How long do you leave wet food down for?

[Gillian Harvey]

How long? er, about 2 minutes LOL! - average time it takes them to eat it all 

She did say there was a possibility I could have bought something in on my shoes or it could be something a bird dropped in the garden but I'm not thinking either of those scenarios are particularly likely.

Seriously though, that IS more likely than it being to do with leaving food down - don't forget there are airborne nasties too.

[Debsymiller (Rufus' mum)]

Sending get well hugs to the lil man! And general  to you hun as I know how worrying it is! I am sure it's nothing to do with the food though. Ours are fairly slow eaters on the whole and so I put it down and they eat it as and when! Anything left after a couple of hours- Monty gobbles though!

[Tan]

My lads are so fussy (my fault i know  ) they lick gravy off and leave the rest and never go back to it so i don't leave wet fud down very long.  I suppose it's cause they have hills about all the time for them so not so hungry for the wet.  I tried not feeding wet but they certainlt still kept asking for it and me being softy ... well!!

Glad Riles is ok hun    It's so worrying when they are not well   

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

The wet food stays down until the next meal and often Misa will help himself after hours.

My house is kept warm but no flies and never had any problems.

Its probably just something airborn that Riley picked up, could have been outside but as long as he is still improving I would stop worrying and noway are you a bad meowmy 

[Fire Fox]

everyone, the kitchen is a very cold kitchen so I'm not worried about potential temperatures, was thinking more along the lines of time left out. Yesterday they had a long gap between meals as I decided against setting the feeder, they'll be pleased to hear they can have regular meals again! 

AFAIK (microbiology seriously rusty!) viruses cannot replicate outside the host, in fact the longer the food is left the more likely any viruses will die. Bacteria grow fastest given optimal conditions - anything that can make a mammal sick probably needs ~37 degrees C. Bear in mind the cat food *should* have started out sterile, and any bacteria that did get a foothold can only double maximum of every twenty minutes (MUCH more slowly in your cold kitchen ).

[Den]

The combination of much stronger stomach acids and a shorter GI tract means getting bugs from food is quite unlikely.

As for the question I leave food out until it is gone. It used to mean hours, now it's more like 30 mins max. There was never any trouble when he took hours to eat his food.

[Tiggy's Mum]

  everyone, the kitchen is a very cold kitchen so I'm not worried about potential temperatures, was thinking more along the lines of time left out. Yesterday they had a long gap between meals as I decided against setting the feeder, they'll be pleased to hear they can have regular meals again! 

[tab]

I feed Amber her supper around 9pm which is wet food and some days I dont get up to give her breakfast until gone 9am depending on her ill I feel. Its unlikely to be the food as Im sure I was told cats dont get food poisoning because of the way their digestion works.
I hope Riley is ok
love
Tab

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

It will depend on the temperature in your house as much as anything else.  I have put wet food in auto feeders at about 4.30-5am timed to be eaten at about 3pm and that has never caused any problems.  That's not in the height of summer though and my flat is well shaded by trees front and back so never really gets hot.  I wouldn't have thought overnight would be a problem as it's cooler at night.  What's the temperature been like in your house lately at night?

[Rosella moggy]

Spot on Fire Fox 

I think leaving food down for 12 to 24 hours could cause a problem on hot summer days if flies buzzing about but overnight in an automatic feeder?; I really don't see how that could be a problem Helen. 

I realise how worrying it must be not to know the cause of Riley's illness but I don't think that could be it 

[Fire Fox]

I leave food down until it is gone, as long as five minutes sometimes.  On a more serious note, sorry to hear Riley has been unwell that must have been frightening. I cannot imagine you are to blame - cats don't usually eat food that doesn't smell super fresh, many will refuse food that has been refrigerated. Don't forget cats can safely eat raw meat and their response to mucky feet and skid-mark bums is to LICK them clean.

[Tiggy's Mum]

I was just wondering how long people leave wet food down and if it's left for a long time has it ever caused any problems ie healthwise? As some people might know Riley has been very poorly the past week, he was found listless and dehydrated under the bed (having been completely normal the night before so it came on really suddenly) and was refusing food and water.

The vet said he must have picked up some sort of virus from somewhere but he only goes into the back garden, which is catproofed, so never comes into contact with other cats or any rancid food or similar. She did say there was a possibility I could have bought something in on my shoes or it could be something a bird dropped in the garden but I'm not thinking either of those scenarios are particularly likely.

I've been racking my brains for how he might have become ill and it occured to me that, as I'm a bad cat Mum and don't get up at the crack of dawn to feed them on my days off or if I am working late, I set an auto-feeder for them. The food is dished up at 11pm-ish and then it opens at 7am. Normally Riley opens it himself and tucks in much earlier but there is still some food that they might be munching on at say midday that has been there since 11pm the night before. I'm now wondering whether that could have caused him being so poorly