Cat's dry food expired. Is it safe to feed or should I throw it out?

The recommendation of how long a food lasts is usually arbitrary and often not based on any studies, so it's difficult to say how accurate this information is. Of course, storing food for a long time can lead to infestations and growth of harmful microorganisms, but this depends on how the food is stored and the climate you live in. Here is an article about storing food that may be helpful and give some more info about storing food: https://www.petcoach.co/article/most-common-mistakes-dog-owners-make-when-storing-pet-food/

Buying cat food from a sealed bag is definitely best. I don't recommend buying from an opened sack. You did a great job by putting the food in an airtight container and I would keep doing that after you open a sealed sack to keep the food stored fresh. Hope this helps. Great question!

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It is difficult to know how Pumpkin will tolerate the expired food. If it had any evidence of mold, he may experience some gastrointestinal upset such as vomiting or diarrhea over the next 24-48 hours. If you notice that he is more lethargic/sleepier than usual, loses his appetite, vomits or has diarrhea, I would have him evaluated by your veterinarian. He may require some symptomatic gastrointestinal support. If he continues to act normally at home (eating, drinking, urinating and passing normal stools), and he is otherwise healthy, I think he should be OK! (And I would definitely throw out that old bag of food!). I hope this is helpful!

If it's a use by date you should definitely not use it as the ingredients could have gone off. If it is a best before date it will be safe to eat but it may not taste as good and some vitamins and minerals may have leached out.

Hi there! Dry food isn't a concern with being left out, it's the wet food that's a problem. In the heat, that can certainly go bad quicker than it would in the summer. It's absolutely fine to put the leftover food back into the dry food container. I leave food out for my cats all the time, I use a self feeder and I haven't had any problems with the food rotting whether it's summer or winter :-)

That's a good question. If the paint was all nice and dry, it should be fine. It's good to keep food in an airtight container, even better if you put the original bag itself in an airtight container. This prevents oxidation. I'm not sure where paint buckets fall on the airtight scale. It's likely safe, but if you don't need to use it, I'd probably avoid it just in case.

If they have been keep inside in a coolish temperature I think they are probably OK. The "best by" date is put on there because that is the longest date that tests have shown the shelf life to be for the treats but they are typically OK for longer. I guess I would throw them out now just to be on the safe side.