# My cat opened the freezer - keep or pitch? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 15, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951 "2011-05-15T01:28:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/1 "2011-05-15T01:28:34Z")
The food, I mean. Not the cat. We’ve got meats, sausages, scallops, fruit purée, homemade ice cream, and I don’t know what else. Everything looks completely defrosted. I’ve shut the freezer again, but what would you keep or pitch? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/2 "2011-05-15T01:32:40Z")
Eat the scallops. Same with any other fish. (It’ll last a day or two in the fridge, so you don’t have to have a big fish-fest unless you want to). Cook the meats and the either eat them or re-freeze them. Either eat the dairy and fruit stuff or try refreezing it - it might not be as nice, but it won’t kill you. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/3 "2011-05-15T01:33:29Z")
Defrosted doesn’t equal spoiled, unless you’re smelling something foul. I’d freeze the meat again if you don’t want to use it then have braised scallops w/ fruit puree and ice cream for Sunday brunch! ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/4 "2011-05-15T01:44:24Z")
[The USDA Says](http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/focus_on_freezing/index.asp) you can refreeze defrosted meat safely, however it WILL fuck up the texture and quality of the meat. Freezing damages cell walls, defrosting allows those ruptured cell walls to leak, refreezing ruptures other structures in the meat where the fluid has settled. It’s up to you if you want to do that. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/5 "2011-05-15T01:58:49Z")
Does it feel warm? How cold is it? (In other words, did the cat open the freezer two days ago or this morning?) If it feels (or, to be safest, get a thermometer) under 40F, then consider it “refrigerated” and plan accordingly. If it’s above 40F, then you’re into the danger zone where bacterial growth is fast and food poisoning toxins may be present in the food, even if you cook it. The Food Police tell us that food which requires refrigeration should be thrown out after 2 hours in The Danger Zone. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/6 "2011-05-15T03:06:11Z")
Thought it was asking whether to keep or pitch the cat. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/7 "2011-05-15T04:59:47Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Thought it was asking whether to keep or pitch the cat. Well, if they throw out all that food, they’re going to eat something for supper. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/8 "2011-05-15T05:01:47Z")
I’d throw it. Or feed it to the cat. But how does a cat open a freezer? You must have a powerful pussy. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/9 "2011-05-15T05:04:53Z")
Trashed meat I tend to keep for the dog, so my suggestion is “Neither!” 😃 Keep it and feed it to the animal(s) if you’re that bothered by the texture breakdown I mentioned above. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/10 "2011-05-15T05:22:23Z")
Keep the cat. Set up a camcorder for the next time. Post it on utube so we can be entertained.🆒 I used to have a cat that would open the fridge door. I wouldn’t have minded so much if he had shut it after he got his snack, but he just got his carrots and left the door open. Yes, you read that right, he ignored the cheese, didn’t molest the milk, but would rip up the bag of carrots and drag his prey to his bed for later enjoyment. Duct tape was my friend. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/11 "2011-05-15T05:30:40Z")
I wish my cat would eat carrots so I didn’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/12 "2011-05-15T06:04:11Z")
Keep the cat, pitch the freezer, and replace it with one with a locking door. Or put a better lock on it, so the cat can’t open it. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/13 "2011-05-15T07:48:49Z")
The sniff test is perfect for meat. If it smells bad it is bad and chuck it. A few weeks ago I had a full freezer that was a little TOO full and popped the door open while I was gone on a 3 day weekend. My frost-free freezer developed an affinity to surface hoar and the porkchops got freezer burn, but that was all that was wrong with the food, no spoilage. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/14 "2011-05-15T16:47:44Z")
Get a “child proof” freezer/fridge door lock. Back when my teenagers will little there was a velcro one we put at adult eye level. Yes, it was annoying, but less so than having to put the entire contents of the cold box through the sniff test. And “locking” the fridge/freezer door can prevent other problems. When I was a kid we had a cat who liked to jump in the fridge - when wonderland where all the people food lived! One time said cat jumped in the fridge and the person getting a snack did not notice. Luckily for the cat another peson got a snack just a few minutes later. Poor kitty was cold and mewing pitifully - but had not run out of oxygen :eek: ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/15 "2011-05-15T17:27:39Z")
[QUOTE=EvilTOJ] The sniff test is perfect for meat. If it smells bad it is bad and chuck it. [/QUOTE] Unfortunately, the reverse is not true. Even if it smells OK, thawed meat can be dangerous. According to the USDA: Pathogenic bacteria, such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Campylobacter jejuni, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus, cause illness. These harmful bacteria can not be seen or smelled. E. coli, in particular, is a nasty bug - whenever there’s an outbreak of food poisoning and people are dying, E. coli is often the culprit. If the meat is worth more than your ER visit co-pay, consider keeping it, but otherwise, is it really worth the risk? ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/16 "2011-05-15T17:28:12Z")
We lost power from Good Friday until Easter Sunday. Didn’t throw a single thing away and everything was fine. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/17 "2011-05-15T18:03:59Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > We lost power from Good Friday until Easter Sunday. Didn’t throw a single thing away and everything was fine. There’s a resurrection joke in here somewhere but I’m damned if I can find it. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/18 "2011-05-15T18:04:15Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#): > > I’ve shut the freezer again, but what would you keep or pitch? Pitch the gun; eat the cannoli. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/19 "2011-05-16T14:35:40Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Unfortunately, the reverse is not true. Even if it smells OK, thawed meat can be dangerous. > > According to the USDA: Pathogenic bacteria, such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Campylobacter jejuni, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus, cause illness. These harmful bacteria can not be seen or smelled. E. coli, in particular, is a nasty bug - whenever there’s an outbreak of food poisoning and people are dying, E. coli is often the culprit. > > If the meat is worth more than your ER visit co-pay, consider keeping it, but otherwise, is it really worth the risk? What \*\*gotpasswords \*\*said. I’ll assume that now by Monday morning as I finally read the post, that you’ve either cooked all the meat for sure by now and/or pitched the dairy. If you hadn’t by saturday evening, it was already too late for the food, re-refrigerated or not. The bugs mentioned in the quote will kill you dead in sufficient quantities and at the very least you will be one very sick individual with potential future health complications down the road. Definitely not worth the risk. Hopefully you opted for the safer choice. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951/20 "2011-05-16T14:54:08Z")
Yeah, we pitched about half a dozen scallops, three salmon heads, a handful of chicken livers and some frozen nuggets. The really grose part was dealing with all the blood from the livers, some of it got into the insulation (which looks kinda like styrofoam) so… Bleh. The freezer does have a very strong magnet keeping it closed, and we’ve had a few accidents before, but she opened it during the night this time, and we didn’t discover it until the morning. There’s actually a child lock on the freezer door just for this purpose, but we’re not too fastidious about keeping it locked - we will now! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cat-opened-the-freezer-keep-or-pitch/581951.md?page=2)