I know its been warm this year, but we seem to be having lots of problems with our cat food rotting in the tins/pouches this summer in ways we have never had before. We have tried several brands but many of them seem to come from the same factories and seem just ‘badged’. We have had problems with Felix, Hi-Life and even Waitrose organic.

We have taken several boxes back to the supermarket for refunds but its becoming such an issue we are having problems finding a reliable brand. We have not changed the way we store or source the food. Its becoming expensive as so much is getting wasted even with the refunds.

Anyone else finding a sudden major deterioration in quality/preservation?

Nope, and with 3 (now 4) cats they get through a lot. I’d have thought it was bad before it went in the tin rather than rotting in the tin. does go bad pretty quick once in the bowl though.

Loddrik – what brand are you using?

We have 3 cats, so yes, large amounts of food are purchased (and now thrown or taken back this summer). 🙁

I know they put low grade product in, but I dont expect it to be rotting. One I opened even had some kind of green mold all over the top of it. My housemate did another hunt of the supermarket shelves yesterday and said you could see the tops of some of the trays were inflating from the gas due to rotting. We have mainly bought from Sainsburys, maybe its something they are doing.

I worked for a canning company, and the sales manager reckoned that cat food even in the far east countries (I’d suggest it sight be cheap and cheerful) is produced to a very high standard, as cat unlike dogs are very fussy eater (well some are, my kitten isn’t!). Not had any issue with un-opened cans of felix but they do go ‘off’ very quickly in hot weather… nones left lying about long in the dish in our house though.

Feed them dry food. My cats lived for 18 and 16 years respectively on biscuits. Just make sure they have plenty of drinking water.

There are hundreds of smokers that live to a ripe old age, so by your logic, smoking must be OK for you?

Cats have a diminished thirst reflex and if fed a purely dry food diet despite having free access to water are often dehydrated and typically produce about half the urine (which is much more concentrated) as a result. This leads to a variety of health issues.

To have 2 cats to live to a ripe old age is more than a coincidence.
But you are more than welcome to feed your feline friends whatever you believe is best.
I’m not sure if my cats smoked but never saw a half an ounce of Golden Viginia plus Rizlas in their bed. Maybe they were just good at hiding them.

Interesting Zippy, thanks.

Iolo – they have dried food, but I like to give them some proportion of wet. We did have 4 cats but one died of kidney failure and there is some possibility that too much dry food might increase the risk of kidney issues – aside from that, they enjoy some wet food. I try to provide variety for pets on principle, to stop boredom but also keeping pets open to trying foods can be very helpful sometimes.

I forgot to say, we feed as soon as the container is opened, no food is left lying around. The food is already rotting prior to opening.

So, can anyone recommend a wet food brand that is not problematic this summer?

We use whiskas and felix pouches and not had a single issue. With 3 cats and a few hedgehogs we also get through a fair bit.

Cat food shouldn’t be going off in an unopened can.
The food is put into the cans, the can is sealed, washed and then cooked.
If there are any bacterial contaminants that would cause the food to go off, then normally this would be seen in the warehouse as the gas given off by the bacteria causes the cans to explode. This causes a lot of waste as entire pallets then have to be dumped.
(I did a six month industrial placement at Spiller’s pet foods at the factory where they make Felix tinned cat food; although think it’s owned by Purina now).

Weird that you are experiencing problems with so many different brands.

FWIW, we’ve got two cats and feed them Whiskas pouches. Not experienced any trouble with them at all.

Without thumbs how could they roll anything? You know those empty packets of silk cut and bensons you can spot in hedges…. 🙂

Not a problem we have either, felix and whiskas

Male neutered cat here so high bladder block risk. Used to get prescription pouches for a while but settled down now and on 1 whiskas simply fish pouch in the morning and dry optirenal the rest of the day. But he grew up with a dog so seemed to learn his drinking (and oddly toilet) behaviour from the dog so drinks regularly out of the dog bowl (as does the rabbit). Not had any problem with the wiskas pouches.

Your problem seems odd as not even improper storage should cause that. Our cat did used to pick pouches out of the box and puncture them but you said you have a problem with tins and from different places?

I cave noticed with the stuff I feed my moggy that during the summer the fat can separate and leave a white scum on the top. Is it possible what you’re seeing is just separation rather than rotting?

Stumpy, yes I too am very puzzled. We have had cats for about 8 years and have never had this significant issue before. Some of the cat food is ok – we may find say 3 problem packs per box. We have even thought it is us, that we are misreading the smell, but if we put it down for the cats they rush up, stop, look horrified and refuse to eat it. Another pack from the same box is then accepted – but that pack smells different even to us, the humans.

To be honest I had hoped other people might be finding the same issues as it might have narrowed down the problem. I think maybe it is more noticeable to us as we have several cats and its very very unusual to put food down and have all of them refuse to touch it – yet this is happening now. I don’t feel I can keep taking it back to the shop if its only us with the ‘issue’.

Have you tried storing it somewhere different? Not that you should have to, but somewhere dark and cool, like an understairs cupboard?

We’ve had cats for about 10 years now and apart from cans that have been left open in the summer, I can’t think of having one can/pouch that has obviously been rotten/off/mouldy upon opening in all that time.

I’ve had a few sachets that were rotten but I think they just weren’t sealed properly. I now have a gentle squeeze of the box of sachets to puff some of the air from inside out and sniff it before taking the box. You’ll easily smell the ones that are dodgy. You look a bit mental in the supermarket but the rotten packets were rank enough that I’d be very happy not to open another one before breakfast time. It’s hard to imagine what could be going wrong with tins though.

The cats have no access to packs or tins prior to feeding. We have stored food in the same way for 8 years and no prior issues. I can’t understand what is going wrong – as people have said, the packs should be hermetically sealed then cooked. I see no signs of damage to either packs or tins. Its mostly packs or those shallow tray things we have problems with, so we are moving to tins more this week to try.

Thanks for all those replying here by the way, helpful.

I have to sign off now as I have an appointment, so won’t be able to post more replies for now.

Dunno about cat food, but has anyone else noticed supermarket fruit and veg being a bit crap this year?

With six cats I get through a lot of food and have only had one bad Felix pouch over the years. 16 isn’t old for a cat these days that’s classed as average. Have had one live to nearly 30.

and even Waitrose organic

😮

Switch to dry…much better quality food is available, its better for the teeth and its not mucky and disgusting to dish out. Keeps for yonks in an airtight container.

Orijen is the best I’ve found so far.

Loddrik – what brand are you using?

Usually asda own brand in gravy. I’ve stated feeding them aldi dog food recently though and they like it just fine. Tbh I’m sure it’s the same as cat food just with slightly bigger chunks.

I try to feed them dry bits from time to time but they just throw it up all over the house. Only one of them will eat raw meat. Whenever I’ve got ham out of the fridge I can guarantee I’ll have 6 eyes watching me closely.

Sadly this is a myth. The few studies that have been done on this suggest that there is no link between feeding dry food and a reduction in dental problems. In fact most cats don’t actually chew the kibble.

If you apply the same logic, dentists would suggest we eat brittle, somewhat abrasive food to clean our teeth! 🙂

There’s no answer to keeping cats teeth clean save actually brushing them, even a natural diet rich in bone doesn’t always help.

Cleaning cats teeth? Good luck with that….

In fact most cats don’t actually chew the kibble.

I can confirm this, as when they vomit it back up (all over the carpet) it’s perfectly intact!

I try to feed them dry bits from time to time but they just throw it up all over the house.

If they’re not used to it, it’s best to add it a little at a time to the wet food, gradually increasing the dry & reducing the wet over time.

Sadly this is a myth. The few studies that have been done on this suggest that there is no link between feeding dry food and a reduction in dental problems. In fact most cats don’t actually chew the kibble.

Thanks for the info Dan 🙂

Teeth aside, the Orijen is a much better quality food than the vast majority of wet/tinned food.

I can confirm this, as when they vomit it back up (all over the carpet) it’s perfectly intact!

And then eat it again; second breakfast.

I can confirm this, as when they vomit it back up (all over the carpet) it’s perfectly intact!

Exactly. And the bloody stain from the colouring they put in it stains the carpet and won’t come out!!!

Our cats lead a life of luxury by the sounds of it. Dry food available as well as a wet pouch in the morning and some fish fillets in the evening, no wonder they’re fat!

We normally use Felix pouches and can’t say we’ve noticed any issues, even the Aldi ones the Mrs buys to feed some of the strays in the area have been fine.

We have to pace one of ours as he will eat so fast he throws up right next to his food bowl (then his brother eats his vomit)….

footflaps, you need a ’cat tormentor’

Got one for ours and rather than inhale his food in seconds, it now takes him several minutes to finish. I can feed him, go for a shower and come back downstairs and he’s still at it. Slowing down the eating seems to reduce the vomiting, though sadly doesn’t eliminate it. Good workout for his kitty brain, too.

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Sadly this is a myth. The few studies that have been done on this suggest that there is no link between feeding dry food and a reduction in dental problems. In fact most cats don’t actually chew the kibble.

I was told by a vet that it was to do with the jelly in the meat rotting the teeth rather than dry food cleaning the teeth.

I can confirm this, as when they vomit it back up (all over the carpet) it’s perfectly intact!

I have had dogs throw up whole sausages… Though our dogs do chew up dry food. Then spit the bits out all over the carpet.

What a bunch of thick cats. Why don’t they just up-end the thing? 🙂

I have just put our kitten on Natural Instinct which isn’t tinned, has a very decent meat content (not like Whiskas rubbish at 4%)

and the cat loves it – licks the plate clean and makes excited noises as I dish it up and place it down for him to eat.

http://www.naturalinstinct.com/categories/cat-food/

Although it is more than whiskas, or even something better, the cat actually eats it all rather than eating only half and letting the rest get stale, so it probably works out a bit closer.

I won’t be feeding biscuits as well as the combination of protein and carbs might lead to a fat cat.