Best way to have the cat fed on mostly wet food, while away?

[CrystalC]

My husband and I are going out of the country for 6 days for Christmas. No plans have been set in stone as to who is going to be able to take care of the cat and how often. My preference is finding a friend who can come once a day. However, that may not be possible. We may only be able to get someone to come once every other day.

Just this week I started Crusoe on a mostly wet diet. I've been feeding him 6 ounces of wet food per day, once in the morning and and once at night, and he gobbles it up like there's no tomorrow. Plus, I give him no more than 1/8 cup of dry food per day. It almost seems like this might be too much food for one cat. Then again, he's pretty active though, so this might be ok. If anyone has any thoughts on this, feel free to let me know.

Anyway, back tot he question at hand I assume if we can get someone to come in once a day, it should be okay to have them give him the entire 6 ounce can at once along with the little bit of dry food too, right? If we can only get someone to come in once every other day, how should we tell them to feed him?

Thanks for any suggestions

[October]

If you dig around a little, I bet you could find a cat sitter who would come over twice a day. I originally found my cat sitter by calling the SPCA where we adopted Murphy and asking if they had any recommendations. Sure enough, they had a former employee and a current stay-at-home Mom who lived very close to me, and she's absolutely wonderful. You could also ask the cat sitter to e-mail you while you're gone, just as reassurance that the kitties are okay. I'd feel much better doing that than relying on friends who may or may not show up!

[CrystalC]

Well, I don't think my husband is comfortable with having strangers come into our place while we're gone. So that's why we have to go this route. If we get someone to come in daily or once every other day, it's either going to be a trustworthy friend or his mother. We just have to see who is available and how often.

[kwarendorf]

I would try and sell your husband on the advantages of using a bonded, insured pet sitter. If you rely on a friend or relative, something could "come up" that would take priority. If your paying someone, they'll show up, or are at least more likely to

[Susan]

If you have a pet sitter (or a friend) who comes once a day, it would be ok to give your cat the 6oz of wet food, assuming he will eat all or most of it in one sitting. If he's in the habit of eating half in the morning and half in the evening, such that the wet food would be sitting out uncovered for 12 hours or so, then I imagine it would be pretty grungy by the time he gets around to eating it.

You can also buy timed feeders...not the type where the food drops down a chute, since they're for dry food...but the type where you put the food in a compartment with a lid, and the lid opens at a specific time. Often these come with 2 to 4 compartments, which can be set to different times. I bought one at PetSmart.

You could use the feeder either to give your cat half of his wet food at a later time in the day (if you have someone coming only once a day) and/or to give him his wet food for the following day (if you have someone coming only once every other day). Provided wet food is covered, as would be the case with the timed feeder, it can be left out of the fridge for up to 24 hours.

[Carmel]

Your cats will be fine left for a day or two on their own, they aren't like dogs. As long as someone can come every day, or every other day as best they can and leave out adequate food and water I would not worry. I suppose that might seem harsh to some people, but if you're only doing this once a year, I wouldn't worry about it. I'd make sure to leave out a lot of kibble, just in case.

[NRD]

My two cents. While some cats are very adaptable to changes in schedules, including primarily feeding schedules, many are not, and it manifests itself in upsetting their tummies. My guys seem pretty well-adjusted, and two of them are just fine when I have been away for a few days and have a bonded sitter from a recognized agency come in and feed them and clean the litter boxes. Also my one female. But one of my guys gets diarrhea every time I am away--except this last time, when I had the sitter come twice a day, morning and evening, so they were close to their normal feeding schedule, as I had an auto feeder for their normal dry mid-day snack.

So my advice would be to try to keep the feedings as close to normal as you can. If someone comes once a day, have them give the wet food in the morning if you can. I couldn't tell when you give Crusoe his dry, but if it is at a set time later in the day, I would suggest you buy an auto feeder and set it to give him his dry every day at that time. That way he would get two feedings, which might come closer to his normal schedule.

I have come to like having "trained" sitters oversee my Fab Four, as I think they know how to deal with the unexpected, which indeed does occur while you are away sometimes and even though kitties tend to sleep more when left on their own.

And October, what city in Maryland are you in? I have had trouble getting a sitter consistently for twice a day.