topic Re: What does your cat eat when you're away? in Pet Lovers

What does your cat eat when you're away?

Texasmouse — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 22:30:40 GMT

DH brought home a female cat that had been wandering around at his work (a facility out in the country) for a couple of weeks. We don't know if she wandered away from home or if she was just dropped off but we felt we wanted to give her a good home. Long story short, we took her to the vet to have her checked out and to see if she had a microchip, in case her previous owner might be looking for her. As luck would have it, she didn't and we found out she'd already been spayed as well... Bonus! The vet estimated her age to be about three years. We named her Lily (because she's orange like a tiger lily) and she has made herself quite at home with us.

I've been doing a lot of reading about what to feed cats and it seems that most people are saying that cats should not be fed dry food. My question is, if we have to leave Lily for a weekend, for example, and we don't have anyone who can come in to feed her, how do we do it if she doesn't eat dry food? TIA

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

luvmybeetle — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 22:51:55 GMT

I was wondering why did they say you shouldn't feed the cat dry food? My 5 cats have been eating dry food all their lives. What is the significance of wet food? Thanks

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

Mz iMac — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 23:04:35 GMT

@Texasmouse

Do a Google search for wet food automatic feeders.

Like luvmybeetle, my cat & the previous ones lived long lives eating dry food. Get wet food (meat) as "treats." Cats are carnavors.

I use an automatic feeder. I can't be bothered w/a howling cat at 3:00am because he's hungry.

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

Oznell — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 23:06:06 GMT

Texasmouse, hooray that you are giving Lily a great home! I like that name. I'm not a vet, but I think that in general, vets prefer that we give them wet food, since maybe it keeps them more hydrated and more "regular". We normally give ours a combination of wet and dry.

However, I don't believe it would be at all harmful for short vacation times to leave dry food. We have a "food tower" that incrementally gives food out to the kitties when we are away, and of course it is all dry.

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

Oznell — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 23:08:44 GMT

And should add, that plenty of conscientious owners provide dry food only. You do what you can do, and any cat in a loving home with dry food is infinitely better off than a poor stray or feral cat left to the elements.

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

jbinrwc — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 23:13:18 GMT

I have always fed my cats dry food and they have lived long happy lives. I have an automatic feeder from Petmate which is set up to feed my cat twice a day. I don't ever have to worry about her being fed when I am away for short periods of time such as a weekend.

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

Kachina624 — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 23:34:19 GMT

I think the recommendation against dry food has to do with the tendency of male cats (mostly) forming crystals in their bladders. I'm a dog person so maybe a cat person can elaborate. I'd give the cat dry or semi-moist while you're away.

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

Alsee — Mon, 01 May 2017 00:14:28 GMT

Please find a reliable petsitter. Don't leave your cat alone for a weekend.

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

sandraskates — Mon, 01 May 2017 00:47:45 GMT

If Lily can free-feed without being a pig, you can get one of those feeders that let you load it up with dry food and you place that part into a dispensing bowl. As the bowl food goes down more food from the bin trickles out.

That's what I used to do for a cat that has since passed. She was a petite eater and there would be food left even when I got back.

But if you cat is like our current boys, they'd scarf it all up in a few hours. So we have a neighbor come by and feed them.

Just as important - when you go away for a weekend put up an extra litter box for Lily to use.

What a great thing you and your hubby did. Congrats on your new furry friend!

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

Lapdog — Mon, 01 May 2017 00:50:06 GMT

Always fed my cats good quality dry food.

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

Texasmouse — Mon, 01 May 2017 02:18:32 GMT

@luvmybeetle wrote:
I was wondering why did they say you shouldn't feed the cat dry food? My 5 cats have been eating dry food all their lives. What is the significance of wet food? Thanks

@luvmybeetle

According to what I've been reading, 1) dry food doesn't contain enough moisture (and cats supposedly aren't very good at drinking enough water) and 2) dry food contains too many carbohydrates, which are apparently not well digested by cats. From what I've read, cats are carnivores and shouldn't be fed any carbs? I'm still learning here and it's becoming more and more evident that there are two clearlyy divided camps on what to feed cats! I just want to take the best care of our Lily.

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

Texasmouse — Mon, 01 May 2017 02:22:51 GMT

Thanks @Oznell

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

Texasmouse — Mon, 01 May 2017 02:25:24 GMT

@sandraskates wrote:
If Lily can free-feed without being a pig, you can get one of those feeders that let you load it up with dry food and you place that part into a dispensing bowl. As the bowl food goes down more food from the bin trickles out.
That's what I used to do for a cat that has since passed. She was a petite eater and there would be food left even when I got back.

But if you cat is like our current boys, they'd scarf it all up in a few hours. So we have a neighbor come by and feed them.

Just as important - when you go away for a weekend put up an extra litter box for Lily to use.

What a great thing you and your hubby did. Congrats on your new furry friend!

Thanks @sandraskates

And that's good advice about the extra litter box too. I've been so conscientious about keeping hers clean, I wondered how she'd manage if I wasn't there to clean it as frequently. That's a good idea.

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

GCR18 — Mon, 01 May 2017 03:10:42 GMT

My cats were little piggies. If I was going to be gone all day, I'd leave breakfast and dinner. Of course, they ate it all for breakfast and still wanted dinner when I got home.

I think the cat will be fine with dry food and a couple bowls of water. The vets office may be able to help with a referral for someone to check in on the cat. The vet techs sometimes do that on the side. That will give you a chance to get know them before you have to take a longer trip.

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

candys mine — Mon, 01 May 2017 11:20:42 GMT

Make sure your cat likes and is used to the brand of dry food you want to leave for her. I would invest in an automatic dry food feeder to portion her meals while you are away. Get her used to that too. 1) to make sure it works and 2) to make sure it doesn't freak her out when the top springs open or portion falls into the bowl of the device when she is all alone. Better if someone can look in on her. Canned food helps keep the cat hydrated. I feed wet and dry to my cat, wet in the morning and dry overnight. Just remember Cats like to live by a set schedule. the less deviation for her the more she will be okay with things. If she is used to being fed by a feeder it'll be no big deal. just remember to leave out extra water bowls. and a nice fresh litterbox for her when you're ready to go.

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

cerb — Mon, 01 May 2017 15:02:36 GMT

My daughter is graduating from veterinary school this month. She has always recommended we feed a good quality dry food to our pets. We've had no problem leaving our cats for a weekend with extra food, extra water, and extra littler box. One of our cats is picky about water, so we invested in a circulating waterer for her.

The debate regarding wet food versus dry food isn't as important as getting something decent quality and sticking with it. The quality of food and health care for pets has improved so much over the past two decades that vets are seeing more elderly pets with dementia. They never used to see cats live long enough to get dementia and now they do.

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

hyacinth003 — Mon, 01 May 2017 20:57:15 GMT

Congratulations on your new baby!

We feed our 8 cats dry food free feeding all day and I give one can of wet food, for those who like it, at night to share. I only have 4 that want it.

I have had cats live to 21, 19, and 15. I wouldn't worry about wet food vs dry food, if you are buying a decent brand!

If you are going away, just be sure Lily likes the dry food ahead of time. My kitties have never been terribly picky! She would need enough food and water to get through a weekend. If you can get someone to look in every day, that would be great. An extra litter box is a great idea too.

Don't worry and just enjoy Lily!

Hyacinth

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

Texasmouse — Mon, 01 May 2017 23:52:35 GMT

@hyacinth003 Thanks!

Thank you all for your insight and advice. Many of you mentioned feeding good quality dry food. What are some brands you'd recommend? My vet mentioned Royal Canin but, holy cow, it's so expensive! Are there good ones out there that are reasonably priced?

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

sandraskates — Tue, 02 May 2017 02:37:56 GMT

We have 3 cats and have recently done some switching of our cat foods. We feed both wet and dry.

Dry - we've settled on Halo. It doesn't upset the delicate tummy of Mr. Fabulous and the other cats are also doing well eating it.

Wet - we're giving them small portions of Natural Balance with their dry food.

I have noticed that since switching to these two brands (moderately priced - not the cheapest nor the most expensive) that Crispy's fur has grown back nicely fluffy on his stomach area (suffered from an internal issue for years that made his fur sparse in that area).

As far as the price and quality topic go, I have written this before: I had a neighbor that fed her cat cheapie Meow Mix and the cat lived to be around 19 years old.

Re: What does your cat eat when you're away?

noodleann — Tue, 02 May 2017 04:53:52 GMT

I believe it's the lower-quality supermarket-brand dry foods that are the problem, the ones that contain grain. If you go grain-free and high quality, you should be fine.

I use Taste of the Wild venison (green bag) for my cats as their main dry food and Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Green Pea with Chicken (names approximate) as their extra dry food, and I free feed. I do use Fancy Feast dry food, but only as a night treat, instead of Bonkers (it's much cheaper than real treats). All of my vets have approved these choices, and one told me that he associated the grain-rich dry food with the growing incidence of diabetes in cats. Specialty stores, Amazon, Drs Foster and Smith, Chewy, and tons of other pet supply sources sell both premium brands.

My cats also get a wet food breakfast and dinner, Friskies Buffet, which they all agree on. Premium wet food is very expensive, and I never found a brand or flavor they'd all eat..

If you introduce the cat to kibble as a treat, you may have the best luck in getting her to accept it as her regular food.

I rescued and fostered a ginger girl and named her Lily, too.