After careers in which I got into a nuclear submarine’s steam generator to examine pipe welding quality; inspected gearboxes at the top of very large windpower generators; improved the efficiency of one of Britain’s largest limekilns - I have to admit defeat with ****** pouches of cat food. The jelly types are not bad – but the sauce varieties. AArrh!
Any tips on how to get the sauce/meat out without it going all over the outside of the pouch/on your hands? Indeed, how to get out more than 90% of the stuff? Cat owners might know the best technique?
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We used to use wet pouches, though now we just use Royal Canin, for our cats and our dog.
However, drawing on past experience with pouches of cat food and a past career that included lecturing in fine art screen printing, I suggest laying the pouch on a flat surface and taking a straight flat implement such as the back of a cleaver or a chef’s spaula or perhaps a small piece of ply, then firmly draw the straight edge of your improvised squeegee over the pouch in the direction of the opening.
Alternatively you could open the pouches fully and let the cats lick them clean.
Look forward to reading other suggestions, there’s a great wealth of widely varied experience on SF.
1 Tear top off fully (very important)
2 Holding packet upright, gently squeeze the bottom corners to loosen contents
3 Invert over dish and shake firmly.
4 Repeat until you find the flavour your cat wants today…
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Rip or cut the narrow end off.
Put the pouch upside-down over the cat’s bowl a couple of inches up, no more.
Pinch the pouch from the gusseted end down to the open end without otherwise moving it. No shaking or you will get the sauce all over you.
That’s it. My cats insist on the stuff en sauce, so I am used to it.
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We have a few cat’s like that, some could not care less what they eat, others I could strangle at times.
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Personally I use the fantastic small spatula from Tupperware to scrape out the sauce. It’s surprising how much more come out than with.simply squeezing.
I think scissors were invented around 20 centuries ago,…and scrapers were certainly around in roman times. Can’t see the problem - before cat went we would just cut three sides, open and scrape.
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I don’t use them any more as I hate the smell but I used to open one end then just squeeze from closed end with fingers like scissors on each side of pouch to get max out.
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Thanks all, very entertaining - I’ve tried a couple of these, I think I’ll have a try á la Jane.
I think you are off to a bad start if you use the little zip tag on the pack to open it. Or tear it at the little notch where the pack is supposed to open.
Those are traaaAAps !
Cut the top fully off with scissors. Then use @Poquelin 's shake holding the bottom 2 corners approach. This will keep you dry.
Or, for those who know the maximum size of any chunk inside, cut the top of the pouch slightly diagonally. And only as wide a cut as 2x the biggest likely chunk to come out. @vero 's pinch the pouch method then operates excellently with a reduced splash area due to the small diagonal cut.
Or, tell the cat enough’s enough and it can have proper food instead of those mimsy overpriced pouches. Readymeals for a cat, indeed !
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I spend a bit of time shredding raw meat into thinnish strips across the grain and freezing them in helpings the size of 2 golf balls for my cats - that is definitely what they prefer, but the pouches are convenient to have when I am disorganised and haven’t defrosted any or someone else is catsitting for a week-end.
We realised we were going over the top the other day when OH commented on how I had arranged the food in pooch’s bowl (croquettes, broccoli, carrot and green beans) and asked if I had warmed his meat bouillon for afters… This for a dog that will bound across a field to eat cow pats and carrion.
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