# How long can dry food be left out?



## Nola (May 10, 2005)

I know I shouldn't leave wet food out for more than 30 mins, but I'm wondering how long I can leave the dry food out before it will go bad.

I just got my boys to switch to wet food, but I still want to leave out some dry while I am at work.

How long can it be left out before it will go bad? Days? A week? In the past, they always ate in within a few hours so I don't know.


----------



## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

What I've read is to replace the uneaten dry food daily. That wasn't a manufacturer's recommendation, that's just what I've read in a book and in forum postings here and there. I don't know what manufacturers recommend, if anything.


----------



## Nola (May 10, 2005)

That's what I was thinking. Thanks


----------



## roseeden (May 18, 2005)

I can usually leave it out for three or four days without any problems.

However, it doesn't hurt playing safe.


----------



## jennifer2 (Mar 5, 2005)

Well, I used to just leave it out until it was gone without any problems.
Now, I feed a scheduled meal so there really isn't any left over after about 5 minutes. Also, I've started adding water to my dry food and by doing that you really don't want it to stay out any longer than you would with canned food.

Jennifer


----------



## Brynn (Jun 25, 2005)

I free-feed my cats dry food. They won't touch wet food - never have.

I have two bowls for each cat, so I can put a clean one out for every cat each morning. When I get up, I pick-up "yesterday's" bowls, which usually have a few crumbs at the bottom. I like to toss the crumbs out the back door onto the patio for the wild birds to eat (they love dry cat food)  
Since our patio door is a "mostly window" french door, it makes for great "kitty t.v." The birds get food, the cats get entertainment, and no stale dry food crumbs. :wink: 

This way, I can wash the bowls from the previous day, and the cats don't have to wait...they have their "back-up" bowls which can be immediately filled. Can't keep hungry kitties waiting.


----------



## roseeden (May 18, 2005)

I used to do the same thing. My kitties love watching birds munching on stale dry cat food!

However, my landlord sent me a letter (and she lives next door, too...she could have just told me :roll: ) that I am not allowed to feed wild animals, according to my lease....


----------



## Brynn (Jun 25, 2005)

grrrr :evil: 

Sorry, but that is just ridiculous. What a *not-so-nice-person* (I had a different term in mind, but it wasn't appropriate...)

I don't see why tossing out a few crumbs of dry cat food to wild birds is a problem. Some people...sheesh :roll:


----------



## roseeden (May 18, 2005)

Yeah, and out of all the people in my apartment complex...I live right next to her so she sees my shortcomings before everybody else's shortcomings...

No wonder why the previous tenants left so quickly :lol:


----------



## Brynn (Jun 25, 2005)

Here's an idea...toss the cat food crumbs on HER patio...from the opposite direction, of course, so it doesn't appear to have come from your way. :lol: That way, you can confront her: "if you can put out food for the birds, I don't understand why I can't..." 8)


----------



## emma_pen (Nov 2, 2004)

My dry food usually sits out for half a day, and my wet sits out for much longer than 30 mins 8O :lol:


----------



## jamdan (May 21, 2005)

I must be evil because I just fill a big bowl and free feed for 2 or 3 days, and they'll eat it all. Even when I put a fresh bowl right next to the old stuff, they'll finish off the old. 

I have three, but one gets diarea and pukes when dry food is ingested. I got to watch the dish until the other two are done, but forget alot and then I catch that bad girl at the dish and she's puking within a half-hour. Vet say's "irritable bowl syndrome". Being that the canned food passes just fine I've seen no reason to get a second opinion. Help here if you have any experience like this. I'm trying to give her back to the shelter so they can find her a home to be alone at, or be with other canned food eaters, but they are overfull. Cleaning puke up alot is very frustrating.

My other two won't eat canned food. One of them thinks gravey is great and that it's a treat. The other won't do nothing more then sniff the dish.

It must probally gets stale like patato chips or crackers left out too long. Does the humidity in the air play a part? What is a good guide line to go by?


----------



## moggiegirl (May 15, 2005)

Yes, cleaning up puke is frustrating but that isn't a good enough reason to give a cat back to a shelter. However if you feel that it's difficult taking care of 3 cats and you can't handle it then it's understandable why you may want to find this cat another home. Not taking care of 3 as well as you would take care of 1 or 2 would mean not taking very good care of your cats. Don't give up too easily. I would hate to see your cat end up being euthanized just because dry food makes him throw up. You have to realize the responsibility you took on getting multiple cats and find a way to deal with it. Maybe you can feed her separately, give her plenty of wet food so she won't eat as much dry food or look into a special diet that you can still feed your other cats. What's often reccommended for cat with IBD are limited ingredient diets with a novel single protein and single carbohydrate source. My cat Spotty has inflammatory bowel disease and I feed him IVD(innovative veterinary diet) Rabbit and Pea both dry and canned. And because it's easier I feed Rosie the same dry food but she gets different canned foods and sometimes she gets Spotty's canned rabbit and pea. If your cat absolutely cannot handle dry food at all, then I suggest being determined to feed her only wet, even if that means you have to patiently and persitently switch all your cats to wet food only, although you may find another solution and not have to. Try feeding her in a separate room. Too many people give their cats away to shelters for petty reasons like this, don't be one of them. However if you must give up your cat try to find it a good home, not just any home and of course bringing it to a shelter is better than abandoning it outside but I think you really should think about this. 

I think it's fine to leave dry food out for 24 hours. I put fresh food out each morning, but I only feed a limited amount of dry so there's not much left to throw in the trash. Each of my cats also gets a half of a 5.5. ounce can of wet food divided into 2 quarter can feedings.


----------



## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

jamdan said:


> It must probally gets stale like patato chips or crackers left out too long.


I guess I'm weird, because I prefer stale crackers over fresh. 8O


----------



## icklemiss21 (Aug 29, 2004)

Mine get their food once a day, so it *sometimes* is out for 24 hours. But being that we measure their portions to make sure they are not getting too much - its usually gone by say 18 hours.


----------



## jamdan (May 21, 2005)

I never thought of going the measured route, as I figured they could free feed till their hearts content. I will have to figure out how much for two.

I will try this, innovative veterinary diet, as I'm not sure I have yet. I have went through alot of different dry food for her, but always the same result. I am feeding them seperately, but forgetting when the dry food is out and she's a nibbler that heads straight for it even after she's had her fill. 

I though it best for her to get out of this enviorment, I would miss her dearly and never could have wanted to give her back to the shelter. I am not going to euthanise that's the only reason I considered she may be better off at the shelter, where they would more contacts to place her in a good home.

She is the Janis joplin of the cat world, as in the night she sings out in loud tones asking for the other two to come out and play. It is so funny to hear. Scares you at first thinking there's something wrong, then to find her chewing on a cat nip sock just singing away. She is the most loving cat I have, and the most playfull. She does have an attitude sometimes, but we've learned to laugh.

The shelter is wher she came from 6 years ago, and it would be very sad to see her return to that confined envroment.

I found a really friendly nice declawed in front male cat that was hanging outside last winter and took him to the animal shelter, feeling so rotten having to leave him with all those dog barking knowing he was going into a cage. The only thing that makes me feel a little better is at least the vet students do some training an he would have some contact. How any one could have left him out is beyond me.


----------



## moggiegirl (May 15, 2005)

I'm sorry if I sounded harsh. I'm very relieved to know you would never take her to the pound. I can see your feeding circumstances is quite challenging. Some cat owners have bigger challenges when one cat has to be put on a special diet but can't feed that diet to the other kitties. That's when it's reccommended to switch from free feeding to meal feeding which is not easy to do when you have multiple cats. It involves putting food down for a limited period of time two or three times a day and then picking up the food so they don't have access to food all the time and sometimes it means feeding individual cats in separate locations of the house, if necessary. Whether or not you have to do this depends on your cat's medical need. Does she throw up every time she eats dry food? My cat Spotty occasionally vomits up dry food if he eats too fast and that is common. To slow down eating, it's usually reccommended to either put an object in the center of the food bowl such as a rock or paper weight for the cat to eat around the object or place the food on a higher surface so the cat has to put her paws up on something to get to the food. I put the dry food on a higher shelf, they have to work a little to get to it and Spotty doesn't like that. He meows for me to put it on the floor but tough, if he's hungry he will reach up to eat it and Rosie can do the same. If it's a medical condition she may need medication or an all wet food diet or whatever your vet reccommends. How often is she throwing up? Occasionally is nothing to be too concerned about but more than once a week can be a problem. 

Cats can become overweight or obese if food is availabile in unlimited quantities at all times. Not all cats will regulate themselves. Free feeding is fine if you measure out their portions. You can follow the guidelines on the back of the bag and either increase or decrease based on how your cat responds. If you can easily feel your cats ribs but cannot see them she is at the right weight. A heavy layer of fat and not being able to feel a cat's ribs indicates she is overweight. With multiple cats it's difficult to feed the correct portion to each cat. Cats eat each others food, swap bowls and some are pigs and some are not. But many find free feeding the easiest with multiple cats. And if it works it's fine, depending on the circumstances. One of the advantages of including wet food in a cat's diet is that it's not as fattening, not as concentrated, and has much less carbohydrates. Carbs can make obligate carnivores such as cats fat and the excess of them are not natural or healthy for them. I do feed dry food as a part of my cat's diet but not exclusively and Rabbit and Pea is corn free and grain free. Peas are still carbohydrates but I think it's better.

Unfortunately the fillers that are in dry foods such as corn, corn gluten etc can irritate a cat's sensitive bowel. A grain based diet can give some cats inflammatory bowel disease. I'm blambing the Hill's company for Spotty's inflammatory bowel disease. I'm not going to sue or anything but this is my suspicion. I once let vets talk me into feeding my cats the Hill's T/D a prescription dental diet. It was good for my cats teeth but after educating myself I found out it isn't a very high quality cat food. Mosty corn, corn gluten, brewer's rice and the only animal based protein is chicken by-product meal. The kibble itself looks like a corn-meal crouton. And the T/D is a number one seller in vet clinics, an edible toothbrush kibble to reduce tarter amd dental cleanings. And vets are encouraging this low quality diet. I am suspecting that food may have caused Spotty's IBD.


----------



## jamdan (May 21, 2005)

Thanks for the kind words. Very good news now, She's got her first meal of "Natural Balance" and been holding it down for almost two hours.

It's everytime, the vet perscribed predisone, but this only passed the food to diarea. Just last nite I was giving her a lite snack and put the other dish out for the other two to snack before bed. I put ther other dish in plain sight so I can catch her before she eats any. I turn away for an instant and she'll capitolize on it. She only got a few bites, but was puking before long.

I thought it was the too fast too, but she must of just been hungry from thowing up her last meal, and with three cats, it's hard to tell who's puking.

Thanks for the other insights too, I've started another thread on the Natural Balance to get more help as I appreciate the knowledge you'all are sharing.


----------



## moggiegirl (May 15, 2005)

In your cat's case I don't believe her vomiting is from eating too fast. Your cat has a medical problem and I hope your vet is doing everything he can to treat it.


----------



## roseeden (May 18, 2005)

You can try sprinkling borax on the puke before cleaning it up. I find it much easier.


----------



## katgrl82 (May 31, 2005)

One of our cats was swallowing his food whole and would meow like he was starving. Sometimes he would eat so fast he would throw up. The vet told us to give him 1/4 tablet of Pepcid AC with canned kitten food. He recommend Fancy Feast, which we fed for awhile. The dry food the cats were eating at the time was a mix of Friskies and Purino One. I think the Friskies may be what made him sick, it is not a good food at all. 

Now both kitties eat a mix of Natural Balance dry and Nutro Natural Choice wet pouches. Now our cat doesn't act like he's starving and never throws up. 

BTW, we only gave him the Pepcid for a couple weeks or so, until he stopped throwing up.


----------



## katgrl82 (May 31, 2005)

Oops, I totally left our of my post that our cat was diagnosed with Irritiable Bowel Syndrome and that's why the vet recommended the Pepcid.


----------



## jamdan (May 21, 2005)

I think mine is similar as she ate wet and dry over 1 1/2 hours ago, came back for a little more dry and water, ignored the rest of wet. She just seems so calm and didn't follow me into the kitchen like she was starving. She's now just lying in the dining room when before she went downstairs. Pepcid AC sounds funny for a cat, but if you vet perscribes it you'd like to trust that.

I use carpet fresh to absorb the water after I scrape the worst of it up. I'll look into the borax.

My vet has seen her, stool/urine samples, but hasn't really suggested any more treatment even though I asked about Xray and ultra sound. I am following his lead being that I believe he has alot of experience and would pick up on any clues. Lord help us all!!!


----------



## jazzo (Apr 19, 2005)

oh heck, when I had Jazzy... and I would leave for the weekend, I would give her a few bowls of dry food and it was fine. I never had a problem with that. Wet food is a totally different story. I'm on my second cat, and won't even introduce him to wet food... never did Jazzy either.


----------

