How Long Should Wet Cat Food Be Left Out
There are many different answers to this question, the answers range anywhere from 5-14 hours. Cat food is a prime source of insect infestation. We learned this the hard way; one summer out of nowhere ants just kept having a party on our kitchen floor. We would spray our floor with vinegar and water, a natural pet-friendly way to get rid of ants, but they kept coming back.
We finally decided to place the wet cat food, that we would serve in our cat’s serving dishes, on the table instead of on the kitchen floor, and magically the ants disappeared. What was the point of this long story? One of the negatives of keeping wet food out for an extended period of time is the uninvited guest and insect infestation.
Another negative is that when wet food is left out for an extended period of time, it doesn’t stay wet. It becomes very dry and unattractive to your cat. It’s better to give smaller portions several times than leave one big portion out for a long period of time. So if we had to come up with a number we would say 2-3 hours.
However, this depends greatly on your own schedule. If you work a 9-5 we would recommend feeding your cat before you go to work, breakfast, then when you return home, feeding your cat some fresh wet food for dinner. Meanwhile, if you’re at work you might want to leave some healthy cat treats out for your cat to nibble on.