Just a quick question for those who feed homecooked...

Rips

How often do you feed out of date food, or how much of out date?

I have some chicken fillets that are 5 days out of date, sealed in the packet and not defrosted. Wouldn't eat it myself but they look ok. I'm waiting on a cat food delivery. I was going to boil them up and see...

ETA: To clarify, they were not frozen and have not been defrosted!

Nody

Smell them; if there's any odd smell then freeze and bin them if not cook them through and through (but keep in mind chicken fillets are not very good as cat food as it has no taurine etc. in general).

Rips

It was just for this evening hopefully I'll get his food in the morning.

I just opened them and they do smell a little, you know, like ham? Not particularly bad. I just figure that with chicken there is properly a margin in the sell by date, even for human consumption, 2/3 days you know.
Why would you freeze them before binning?

I know a lot of people who feed raw have talked about buying the reduced meat from the supermarket (reaching use by date) and feeding it raw, so if this is cooked through well...

tk123

If they were frozen before the use by date they should be fine?!

Nody

Rips wrote: »

Why would you freeze them before binning?

Because frozen chicken thrown out the day of garbage collection = no smell or leaky fluids; chicken breasts lying outside in a garbage bin for a week does smell and tend to leak (and can lead to visitors trying to get to it if unlucky)

I know a lot of people who feed raw have talked about buying the reduced meat from the supermarket (reaching use by date) and feeding it raw, so if this is cooked through well...

I do feed raw and I do buy chicken etc. with same day expire (and freeze it before serving) but chicken in general is very sensitive to going bad. If you do cook it through it's usually ok as cats have pretty robust stomachs.

Rips

Sorry Tk, thats was badly worded, I meant they are fresh (not frozen, and have not been defrosted)

I'd be more wary if I had frozen them and let them thaw and go off.

Rips

Nody wrote: »

Because frozen chicken thrown out the day of garbage collection = no smell or leaky fluids; chicken breasts lying outside in a garbage bin for a week does smell and tend to leak (and can lead to visitors trying to get to it if unlucky)

I do feed raw and I do buy chicken etc. with same day expire (and freeze it before serving) but chicken in general is very sensitive to going bad. If you do cook it through it's usually ok as cats have pretty robust stomachs.

Ah ok. They'll going into a secure bin that only collected about once a month, so they'd be long thawed out, ugh

tk123

Rips wrote: »

Sorry Tk, thats was badly worded, I meant they are fresh (not frozen, and have not been defrosted)

I'd be more wary if I had frozen them and let them thaw and go off.

Ah right - I'd bin them too tbh!! We also freeze stinkables for the food bin :pac:

Shivi111

Will cats usually even eat meat that has gone bad? (genuine question!)

Mine tend to turn their noses up at anything but the most fresh meat... I use their noses to tell me whats still good!

Rips

Ha :pac: my lad would go through the bin!

He's not a very good gauge of anything,
He's not as fond of the best fresh boiled chicken breast (which he gets on occasion when I'm waiting for a food delivery) as he is the 75% chicken breast that comes in a tin :rolleyes: (There is nothing else in it except broth, oil and the essential nutrients)

He's seems to know exactly when I'm cooking for him as opposed to just cooking. Gets very excited. Then he does look at you, as if to say, 'Whats this crap?'

The food he is most determined about trying to steal? Bread. He'll make off with it in the bag if he gets a chance. We don't leave anything out but this is something that I know he does. The last time we left him with his grandparents he got in under a bread cover and made a good hole in a loaf of soda bread :rolleyes: