Automated Cat Feeder?

milliebear00001

Hi there

We are planning to be away for five days in a few weeks time and am wondering about getting an automated cat feeder for the duration.

Does anyone have one of these? Do they work?

My cat is currently fed on a mixture of wet meals and constantly available dry food.

Any recommendations/thoughts/advice?

rising_from_the_ashes

I have one and it's great but IMHO only for short periods of time - I have left my cats from lunchtime on a Saturday to Sunday evening with the auto feeder.

Personally, I feel that if you're going to be away for longer than that, then someone needs to pop in and check on them and make sure they're OK.

Food (especially if it's wet) won't keep fresh for 5 days and their litter trays will certainly need cleaned out well before that length of time.

Do you have a friend / neighbour who could pop in?

krlyr

In combination with someone popping by, it could work (with dry food) but I wouldn't want to leave a cat alone solely with an automated feeder for 5 days. As above, the litter tray will need cleaning if they're shut indoors, and they'll need checking on. What if they were to get ill or injured on the first day - that's another 4 days until they could get treatment, and by then they could be seriously ill or worse (septicemia from a wound can be fatal, for example, or dehydration from a D&V bug often requires proper rehydration fluid rather than just plain water). What if the automated feeder jammed or malfunctioned?
If you're having someone pop by then you might as well save your money - buy a pack of plastic cups instead and put the daily amount of dry food into each cup, and get your friend/relative/neighbour to spend 10 seconds tipping the cup into the bowl. Voila, "automated" feeder!

spike7451

I agree with both of the above,I often leave Daisy home alone while I go away with the army for a weekend but even then my downstairs neighbor pops in to check on & feed Daisy.
I certainly wouldn't leave her alone for any longer than two days,I'd look at putting her into a cattery for that.
I'm off tonight over to England for the ASSISI,taking 20 rescue dogs down to the far side of Birmingham,& I'll be back Saturday night,my neighbor can't look after Daisy because of a family death,so she'll be home alone with food & additional litter tray left out,but that's the longest I'd leave her without someone popping in.

penny_pincha

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

I feel that if you're going to be away for longer than that, then someone needs to pop in and check on them and make sure they're OK.

Food (especially if it's wet) won't keep fresh for 5 days and their litter trays will certainly need cleaned out well before that length of time.

Do you have a friend / neighbour who could pop in?

Sound advice Rising. OP doesn't say if his / her cat are going to have access to outside through a cat flap or not.

My neighbour had one of these feeders and a relative who popped in every two days for their cat. However, the cat went missing and didn't turn up for when the relative checked. It turned out that the cat had been run over.

Also, I once left my cats only over one night returning in the evening the following day, to find that something had got knocked off a high shelf and smashed. Fortunately no cat had cut themselves. I would never do that again. Always have someone reliable to take care of them.

Having someone reliable is an important point as I once asked my neighbour to feed my two cats (once upon a time when I only had two) when we went away for two weeks. She didn't bother. All she had to do was feed them in the shed with dry biscuits and check the water bowls. We have an outside tap. When we came home her grown up son had over filled the bowls with food spilling every where. Both cats were very pleased to see us and had evidently lost an extreme amount of weight.

Moral of the story;
1.check that the person who takes care of them is willing to do it when you ask them to,
2. give them written instructions, give them contact numbers how to contact you if there is a problem,
3. leave a carrier out if one has to go to the vets in an emergency and written instructions to where the vets is,
4. ring and check everything is OK every couple of days while you are away.
5. Pay them or bring them a gift for their trouble as a way to show how you appreciate what they do.:)

bacardi66

Ive had an automated feeder for years but only ever left my 2 cats for 2 nights with it (and plenty of dry food). Its called a CatMate C20. My cat is 18 now and I wouldn't feel happy leaving him for more than one night with the feeder.

Longer that that Ive always got a reliable friend or paid a local vet nurse/catsitter to pop in once or twice a day to put down fresh food and water.

I think it also depends on whether your cats are indoor or outdoor cats, my cats have always had a catflap so they get plenty of stimulation/exercise - Im not sure if indoor cats left alone for 5 days might go stir crazy?!

McKneff

I have a double pet pod. Absolutely brilliant piece of kit.

My daughter call in in the evening to feed tink, puts next mornings brekky and lunch in the 2nd one, and so on. We havent ever stayed away more than 5 days but I wouldnt do it if no one was filling it up daily.

salfordgirl

I got an automatic feeder from Argos, but it only had two sections set on a timer, so it wouldn't be enough for 5 days.
As above, is there anyone that you can ask to pop in?

kittykarate

I have a cat mate c50, which is pretty good, has 4 covered compartments. However, I wouldn't leave my cats home alone for longer than a night and rely on a feeder. Have you thought about where your cat would get fresh water for 5 days?

Definitely look at getting a catsitter or putting the cat in a cattery.

rita-rabbit

Five days is too long without some human intervention - especially for water. I have 2 cats and am not sure how a single cat would like being left alone.

Regarding litter if you use additional trays & the long life silica stuff that could minimise the stuff your human helper has to clean up.

I have a water dispenser (the type like a sweetie jar turned upside down) & a dried food dispenser (something similar) as well as clockwork feeder (which I put dried food into with freezer packs underneath) which I ask a relative to replenish every 2 days. Also I have Feliway plugged in a few days before, during & after I go away.

milliebear00001

Thanks for the advice about the feeder - which was what I was actually asking!

I have my mum popping in to check on my cat and she can top up the feeder - I was more interested in how long it would keep the wet food fresh for - my cat already has a constantly available supply of dry food, so that isn't a problem.

The cat is an outdoor cat, pretty 'aloof', and has access to a catflap, so I have no concerns on that front either.