I am an idiot!

I'm going to a friend's wedding tomorrow, and will be gone from Friday morning until mid Saturday afternoon.

I have no idea how I didn't think of this, but I have no care plan in place for my two cats! Don't ask me how this slipped my mind, because I'm usually super-organized about this sort of thing.

I won't be gone that long (less than 36 hours, probably), so litter and water aren't really an issue. My main concern is food. I don't feed dry, so I don't have any in the house. I could get up tomorrow morning and buy some at the grocery store just to tide them over, but one of my cats eats everything she's given. I've never been able to free feed her.

I wish I had a timed feeder, but I don't. Any advice? Should I just leave out a big bowl of dry food and let her gorge herself for a day? She has to get full at some point, right?

I'd ask a friend to check on them, but I have no way of doing a key hand-off before I leave for work tomorrow morning.

Argh. This was so stupid of me.

Unfortunately I live in NYC, so there's no way I could leave a key for a friend.

Dry food it is, I suppose. They should be fine for 30 hours, right?

I'd just leave out a bowl of dry since there don't seem to be any other options at this point.

Yeap, agreed with the others - dry should do at this point.

On a side note, even if you were able to leave a key somewhere for a friend to come check on them and feed them, I'd still leave out dry and tell him/her to take it away once he gets there. Believe it or not, I've heard stories of friends being unable to make it and pets starving (to death, in one case) :X

So luck was with me and I ran into my upstairs neighbor this morning. We've done a bit of cat sitting for her in the past. I'd thought she was away on vacation, which is why I hadn't thought of her, but she just got back. Thank goodness I heard her coming down the stairs on her way to work.

So everything will be fine! It's really easy for her to just poke her head in for a few minutes and feed the brats.

Thanks to everyone who replied! This is such a load off my mind.

Originally Posted by NicoleGray

So luck was with me and I ran into my upstairs neighbor this morning. We've done a bit of cat sitting for her in the past. I'd thought she was away on vacation, which is why I hadn't thought of her, but she just got back. Thank goodness I heard her coming down the stairs on her way to work.

So everything will be fine! It's really easy for her to just poke her head in for a few minutes and feed the brats.

Thanks to everyone who replied! This is such a load off my mind.

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Luck had nothing to do with it sweetie that was the good Lord looking out for you and your babies

If your cats are not used to eating dry, getting it now probably is a waste of money. I'd be sure they have a few extra bowls of water and extra litter pan (or plenty of clean litter).

As for the canned foods, just give them a portion and a half. It will NOT hurt them to miss a meal or two - but you need to have water. Cats can be ok with a few missing meals, but not missing water. They will be "starving" when you come back and make you feel really guilty.....

When you return give them 1/2 of what a normal meal will be and wait a few hrs and give the other 1/2 - then back on a normal schedule.

GoldenKitty, thanks so much for the advice! That will be very useful for future reference.

I think I may invest in a timed feeder, so that if this happens again I won't need to worry as much.