Cat/pet question

ring_pop · June 2011

V's cousin, who lives down the street, is going to take care of Sherlock while I'm at the hospital. I could be gone anywhere from 2-5 days depending on how the delivery goes.

Right now we feed Sherlock twice a day, morning and evening. I don't really want to impose on V's cousin to have to drop by more than once a day though. Would it be bad to instruct V's cousin just to feed him twice as much, once a day?

Or should we plan for V to go home once a day as well so that we can keep his normal feeding routine? (And snuggle with him for a bit too... he's such a people cat... sometimes I wonder if he gets really lonely when we're out.) In good traffic, the hospital is about 25 mins from home so it's not too big a deal as long as it's a decent time of day.

Ciaram22 · June 2011

I went into the hospital Friday night and got out Monday morning. We just free fed our two cats while we were gone and they did fine, that may have also been because they had each other to keep busy.

Whichever you feel most comfortable doing is what you should do. If he is a very personable cat it may be best if V goes home and checks on him once a day just so he knows he's not forgotten.

abarber340 · June 2011

Honestly I'm sure that Sherlock will be fine with a visitor once a day. When we have to leave for any length of time I usually only ask people to check on the cats once a day (we do have the automatic feeder though, so the food routine isn't really affected). If it would make you feel better though, then send V home once a day or once every other day just to make sure that everything is fine.

karimychel · June 2011

Do what you're comfortable with. Our cat has food in her bowl at all times, so timed feedings aren't an issue, but if we go out of town for less than 4 days, she doesn't get visitors. Also keep in mind as much as V will want to be in the hospital with you, once you have baby ringpop, sitting around a hospital room can make some people a little stir crazy and getting out to check on Sherlock, bring you real food, etc. might be nice.

raynes · June 2011

We normally feed our girls twice a day too, but when we go away for a weekend we just dump LOTS of food into their bowls and let them free feed. In our experience they eat less when we're not there.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that once a day should be more than fine!

rayne779 · June 2011

We feed our cats twice a day too, but when we go out of town and have our friends feed them, they only do it once a day, with twice as much food. The cats never seem to mind!