Canned Only: what about when you are away?

OK, I have fully transitioned my 2 fur-babies to 100% wet food.  They get fed early a.m. and early p.m., with a small moist treat when Buddy finishes his nightly sub q fluid treatment (he has kidney disease).  Feeding these 2 is relatively easy, except for when they want to constantly switch bowls (eat out of each other's at about half way through a feeding).

My question is this: what do I do if there comes a time when I *know* I won't get home in time for their feeding, but will be a few hours late; or if I have to miss a feeding alltogether?  I know it's better for them to have the wet especially my CKD boy, but, what about leaving kibble down in small amounts occasionally?  I don't mind buying a high quality dry if I am only having to use it very rarely.

Also, they do seem to have gotten used to this feeding schedule (they used to be free fed, only kibble); but sometimes I feel guilty for only feeding every 12 hours...would it be OK to leave a tiny amount of kibble for them to nibble during that 12 hour stretch?  I do have a fear that the boy, who is more greedy and is the one with CKD, will just hog it all up on my girl.

Thoughts?

TIA

bbm

2-3 times a day is pretty common, so I wouldn't worry about 12-hour stretches. Of course, more little meals is better than fewer big meals, but if you can't work your schedule around that, don't stress over it. A little bit of kibble to nibble during the day isn't too bad - it's just like us eating a bit of unhealthy snack. As long as it isn't a large portion of their daily meal, they'll end up healthier than a dry-only diet. I don't think it's necessary, but if it makes you feel better, then go for it!

If you're going to be away for a long time, you may want to try this: Say you feed them 7am and 7pm. The night before, freeze a portion of the wet food. At 7am, you put out the usual wet food amount out for them to eat, and at the same time you put the frozen one down too. By the time 7pm comes around, the frozen food would have thawed enough for them to want to eat it. Of course, this assumes your cats don't like cold food (my Jed will eat frozen food, so this method doesn't work for me). You may have to play around with freezing time to figure out how long it takes to thaw to an "eatable" state.

As for your boy eating out of his sister's bowl, have you tried separating the bowls? Generally you put the bowl at a place your boy doesn't know about, or rarely goes to. Easier said than done though, lol.

Does your kidney cat throw up froth if his stomach gets too empty?  If not, then it shouldn't be a problem for them to just wait a few hours to eat on those rare occasions when you'll be later feeding them.  Otherwise, doing what Fhi09 suggests with the frozen food is a good idea, OR leaving out a little good quality kibble shouldn't hurt them, unless it makes them stop liking their wet food .  You could even put it in a food puzzle type thing (maybe a plastic container with a lid and a couple of small holes cut into it so they have to roll it around to get the kibble to fall out of it.  That way it's entertaining for them as well .

@Fhi09  thanks for the frozen idea!  That might even be helpful if I ever want to actually sleep in on the weekend, as their feed times are 6 before I leave for work and 6 pm when I get home.

@mrsgreenjeens  no, my kidney boy does not throw up foam (bile?) during those long stretches; altho, I have noticed that he is giving up more hair balls recently...that was going to be my next post here.  Typically my kids find a hairball once they get up f r the day, much later, as they are homeschooled.  I wonder if it's related?

bbm

My cats eat raw, so the actual amount they eat is less than when they ate canned but they still only eat twice a day.  On days I want to sleep in, what I do is feed a snack before going to bed the night before.  It's not 100%, but even if it buys me 2 more hours sleeping in hen I'm happy!

BuddyBellaMom said:

 
@mrsgreenjeens  no, my kidney boy does not throw up foam (bile?) during those long stretches; altho, I have noticed that he is giving up more hair balls recently...that was going to be my next post here.  Typically my kids find a hairball once they get up f r the day, much later, as they are homeschooled.  I wonder if it's related?

bbm

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No, I doubt that the hairballs are directly related to his stomach getting too empty.  I'm on my 3rd kidney cat now, and they've all thown up froth when their tummies get too empty.  It's not bile, because bile would be greenish, I'm thinking.  This is just froth, which our Vet said was from too much stomach acid, a side effect from kidney disease.

For hairballs, I give my healthy cats Egg Yolk Lecithin every day., or just plain egg yolks a couple of times a week.  (one doesn't like egg yolks and is quite a picky eater, so for him, it's easier to give the Egg Yolk Lecithin).  For my kidney cat, I use Vet's Best Hairball Relief Digestive Aid daily.  I USED to give her the Egg Yolk Lecithin, which she dearly loves, but it's way too high in phosphorus, so now she can't have it anymore    Doing these things has cut down on the hairballs around here significantly.  

I'm on the same boat, feeding them only canned food in the morning and evening, about 12 hours apart. When I will be coming home late, I just make them wait hahaha. They complain a bit, but they deal with it. I also have a timed feeder with ice pack that I could use in case I know I'd be super late or am staying over somewhere. It's available on Amazon if you're interested

For those times when you're away from home: 

(1) Try a timed auto feeder.  I have a battery operated 5 tray rotating one. You can set the time for the tray(s) to rotate open.  You can use either kibble or canned (small space underneath rotation tray for ice pack).  I just use kibble.  Since it's infrequent, I freeze the entire bag of kibble to keep it fresh.  Easy - no fuss.  

(2) Like mentioned above - leave out a frozen meal, if under ~ 12 hrs. away from home.