A tummy filled cat is a happy cat. This goes for each and every living thing in this world. But when it comes to our kitty, we want the best for her. It is very important that we feed our cat the best quality food. Sometimes, we buy food without checking its expiration date. Eventually, you are opening the box and reading its contents at the back and find out, its expired! What to do? Can cat food get expired and is it safe to feed your cat expired food?
Since the food you bought is too expensive to go to waste, we hesitate a little about just throwing it away. Well, to answer your first question, yes, cat food does get expired. And no, we shouldn’t feed our cat expired food. But the type of food that you are feeding your cat is a large factor of its expiration date and how you can get the most out of it.
The cat food is divided into two main sectors, wet food and dry food. Let’s see how expiration dates affects differently in these two kinds and how we should store the cat food to keep it viable for as long as possible.
Expiration date and Best by date
All cat food comes with an expiration date and a best by date. The difference between these two is mainly that the expiration date is the date you should be worried about and think about before feeding it to your cat. The best by date means that after this date, the food will start losing its nutritional value and will start its process of expiration.
Wet food vs Dry food
You may not agree in public, but we have all eaten and have made our pets eat expired food. Call it being tough or extremely stupid, we have all been there. Cat food comes in 2 types; wet food and dry wood. Wet food is usually canned food and thus is believed to stay viable for a long time. Well, this is totally wrong, canned food or wet food has more potential to go bad than dry food, why is that? Well, because canned food has more water content which means it provides a more favorable place for bacteria and fungus to grow.
When we talk about dry food, you are much safer here. Dry food can be easily stored and remains viable for a long time. This is because it has no moisture content but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t go bad at all. you can even give your cat dry food eve after a long time of its expiration date.
All foods expire by a certain age and its only by the smell and how much time after the expiration date has passed that you can tell if its safe to feed your cat or not.
How to store cat food
Well, what to do if the food has gotten bad before its expiration date? This is totally common thing and have happened to most of us. Well, in that case, it is necessary for us to know how best to store cat food according to the type of food that we feed our cat.
For wet or canned food, before opening the can, you need to place it in a place where the temperature is 50 degrees centigrade or above. After opening the can, place it in a cool place such as the refrigerator and keep it for only 3-4 days and no more. When your cat is not eating her food, do not leave the wet food in her bowl, it will go bad very quick and will smell very bad.
Bagged or dry food is the safest option, because it is very easy to store and chances of it going bad are very small. It needs to be stored in a dry place where it is not in contact with direct sunlight. You also need to make sure that where you keep the food is away from insects and other bugs.
What happens when cat food goes bad
- Nutritional value
The first thing that would happen after the best by date is that the food starts to lose its nutritional value. this is not a big problem, as it doesn’t happen right away and this process can take a lot of time, up to few months. Thus, it is best to finish the food after few months of the best by date.
- Preservation date
Many foods are equipped with preservatives, this means that these foods are a little trickier to handle. As you can’t judge a food by its smell alone, it is best to finish the food before its best by or expiration date. Especially in foods with preservatives, as after a time, they start to degrade too.
- Fats
Fats are a huge part of your cat’s diet and they are present in every cat food. Fats can contribute to the spoilage of food and thus, it is necessary that if the food is close to the expiration date, you check it before you feed it to your cat. If you use a particular brand, then you must be aware of its smell and would know the difference once it goes bad.
Conclusion
If your cat food as reached its expiry date, then the best thing you can do is smell it and if its not too far gone, you try feeding it to your cat. Sealed foods can be stored for as long as possible, it’s the opened foods you need to worry about. Once you learn the correct way to store the food, you won’t have to worry about it going bad before its expiration date. But the safest option, if the expiration has long gone passed, then don’t feed your cat that food. Eating expired food can cause health related problems. Why take the risk? Your cat’s health is very important.