Plz critique this new feeding schedule.

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RuthV

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Joey, 14 neutered male, currrently OTJ -
I've been giving him 3 equal portions of wet food at 8, 2 and 8.
I am planning to be away in for a couple of weeks and his sitter is not crazy about making 3 trips here a day. Would it be OK to just have her feed him two larger equal portions at 8 and 8? If so, should I start to phase him in now? How do I do that? I don't want to do anything drastic. to his feeding plan.

My only other option is maybe to have her give him a frozen hockey puck at 8 am with the other feeding, and hope he can last til 8 at night. Or maybe 7 or 6pm.

My sitter's husband has been very sick and I don't want to impose too much. Boarding is out of the question. He didn't eat last time, was scared to death, and he was on the insulin then ( that's why I had to board him - but I swear he wud've been better off to go without the insulin and just be cat-sat at home).

Thanks - this group is wunderbar.
 
How about an automatic feeder? We love our PetSafe5. Easy to program and hard to break into. You could set it on his usual schedule and have the petsitter fill it up with frozen food when she is there.
 
is he a grazer or does he gobble up his food at each feeding?

if he's a grazer - then putting out twice a day, supplementing with frozen should work and guarantee he has plenty to eat.

if he gobbles each meal immediately, you may want to try a feeder and also still see if the above method works too - you could try it while you are still here and then decide how best to handle when you're gone.
 
I second the automatic feeder recommendation. Then your sitter would only have to come once a day and refill the feeder and reset it! Some can take an ice pack underneath so the food stays fresher for 24 hours. Or you could just have her put frozen food in the later sections.
 
Hillary & Maui said:
is he a grazer or does he gobble up his food at each feeding?

if he's a grazer - then putting out twice a day, supplementing with frozen should work and guarantee he has plenty to eat.

if he gobbles each meal immediately, you may want to try a feeder and also still see if the above method works too - you could try it while you are still here and then decide how best to handle when you're gone.
Click to expand...

He's a gobbler and knows exactly when 8 and 2 arrive. I'd like to phase him down to twice a day but not sure how to go about it. Just make him 'starve' from 8 to 8 - or how about if I taper the 2 oclock feeding to a less than equal amount?
 
Vicky & Gandalf said:
I second the automatic feeder recommendation. Then your sitter would only have to come once a day and refill the feeder and reset it! Some can take an ice pack underneath so the food stays fresher for 24 hours. Or you could just have her put frozen food in the later sections.
Click to expand...


She had to come at least twice a day to scoop his boxes. He'll have two or three boxes set up for him, but no way will he go 24 hrs. without a scooping.
 
if he's a gobbler and clock watcher, then try the feeder, you can even try to change him to twice a day, and increase the 8 feedings while decreasing the 2 feeding, but he may still be looking for that 2 oclock feeding as it's now a habit.
 
Hillary & Maui said:
if he's a gobbler and clock watcher, then try the feeder, you can even try to change him to twice a day, and increase the 8 feedings while decreasing the 2 feeding, but he may still be looking for that 2 oclock feeding as it's now a habit.
Click to expand...

I think your idea of decreasing the lunch is good. I can work him up to two feeds a day, unless she can almost guarantee me to come thrice.
 
RuthV said:
Joey, 14 neutered male, currrently OTJ -
I've been giving him 3 equal portions of wet food at 8, 2 and 8.
I am planning to be away in for a couple of weeks and his sitter is not crazy about making 3 trips here a day. Would it be OK to just have her feed him two larger equal portions at 8 and 8? If so, should I start to phase him in now? How do I do that? I don't want to do anything drastic. to his feeding plan.

My only other option is maybe to have her give him a frozen hockey puck at 8 am with the other feeding, and hope he can last til 8 at night. Or maybe 7 or 6pm.

My sitter's husband has been very sick and I don't want to impose too much. Boarding is out of the question. He didn't eat last time, was scared to death, and he was on the insulin then ( that's why I had to board him - but I swear he wud've been better off to go without the insulin and just be cat-sat at home).

Thanks - this group is wunderbar.
Click to expand...

Update - the cat sitter will be thrilled to come thrice daily. Wheeee. Even the husband encouraged her to do it - he loves cats too.
 
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