Feeding schedule?

ankitty

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One of my cats vomits sometimes when he's hungry, so I need to feed them 3 to 4 times a day. I'm trying to figure out feeding schedule. Right now, I'm feeding them around 7am, noon, 5pm and 10pm. However, I'm planning to board them in February, and the place opens from 8am to 6pm. So, I'm bit worried that 14 hours between meals may be too long for my cat. I feed raw and canned. For now, I'm trying to adjust to feeding raw food (1.5 to 2 oz each) at 8am and noon, and canned (1/2 large can each) at 6pm, and leave the canned food out for the night (they usually finish canned food in a couple of hours). That would be 250 to 300 kcal for each cat a day. Any suggestions?
 

momof3b1g

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Have you called them? Are you sure there are not care takers there after hours?
 

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Could you have them put out something like freeze-dried raw right before closing time? What about an automatic feeder with ice packs and a timer?

We had the same problem when we boarded our cat who has IBD - he needs to eat 4x daily. They gave him three canned meals during opening hours and left some dry before they closed for the evening.

When my mother-in-law looked after him this past summer, she gave him canned in the morning and evening and put some dry in a treat ball before she left both times, so she only had to come twice a day. He destroys automatic feeders, so that wasn't an option.
 
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ankitty

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Have you called them? Are you sure there are not care takers there after hours?
Yes, I called them. It's our vet's office. I don't know if they have anyone come in after hours. 
 
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ankitty

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Could you have them put out something like freeze-dried raw right before closing time? What about an automatic feeder with ice packs and a timer?

We had the same problem when we boarded our cat who has IBD - he needs to eat 4x daily. They gave him three canned meals during opening hours and left some dry before they closed for the evening.

When my mother-in-law looked after him this past summer, she gave him canned in the morning and evening and put some dry in a treat ball before she left both times, so she only had to come twice a day. He destroys automatic feeders, so that wasn't an option.
Which automatic feeder did you use? Is it good for wet food also?

I'm not sure if FD raw works for them. They just go crazy with it and finish eating in a minute. I don't feed them dry either. It'd be nice if I can feed canned food with timer. 
 
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jcat

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The one we had was a Catmate C10 Feeder. It worked fine for our old cat (who couldn't wait past dawn for his breakfast), but our current cat is too destructive and greedy for a plastic feeder. There are bigger and more modern ones available, e.g. on amazon.com.

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I know you said youvdon't feed your cats dry food but couldn't it be an option for the hours they won't be fed?
 
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ankitty

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I know you said youvdon't feed your cats dry food but couldn't it be an option for the hours they won't be fed?
No. Since I switched to all wet food, their coats got really beautiful and I believe it's benefiting them inside also. I won't go back to feeding dry even a small amount. 
 
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ankitty

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The one we had was a Catmate C10 Feeder. It worked fine for our old cat (who couldn't wait past dawn for his breakfast), but our current cat is too destructive and greedy for a plastic feeder. There are bigger and more modern ones available, e.g. on amazon.com.
Thank you. Does C10 takes ice pack? I think it's great idea. Maybe I can sleep in on weekends.

I'll call the vet and see what they suggest also. 
 

jcat

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It doesn't come with an ice pack, but a thin one would fit under it. There are probably ones that come with ice packs.
 

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No. Since I switched to all wet food, their coats got really beautiful and I believe it's benefiting them inside also. I won't go back to feeding dry even a small amount. 
I started recently to give mine about 90% wet food compared to 50% wet food before. One of my two has diarrhea and I've noticed a pattern that it may be from the dry food.
 
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ankitty

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I started recently to give mine about 90% wet food compared to 50% wet food before. One of my two has diarrhea and I've noticed a pattern that it may be from the dry food.
What I've read so far is that cats can't digest carbs too well, so dry food is hard on their digestive system and pancrea. My cat has vomiting issues and that's the main reason I switched to all wet. But some canned foods have starches, and carrageenan that make my cat sick also. It wasn't easy for me to find the pattern, but I started taking daily log, and it really helped. 
 

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I started recently to give mine about 90% wet food compared to 50% wet food before. One of my two has diarrhea and I've noticed a pattern that it may be from the dry food.
I've noticed this with my cat as well...since switching to mainly wet food, she can't handle the dry food anymore as it gives her the runs, poor thing.
 
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ankitty

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Some of the Catmate feeders do have an ice pack: http://www.pet-mate.com/us/faqs_automatic_pet_feeders.aspx

A small gel-pack type ice pack or cubes may fit into a C10 model.

I like the PetSafe 5 compartment feeder: http://store.petsafe.net/5-meal-timed-pet-feeder It doesn't have an ice pack but you can use a small gel-pack. There's a slot in the bottom of the tray that a gel pack would fit into.
Thank you! I'll look into it. 

As I posted in another thread, my cat vomited this morning (2am) so I should probably get one for home use, too. I wonder if 2 compartments are enough. 
 
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