food while away

[JillianS]

So I'm going away for a few days over the holidays. I'm leaving early in the AM on the 24th, and returning on the 28th night. I have a friend coming in at least once a day to feed/play with my girls. (she may actually stay here, but will be here at least once a day)

I am currently feeding wet twice a day (sometimes 3x), and leave a bit of dry food out if I'm going to be gone for long periods of time.

I have a continuous flow/filtered water fountain for them, and will leave a bowl of water out as well, just in case.

My main question is:

I am currently doing the wet food 1/2 whiskas and 1/2 Blue. To make things easier for everyone (and to make sure the kiddos are getting what I want them to get food wise), I thought I would pre-mix a bunch of bowls of their wet food, put them in zip-lock sealed bags, and put them in the fridge. That way, all my friend has to do is take them out of the fridge and place them on the floor.

Is that something that's a good idea? Will the food be ok if it's in the fridge like that for 4 days?

(I just figure the easier it is for her to do, the less likely she is going to be to forget/not do it right/not want to do it at all).

thoughts?

[Susan]

It should be fine, provided your cats will eat the food straight out of the fridge (i.e., cold). With my little fusspots, the food has to be room temp...picky, picky, picky!

[Nan]

Personally, I don't think it's a big deal to mix 2 foods together. Can you ask your friend beforehand which she would prefer?

[love.my.cats]

Originally Posted by Susan

It should be fine, provided your cats will eat the food straight out of the fridge (i.e., cold). With my little fusspots, the food has to be room temp...picky, picky, picky!

Same here. They're fussy enough about what wet foods they eat but if it's been in the fridge, don't even think about them going near it.

[Vivid Dawn]

There's a site that's been recommended several times here, called CatInfo.org and it says you're perfectly fine to leave wet food out for up to 12 hours... it would most likely warm up in about an hour, and I'm sure your cats would have eaten it long by 12 hours passes.
Food can also be refrigerated for 3 to 7 days just fine.

Basically, I don't think this little change in feeding is gonna kill 'em

P.S. Make sure that your friend fills the fountain every day. If I don't put more water in mine at least once every 24 hours, it starts straining the pump.