I have a small cat that likes to graze all day on canned food. She eats Avoderm chicken and Wellness Core Chicken. I feed her 3-4 times a day if I am home, because she is spoiled and I want her to have fresh food. The Avoderm is soft enough out of the fridge that she will eat it - she licks it, doesn't bite it. The Wellness Core gets hard when cold so I microwave it for 5-6 seconds then mush it up so it is softer.

Sometimes I feel like Burger King but she is worth the extra work.

We always microwave cold food. DH goes the extra step and even microwaves a freshly opened can.

Cold food from the frig is not very appetizing and warming it releases the aromas of the food. Your cat will eat much better when the food smells good. When microwaving food be sure to stir it thoroughly to avoid any hot spots that could end up burning your cat's mouth.

My little gal gets fed only canned food 3-4 times a day.....averaging about every 4 hours. It all depends on her activity during the day. She lets us know when she's hungry by meowing and grabbing my leg.

I'm not one that believes in feeding pets once a day although I know plenty of people do so, especially with dogs. I just feel multiple feedings lead to a healthier pet, both mentally and physically.
Like oregpsnow's cat, mine is also a grazer. I don't think I could live with her if she got only one meal a day!

I know several people who bought electric can openers (to fool the cats) - first they would microwave the cold food, take it out, put the food into the cats' dishes, then give the can openers a buzz to fool their cats into thinking that they had just opened new cans of food. The cats would always come running when they heard the buzz of the can opener so they had to have the food ready. A couple of other people just do the microwave bit, but when electric can openers were so popular many cats got used to this routine.

Our feeding routine is similar. When we adopted Sassy at the end of last year, she was being given a dry food diet at the rescue, but I read about the advantages of wet food, so I gradually switched her over. I still keep some dry food available, but she mostly eats the canned food. She always tells me when she's hungry (rubbing against my leg, meowing, even standing on her hind legs like a prairie dog!). So I feed her about 4 times a day--mostly early and late morning and late afternoon/evening. I've learned that there's less waste if I feed her only about 1/4 can at a time. I keep the remainder of the can, covered, in the fridge and warm it in the MW for 8-10 seconds. If it's the first feeding of the day (at the crack of dawn, of course), when she's ravenous, I don't make her wait for the microwaved food; instead, I open a second can. She can always finish up the first can later in the day.

Sue

We had siamese cats. The sound of the 9 lives can lids cutting would make them run to the kitchen. We never put food away since they eat the entire can. They were chow hounds. After they all passed, we got our Birmans. 2 of them would eat 2/3 of a can of Fancy Feast. All the can designs changed & none of the cats would run for the pull tab tops. A few years ago, I was so excited to see the little can covers. I even stocked up on mini spatulas from the dollar store to get the food out of the can. The new girl only eats 1/4 of the can at a time. Now, I know I'm not the only one stand at the microwave.

One of my cats is all too happy to eat cold food. The other one is a little more picky but I usually just mix some warm water in with it to soften it up and then she devours it.

Please DO NOT heat your cat food in the microwave. Taurine in cat food is an essential for cat health and microwaving cat food destroys it.

Oh dear, farbie, is taurine destroyed after just a few seconds?

Yes the taurine can be destroyed. Why take the chance since the taurine is an essential amino acid for cat health. I've found the best way to warm refrigerated cat food is to place the can in a bowl of hot water and in 5-10 minutes the food is warm.

Uh ... when I went looking for research on taurine and cooking or microwaving I found nothing.

Can those who claim it is destroyed by a few seconds in the microwave please cite some published references in medical, vet or other scientific journals?

I googled too. I found Doctors Foster & Smith recommend microwaving food for senior cats to bring up the aroma to get them to eat. So Annz was right.

I've recently started microwaving cold food, and you guys are a riot when you say things like it 'releases the aromas of the food.' It sure does release the 'aromas.' Although my cats probably think it's delicious, I would call it releasing it's stinkyness. :P Definitely worth it though since my cat has stopped throwing up all the time since I started heating up his food.

I had similar results when I googled: a few derogatory claims that don't cite any scientific references (often repeated in the same exact wording, so it's really ONE claim being propagated across the blogosphere). Also, some anti-microwaving statements seem to refer to use of the microwave to cook or thaw frozen meat. When I searched for AVMA guidelines, I found nothing that answered the specific question.

OTOH, some vets and animal hospitals *recommend* brief microwaving of cold food, at least under some circumstances.

Since I can't confirm the validity of the warning, I'm being a little more careful when I microwave. Bearing in mind that I want to WARM the food to room temperature (or slightly above), not COOK it, I am now shaving a second or two off the time in the MW.

Sue

I don't microwave the cats' wet food because it's always a fresh can, but I do microwave the dogs food. I mix about 1/4 cup wet food into their nightly dry food but since it's refrigerated I add a tiny bit of water and stick it in the microwave and then mix it in the dry.

Heat does destroy taurine, though I'm unsure if a few seconds in the microwave would do the same (it might, though). I also read a disturbing scientific paper sometime last year (sorry, I apparently neglected to bookmark it at the time) that stated that taurine deficiency in cats is on the rise because the heat-sealing process of cans destroys enough of the taurine in those cans that there is no longer adequate taurine content in heat-sealed, canned cat foods. For that reason, I now supplement taurine in the meals of my cats who eat canned cat food. If I find it necessary to microwave refrigerated canned food, I also sprinkle in a little taurine after microwaving.

Laurie