I leave Murphy's wet food out all the time, and nothing bad has ever happened. He likes to graze, stop by once in a while and eat two bites, and if I took it up he wouldn't be eating wet food. I know several members here have said they leave the wet food out. I guess it's a matter of how careful you feel like being. (I've never been accused of being too careful.)

 

I feed my cats 1/2 can each, twice a day.

They will eat most of the food when I put it out and go back within an hour or so.

 

OK, thanks! that makes sense. It's not like she eats outside, she eats indoor at room temperature. I'll mix it an hour before the time she ate yesterday.

 

If you're going straight wet, I'd put her on a schedule. Feed her two or three times a day (don't they often lose weight with CRF? That might help keep her at a good weight) at the same time every day.

It won't take her long to learn what time meal time is. Goodness knows my two have built in alarms when it comes to meal times and heaven FORBID I'm 10 seconds late.

As for temperature, you could zap it in the microwave for a few seconds (stick your finger in it to make sure it's not TOO hot) OR you could add a few tablespoons of VERY hot water to it and mash it up into a batter consistency (that's what I do to insure they are both getting enough water).

 

My 15 year old kitty was recently diagnosed with CRF and this site has been a GREAT SOURCE of information:

Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Cat

They also have a ton of tips for getting cats who may feel sick or not have an appetite to eat:

Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Persuading Your Cat to Eat

I also found this site about switching "dry food junkies" to canned food invaluable:

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

Here is what worked for me:
-Use a feeding schedule.
-Warm up the wet food in the microwave or by adding warm/hot water. Mix it up and feel it before you set it down to make sure it isn't too hot.
-Elevate the food bowl- this has helped my cat's appetite greatly and stopped him from throwing up after eating. (related to his CRF)
-Some days he is REALLY picky and doesn't want to eat- I will sprinkle one Temptations treat or a freeze dried treat (PureBites or Bravo make them) on his food and he will at least eat a little.

 

It's safe to leave wet food out for several hours. It's been 6 years, my bratz are still alive. :grin:

 

Thank you all for your responses. I've decided, if my cat agrees, to change from dry to wet, not just mixing the two, but going full wet. Hope she's okay with this change. I just found out dry food is only 10% water and wet is 80% I know it seems obvious, but I thought she would be okay with dry food and water alone :/...Also, she has gingivitis and two bad teeth removed, so wet could be a plus there too. Of course this vet sold me the dry version immediatly ($30 bucks instead of $5 can, which I also bought)
Does anyone know if wet food helps avoid constipation?
I'd like to put her on a schedule, but knowing her, I don't know, I can't picture her actually doing what I tell her to do :lol:

 

I leave wet food out for up to 12 hours sometimes, unless they eat it all, it'll still be sitting there. It's not still fresh, but it's also not crawling in bugs or something. The cats also don't eat it if it's crusty or rotten. Sometimes we just flip it over and they continue munching. Never any problems. Cats digest food faster than us and don't often suffer from problems that humans would have... in the wild they could be eating several day old carcasses.

 

With all the crap that inside/outside cats must ingest during their adventures, I figure actual cat food that's left out a few hours - in a clean, bug-free environment - that's nothing!

 

I just tried wet food only, mixed with warm water, and she loved it. She ate a bit and left. Hope she comes back. I'm still not sure how much to feed her. At the Hill's website it says 3/4 a can for 6lbs (she weighs 6.5 lbs) but I think it could be too much and sadly she's not at her normal health status.

 

I think anything with liquid is better for constipation. If your kitty suffers from constipation, you can try a human remedy. Do you have Miralax? It's the only thing I know of that doesn't have a smell or taste or funny texture, so I'm able to mix it into my cat's wet food.

Glad the wet food is working - some cats just don't like it.