Weird Sprouty Stuff Growing On A Variety Of Canned Cat Food After Opened

[Tkpowers]

Hi, I'm having issues with soft cat food (both kitten and cat kinds of a couple brands). I noticed I have not had the issue with Fancy Feast, but I have had it with Blue Buffalo, Science Hill, another brand I have bought at Walmart and Royal Canin. None of the cans are expired or close to expiration. None have been exposed to air till I open them and none have been left in "extreme heat" temperatures. I live in Seattle so that gives you an idea.

Anyway, I open the can of cat food, I put in their dish and walk away for work or bed or whatever and anywhere between 1- 4 hours or longer but no more than 8, I see these creamish/white colored sprouty things starting to grow in the food. They aren't super mushy or hard even. But they seem to just appear out of nowhere.

The mama cat and her kitten usually do not eat anymore soft food once they have eaten but I'm not there usually to pick it up right away. It is summer so the house can get warm but I have lived here my whole life and have never seen this happen to anything but potatoes. Any ideas what it is or why it is happening? I have had cats almost my whole life and have never had cat food go bad or grow things. And it's not just one kind of food.

When searching, I could not see anything close to talking about it. Luckily the kitties don't eat it and I wash their dishes out every feeding with Dawn soap and water. I'm just completely dumbfounded by it. I am also curious to let it keep growing to see what happens.

Usually, the longest they have grown to by the time I get there is about 1-2 centimeters. Again I would love any input on what it is or why it is happening.

Oh and I have used plastic and metal dishes and it has grown in both.
Thank you so much!

 

[Tkpowers]

Oops, I just looked at it again and it is not as thick as said. It's like grass thickness. I attached a picture (I think, we'll see if it shows). When I look at the picture it looks like rice. That is after 3 hours.

 

[cheesycats]

Can you take a picture next time? I’m very interested. Or fascinated I guess, in this. I’m sure it’s something to do with it sitting out? but I wanna see some potatoe eyes grow on cat food. Hopefully someone else will have some input too.

Edit: ok I see photos. Wow. Those look like worms or something. Could u send those photos to your vet? Or better yet maybe you could bring some in and they could look at them under the microscope. Do they move??
I’ve never seen anything like that and I’ve left wet food out longer than I’d like to admit. Sorry I can’t be more help. Very interested in what that is though.

 

[Azazel]

That doesn’t look right to me... it might be mold? I wouldn’t feed it.

 

[sabrinah]

That's freaky and weird. I've left cat food out quite a long time and that's never happened. It kinda looks like eggs or larvae.

house fly - Musca domestica Linnaeus

Look at the second and third pictures. It looks like what you have.

 

[laura mae]

Freaky! I have never seen that happen with canned food. I live in Lacey, so not terribly far and that's never happened to me. It definitely looks like some sort of insect egg or worm segment. Blech!

 

[Tashanasha]

I might be wrong, but that looks like fly eggs to me. Maybe even some other insect. But definitely more like that than mold. Do you have troubles with some specific insects in your home?

 

[Tashanasha]

Here is a picture of house fly eggs from google:

 

[furmonster mom]

Might have to adjust your meal timing so you can pick up that food quicker and put it away... 'cause yeah, fly eggs... eww.

 

[Rini]

Oh my God that's is garosssssssss. I would definitely not feed that, I agree with everyone else that it looks like insect eggs. Maybe you can put the food somewhere else in your house? There's probably some flies getting in that you're not noticing. I have left wet food out for too long (when Aslan is being finicky, sometimes he like to eat small bites, go play and then come back) and he has never gotten sick from it. But I've never seen that.

 

[artiemom]

Almost looks like maggots to me... do they move?

Do you have any pantry pests?

I definitely would not allow my pet or anyone eat that.

Is it overly humid in your house?

 

[Willowy]

Fly eggs. Definitely. If you leave it they'll hatch into maggots . It won't hurt the cats if they eat the eggs or the maggots, but still, ick.

Idk what to do, except feed less food at a time so the cats eat it faster. Or get a lot of flypaper?

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Me, I'd call some exterminators to find out what to do to get rid of the probable fly infestation. Find out the best way to get rid of them that will be safest for your cats, too.

euwk.

 

[Tkpowers]

So thank you so much everyone. I definitely think you’all are right with the eggs. We live on a farm so that probably has something to do with the weird flies. It has been happening for a while and every time I see do the litter box, or walk by and see it, I dump it in a new garbage bag and take it out right away. I have started to take the food away the moment the kitties walk away and put it in a ziploc bag in the fridge. Luckily those eggs have not been able to sit out long enough to hatch and now they are tied up tightly in the garbage.

It is definitely the grossest thing I have ever seen when it comes to animals. I do find it odd that it does not happen much in the fancy feast brand of cat food....

The other weird thing is, I never see an abnormal amount of flies in here or bugs. I moved to the farm about 2.5 years ago so this never happened when I lived in the rural area. I think being neighbors with horses on one side and cows on the other changes the fly habitat.

Again, thank you so much. I am glad I found a place where I can ask questions and people answer. Have a great one everyone.

 

[Tkpowers]

Oh and no they do not move yet. That would freak me out!!!!

 

[silkenpaw]

LOL, I wonder what it says about Fancy Feast that flies won’t lay eggs on it! And yes, it looks like insect eggs.

 

[karen.balch72]

Sorry for commenting here nearly 2 years later but ironically, I found this thread because I was wanting to find out if the stray I feed Fancy Feast wet food to in my back yard could get sick from eating food that I found fly eggs in when I picked up her dish when I went inside a few nights now. They definately weren't in it when I put the food into the bowl. I break up the pate block since her adorableness doesn't like anything even resembling gravy. :rolling eyes: I just thought you all might find it ironic and chuckle, too.

See you by the scratching posts!

 

[Jcatbird]

karen.balch72 I think it’s actually a good time of year to resurrect this thread. We are hitting hit days and food contamination can be an issue. I don’t think the fly eggs would survive stomach acids but why take any chances? Flies are attracted to spoiling meat so... I’d be more worried about that than the eggs. Maybe put out smaller portions but more often? I laughed that her adorableness wants her food a particular way. I have a couple of those too! It’s nice to meet you and welcome to TCS!

 

[karen.balch72]

Maybe put out smaller portions but more often? I laughed that her adorableness wants her food a particular way. I have a couple of those too! It’s nice to meet you and welcome to TCS!

-- Actually we talk about Her Adorableness over at Strays & Ferals and this usually isn't a problem with Stormy but she's not herself lately. I've posted about it on my thread there if you have theories about it and the bowling ball she swallowed. lol