Cats won’t eat when I’m gone…

[Shawna87]

Hey everyone! First off I wanted to thank everyone for this amazing community! You all are the best!

I have three cats. My two youngest are both boys ages 1 and 6 months. My one year old is and Beau and I had him since he was two months. My other one Carlos I raised him since he was three weeks old.

I recently went out of town for a day and a half and I had a friend check in and feed the cats two times a day. My youngest two ate only a few bites of food each meal while I was gone. They barely ate anything at all. My family lives out of town so I do end up traveling every few months. I always make sure someone plays with them, feeds them, and loves on them at least two times a day while I’m gone. However, I’m worried about my boys who don’t eat much while I’m gone. I’ll be heading out to town again in December and I’ll be gone a few more days.

Has anyone had this happen with their cats? Both the boys are very attached to me and want to be with me all the time. Any suggestions to help them eat while I’m gone?

(I can’t leave food out for them to access all day because my oldest girl is obsessed with food and on a diet and she would eat it all.)

Photo of the two boys attached!

 

[SoftAries]

What cuties!

It's sweet they love you so much, but it's definitely not ideal that they are not eating when you're gone. I would suggest a little training in terms of getting them used to eating when you're not there.

First is getting them the food without you needing to be there. I would suggest investing in two automatic feeders for them. I believe there are microchip ones you can buy that will only open up for a specific cat, if that's a potential issue. Another good option is getting a puzzle feeder that you put dry food in that may persuade the one in the diet from scarfing. I have a little Calico baby who is similar and puzzle feeders seem to slow her down enough that she can now be left alone with a full puzzle feeder of dry food without it disappearing.
Lastly, if you plan to stick with friends or family feeding them at a certain time, you can do the following training idea still.

But once you have how they will be fed set up. I would try by slowly over the course of 2 weeks, working them up in intervals of being used to you being gone during their meal times. First start with you feeding them and staying quiet when they eat (this will help break them associating you as meal time fully, especially if they are social eaters) , step it up next time by leaving the room. Next by going outside, then entirely leaving the house. You're aiming to be able to train them into the idea of eating when you're not there. You may have to ask your family to help you with this if you're choosing to go that route. But I feel once they get used to this being more of a normal thing in their routine they will be a lot easier to manage. As a side note, if the training is difficult and they refuse to eat anytime you leave, try topping training meals with their fave toppers or treats.

 

[maggie101]

Hey everyone! First off I wanted to thank everyone for this amazing community! You all are the best!

I have three cats. My two youngest are both boys ages 1 and 6 months. My one year old is and Beau and I had him since he was two months. My other one Carlos I raised him since he was three weeks old.

I recently went out of town for a day and a half and I had a friend check in and feed the cats two times a day. My youngest two ate only a few bites of food each meal while I was gone. They barely ate anything at all. My family lives out of town so I do end up traveling every few months. I always make sure someone plays with them, feeds them, and loves on them at least two times a day while I’m gone. However, I’m worried about my boys who don’t eat much while I’m gone. I’ll be heading out to town again in December and I’ll be gone a few more days.

Has anyone had this happen with their cats? Both the boys are very attached to me and want to be with me all the time. Any suggestions to help them eat while I’m gone?

(I can’t leave food out for them to access all day because my oldest girl is obsessed with food and on a diet and she would eat it all.)

Photo of the two boys attached!

My cat Peaches wants everyone's food. She will follow me to my bedroom or bathroom when feeding her then shut it and feed my other 2 cats. When your friend comes to help,have her sit in another room and be quiet. Unfortunately, that means she will be there longer. Then do the litter. She can also tempt them with toppers

 

[lollie]

I would only add that at some point to have the friend feed them while you are there.

 

[susanm9006]

I just want to mention that your trial absence has been pretty short. It very well may be that they eat just a little bit for a couple of days before adjusting be to regular eating. As long as they are eating something, they may be a hair thinner in a couple days but it’s not dangerous. And if They don’t finish it I would have the sitter leave it out. They very well may eat after the sitter leaves and if one eats more than the other, it’s not going to affect her weight that much when you are talking a couple days.

 

[ApocalypseKitty]

Hey everyone! First off I wanted to thank everyone for this amazing community! You all are the best!

I have three cats. My two youngest are both boys ages 1 and 6 months. My one year old is and Beau and I had him since he was two months. My other one Carlos I raised him since he was three weeks old.

I recently went out of town for a day and a half and I had a friend check in and feed the cats two times a day. My youngest two ate only a few bites of food each meal while I was gone. They barely ate anything at all. My family lives out of town so I do end up traveling every few months. I always make sure someone plays with them, feeds them, and loves on them at least two times a day while I’m gone. However, I’m worried about my boys who don’t eat much while I’m gone. I’ll be heading out to town again in December and I’ll be gone a few more days.

Has anyone had this happen with their cats? Both the boys are very attached to me and want to be with me all the time. Any suggestions to help them eat while I’m gone?

(I can’t leave food out for them to access all day because my oldest girl is obsessed with food and on a diet and she would eat it all.)

Photo of the two boys attached!

Seeking advice on helping my clingy cats eat when I'm away, as they barely eat when I travel despite having someone check on them regularly.

 

[Alldara]

Shawna87 Can the sitter encourage eating with some treats like Churu?

I also second having the sitter feed them a few times when you are there. The sitter is a friend of yours? Do they visit often?

 

[Shawna87]

What cuties!

It's sweet they love you so much, but it's definitely not ideal that they are not eating when you're gone. I would suggest a little training in terms of getting them used to eating when you're not there.

First is getting them the food without you needing to be there. I would suggest investing in two automatic feeders for them. I believe there are microchip ones you can buy that will only open up for a specific cat, if that's a potential issue. Another good option is getting a puzzle feeder that you put dry food in that may persuade the one in the diet from scarfing. I have a little Calico baby who is similar and puzzle feeders seem to slow her down enough that she can now be left alone with a full puzzle feeder of dry food without it disappearing.
Lastly, if you plan to stick with friends or family feeding them at a certain time, you can do the following training idea still.

But once you have how they will be fed set up. I would try by slowly over the course of 2 weeks, working them up in intervals of being used to you being gone during their meal times. First start with you feeding them and staying quiet when they eat (this will help break them associating you as meal time fully, especially if they are social eaters) , step it up next time by leaving the room. Next by going outside, then entirely leaving the house. You're aiming to be able to train them into the idea of eating when you're not there. You may have to ask your family to help you with this if you're choosing to go that route. But I feel once they get used to this being more of a normal thing in their routine they will be a lot easier to manage. As a side note, if the training is difficult and they refuse to eat anytime you leave, try topping training meals with their fave toppers or treats.

That’s a good idea! They are so use to be being with them when they eat and talking to them. I had never thought of that! Thank you so much!

 

[Shawna87]

My cat Peaches wants everyone's food. She will follow me to my bedroom or bathroom when feeding her then shut it and feed my other 2 cats. When your friend comes to help,have her sit in another room and be quiet. Unfortunately, that means she will be there longer. Then do the litter. She can also tempt them with toppers

Good idea! I’ll ask her to do that next time! She doesn’t mind staying long at all. Thank you!

 

[Shawna87]

I just want to mention that your trial absence has been pretty short. It very well may be that they eat just a little bit for a couple of days before adjusting be to regular eating. As long as they are eating something, they may be a hair thinner in a couple days but it’s not dangerous. And if They don’t finish it I would have the sitter leave it out. They very well may eat after the sitter leaves and if one eats more than the other, it’s not going to affect her weight that much when you are talking a couple days.

True it might be worth it to leave out. She did leave the older ones food out on the counter since he is the only one able to get up there. He still wasn’t wanting to eat though. That’s a point though. They might take a couple days to adjust to me being gone before eating normal again. Even when I came home it took the younger one a day of me being home for him to eat like normal.

 

[Shawna87]

Shawna87 Can the sitter encourage eating with some treats like Churu?

I also second having the sitter feed them a few times when you are there. The sitter is a friend of yours? Do they visit often?

She could for the younger one but unfortunately Beau is on a special diet since his vet and I suspect he could have a food allergy.

The sitter doesn’t visit often but I know she would be willing to come over and feed them while I’m there. I think I’ll have her try that a few times and each time have me be less involved.

 

[Shawna87]

Shawna87 Can the sitter encourage eating with some treats like Churu?

I also second having the sitter feed them a few times when you are there. The sitter is a friend of yours? Do they visit often?

Forgot to ask can kittens 6 months have Churu? I know Carlos would absolutely love it and be more prone to eating with that but I wasn’t sure it was okay for kittens.

Thank you so much!

 

[Alldara]

Forgot to ask can kittens 6 months have Churu? I know Carlos would absolutely love it and be more prone to eating with that but I wasn’t sure it was okay for kittens.

Thank you so much!

Yes as a treat it's okay!
Around that age Magnus needed medicine twice a day and we used Churu to get him to take it without force.