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Vacationing + the Raw Fed Cat

1K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  BarkingPup 
#1 ·
Hi all,

I have taken several quick vacations since I had ET and Lacey and have always been fortunate enough to either bring them with me or have a neighbor and close friend in my building watch them. This friend has been willing to feed them raw 2x/day, thereby keeping them on their schedule.

Well, I'm going away for 4-6 nights in a few weeks and this friend is not available. I debated boarding my 2 at the cat-only vet, but it is expensive and I think unnecessarily stressful.

I have found a colleague who has lots of experience and references pet sitting, and she is available. Her prices are reasonable.

How do you handle raw feeding with a pet sitter? With my friend I've always left single-serving meals (pink lid for Lacey, blue for ET :) ) in the freezer. I have to make sure this sitter is comfortable feeding raw (she won't have to handle the meat or anything, just dump it so I'm hoping it won't be a problem) but I could always have her feed EVO 95 if that is easier for her.

I am debating having this sitter come by only once a day. I don't think I will be able to increase the amount I feed them, as their stomach can only hold so much! What about having her leave some Wellness CORE dry behind for them to snack on? I'd really like to avoid having her come again (poor grad student), but I will if that really is the best option.

We all know that they are "just cats, and will be fine" but they are all I have in this city and I want to make sure they get taken care of.

Thanks for your advice!!

Edited to add a picture, to thank you for reading this... miss Lacey, serving as a kitty blanket for me during a nap after a big exam:



-BP
 
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#2 ·
I am planning on having someone feed the farm cats EVO 95% when I am gone for a few days in June. If you go this route get the EVO now before P&G take over processing and making it.

I wouldn't feed them dry food...it would really mess with their stomachs. Could someone feed them their raw meal in the morning and then you could have something frozen (either more raw or EVO) that could thaw during the day so they could eat it later?
 
#3 ·
I go away every summer for 8 days. I make up baggies of cat meals (2 per day per cat) and dog meals (1 per day per dog). They are labelled in Sharpie. All the pet sitter has to do is remove 6 cat baggies and 3 dog baggies from the freezer each evening, and put them in trays in the turned-off oven to thaw. In the a.m., she dumps the cats' and dogs' baggies into bowls and feeds (no need to even touch the meat). She puts the p.m. cat meals in the fridge and feeds those in the evening. It's no more difficult than feeding canned, and really, it's easier b/c no need to try to figure out how much to feed, no need to dish it out, etc. Just dump and serve. Pet sitters love me! :)
 
#4 ·
My cats already have ziploc bags made up with their daily dosage. I usually get a bowl of warm water and put the baggies inside. When I can't feel any frozenness through the plastic I dump the food onto their plates. The only problem is when they don't eat it all. In my freezer there is two big grocery bags labeled 'Skooma' and 'Sugar' and since Sugar eats a good ounce less than Skooma it's easy to tell which baggie is whose.

I'm going away for a couple days in August and have found a pet sitter that's willing to live in my house while I'm away and feed the cats their raw meals. She just wants to be able to bring her Dachshund/Yorkie with her and doesn't want to feed Skooma her weekly mouse meal :lol: We've already done a couple introductions with her dog and the cats are wary but don't hiss or swat so it looks promising.

However, if I could only find a sitter who refused to feed meat I'd just tell them to feed EVO 95%. A couple days of high quality wet food isn't going to kill them, in my opinion. True, it may not be as fun to munch on it, but, hey, it's food.
 
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