him 4 times a day so food has to be refrigerated. What I'm doing is, a bought tiny little bpa-free storage cups and dole out the amount for each meal in the cup.  That way, I'm not taking a can in an out of the fridge all day long.  Then, using hot/warm water to warm it up (like ppl here have said, a tablespoon.)  
 

fyllis

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On the rare occasion that I ever had wet food left over, I dumped it in a cheap plastic baggie and twisted it shut (not the zip-loc kind... the fold-over sandwich type) and stored it in the refrigerator. When it was time to eat breakfast, I'd run some very hot tap water in a small bowl and sit the baggie of food in the water while I start the coffee brewing. Then I would add a spoonful of hot water to it and mush the food in the baggie and sit it back in the water dish for another 30 seconds or so and it warmed it perfectly. Then I snipped the corner off the bottom of the baggie and squeezed it out into their clean bowl. No waste and I just tossed the baggie.

I found that they were wasting a lot of their wet food; yet, always meowing for more when there was some still left in their bowl. Then it dawned on me that what they were leaving were the larger 'chunks' of pate` that I hadn't chopped small enough for them. God forbid they might have to actually chew pate`! So I started chopping it real fine and stirring in a little water that I rinsed the can with and made them a 'slurry' kind of soup and the lapped it right up!

The only thing they will eat cold, right out of the fridge, is turkey breast - providing it is finely minced! Everything else has to be warmed and soupy. They refuse to eat anything with 'chunks' in it. I'm just grateful that they both have the same preference when it comes to food! I no longer have to put any food in the fridge because they like their 'soup'.
 

nerdgirl5

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Same principal.  I run the little plastic cups under warm water and and add the water after as well.  And have the identical issue about him meowing when there was still some left in the bowl. Am thinking about making chicken bone broth (just toss plain roasted chicken bones in a pot, add water, a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and keep on low heat, covered for about 10 hours--freeze in ice cube trays) , warming it up on the stove and adding it to the food for extra flavor.  
 

kittycort

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What are you heating it in? It sounds like a long time to heat it thought.

My cat used to only like his heated..I used a glass dish but I think I heated it for 5 seconds. He didnt actually end up eith warm food but it seemed to reinvigorate the meaty smell, which he liked.
 

nerdgirl5

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I just put it in his bowl (which is ceramic) and put a tablespoon of warm water in that.  And I keep the food in the tiny little storage cups and when I take them out of the fridge, I run them under warm water. 
 

lisamarie12

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I use warm water to take the chill off of refrigerated wet food only. I would be concerned that heating the food in the microwave would minimize or destroy the supplements in the food.
 

nerdgirl5

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I don't even own a microwave.  I had thought about briefly putting it in the oven but think it would dry the food out.  So, mostly, I just put it on the counter.  Since it's not being re-refrigerated, it's not an issue.  I let it come to room temperature for about 5-10 minutes, then do the warm water thing. 
 

bestdayever

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I keep the cans in the fridge and serve the food chilled. My kitten is a grazer so it helps with freshness and keeps the odor down. My kitten doesn't seem to have a preference for cold or room temp food.
 

donutte

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I keep the cans in the fridge and serve the food chilled. My kitten is a grazer so it helps with freshness and keeps the odor down. My kitten doesn't seem to have a preference for cold or room temp food.
So funny you mention it keeps the odor down. I heat mine, but the only one that's getting stuff that is refrigerated is my kidney cat. Warming it up makes it more appealing by making it smell more. And of course with kidney cats, their appetites sometimes fluctuate.

I usually take a 1/4 can of refrigerated k/d, nuke it for 8 seconds, then add 1-2 tablespoons of hot water and then mix it up. It's still just cold enough to make the hot water not stay hot.
 
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