Appropriate feeding of kittens ....

Hello

This is my first post so if this topic has been covered elsewhere, my apologies.

I'm seriously thinking of reentering the cat ownership world again, after losing my previous little mate 11 years ago. The only hesitation I have is the fact that I'm a shift worker that does rotating day and night shifts ( 6 till 6) that means that the little critters (I hope to get 2 kittens) would be on their own for 12 hours. They could keep each other company of course but I understand that kittens should be fed small meals every 2 to 3 hours, that would be impossible for me to do. I know there are automatic feeders available but from the reviews I've read they don't work that well.

Just wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation and how they managed or didn't.

I couldn't bear the though of them crying in hunger so I'm prepared to go catless if that is the only alternative.

Look forward to any assistance.

Cheers

Ban 

unless the kittens are super young giving them food just before you leave and then as soon as you come home should be fine. there is a cat food ball you can put dry biscuits in so they have to chase it around for the food to fall out. leave a couple of these around and if they get hungry after the bowls are empty they will have extra to eat. Make sure they have fresh water. When they are still young keep them confined to one area while you are not there. this area should not have anything they cant have in it. No wires they can chew no clothes they can toilet on etc. Good luck

Are you thinking to feed only canned (or raw) food? If you feed kibble, you can just leave a bowl full while they're young. I usually do have some kibble out when there are kittens, even though my adult cats get canned food only. You can also freeze canned/raw food, put the frozen plate down when you leave, and by the next mealtime it should be thawed but still fresh.

Hi

Thanks for the advice. I would like to feed them a mixture of kitten formula canned and dry food, with some raw chicken/beef/lamb/kangaroo as a treat when they are good. I like the idea of leaving frozen morsels for them, thanks.

If you will be feeding some dry food, that makes it easy---just leave a full bowl out for them during the day. When they're grown, you'll probably want to feed them measured amounts at mealtimes so they don't get fat, but when they're young and growing you can just leave it out. And feed them the canned and raw when you get home. I think they'll be very lucky kittens .