Feeding logistics while out of town

[QuinnCat]

Hi folks, just a logistics question.

I have to travel once per month for a few days at a time. Until recently, both my cats ate the same food, so this was an easy set-up. However, one of them developed a food sensitivity and now they're eating separate diets. This complicates their feeding routine while I'm out of town.

I am generally able to get a friend to stop by once per day to take care of the cats. I used to have the cat-sitter set up auto-feeders for the cats so that they could eat twice a day at the usual times. However, now that they must eat different foods, the auto-feeder approach may be out of the picture because I don't want the cats getting access to each other's diets & making themselves sick.

How would you handle this situation? Confine the cats to separate parts of the house so that the once-daily sitter can continue to use auto-feeders? (That hardly seems fair to the cats.) Or discontinue use of the auto-feeders, give both cats free roaming access of the whole house, and have the sitter feed them only one large meal per day? (That doesn't seem totally fair either.) Or suck it up and find a sitter who can visit twice per day? (That'll get expensive quick.)

Help please

[Cooper's mom]

I'd have the pet sitter come 2x per day. That is what we have done. Alternatively you could fed both cats the diet that the sensitive one is on, then you don't have to worry about who is eating what.