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Obesity is one of the most common health concerns for cats, and it is a contributing factor for multiple health issues such as diabetes, liver, and heart disease. If you are concerned about your cat’s weight, it is essential that you speak with your veterinarian and learn more about a safe and nutritious diet for your cat.

Cats are grazers and naturally eat multiple small meals throughout the day. This doesn’t necessarily fit into the schedule of owners that cannot spend their entire day dispensing small portions of food, resulting in the cat receiving fewer larger meals or being free fed. This schedule can be further disturbed when the owner travels, and a cat sitter visits only once or twice a day.  Some cats can self-regulate their food intake, and they do well on such diets. However, for many cats, that is a path to gaining more weight than they should with a risk of obesity.

One tool that is available to pet owners is automated timed feeders that dispense a measured amount of food at set intervals throughout the day. Automatic feeders come in a variety of types and costs. The simplest ones are battery operated and have a simple timer that ticks back until a groove in the timer aligns with a ridge on the dispenser’s cover, allowing the cover to open. Others are programmable, and measure an exact amount to be dispensed at a specific time of the day. The most sophisticated feeders connect to the internet and have a camera that you can use to spy on your cat while they eat.

Some of the simple feeders come with an ice pack that fits under the food dish. These allow wet food to be kept fresh for longer. When owners are traveling, it is helpful to have a spare ice pack ready in the freezer, so a pet sitter will be able to rotate the ice packs and ensure that the cat is fed a healthy wet food diet at the required set intervals.

In multi-cat households, the concern may be that cats may pick food from one another - leading to the obesity of one cat while the other stays hungry. Feeders that read the cat’s microchip in order to open a dish cover require some training for the cats to learn to recognize their own feeders. Once the cats learn to operate their feeders, this becomes a suitable solution, especially when the different cats require a different veterinarian recommended diets.

Overall, cat feeders are a good solution for maintaining a healthy diet for your cat, an easy schedule for you, and an easier to manage routine for your cat sitter.