Cats and dogs need to be fed every day. It is an important part of pet ownership. However, if you are going to be away and are unable to feed and water them, it is important to have automatic pet food and water dispensers. These can be hard to find in stores and can also be expensive. You can make several varieties of them at home, however.
Dry Food Feeder
Most pets eat dry food. Even if your pet generally eats canned food, you'll want to have a dry food feeder for when you are gone. You can't leave out wet food because it will go bad in the time that your animal has to eat it. Creating a dry food feeder for your dog or cat will keep the dry food fresher longer and will allow you to automatically feed your pet, even when you aren't home.
Clean out a gallon-sized milk or juice or water jug. Use the plastic kind. Wash out any residue and rinse out any soap. Leave the lid on the jug. Cut a slit in the bottom of one side of the gallon jug. The slit should be 1/2 inch tall and should be the length of one side of the jug. It should be at the bottom of the jug.
Use a large tray with raised sides, or a large flat plat with raised edges. It should be big enough to accommodate the slit jug. Set the jug onto the plate. Open the lid at the top of the jug and fill it with dry food. Food will spill from the slit and fill up the flat plate or tray. Then, it will fill up the jug. As your pet eats the food from the tray, gravity will pull more food from the jug to slide through to the tray.
Automatic Waterer
Leaving fresh water for your pet is also important. An automatic waterer can help your pet always have fresh water, whether you are there to fill it up or not. Use a 2.0-liter bottle. Clean out the 2.0-liter bottle and rinse it completely. Cut a 1-by-1-inch square hole in the bottom of the bottle.
Find a flat bottomed cat or dog water dish. It should be large enough to accommodate the 2.0-liter bottle. Set the 2.0-liter bottle into the flat-bottomed water dish. Unscrew the cap of the bottle and fill it with water from another source. The water should spill out of the bottle and fill the bowl. Then, the water will continue to fill up the 2.0-liter bottle. Poke a hole in the cap before you replace it to allow air to get through. As your cat or dog drinks the water, it will replace itself with water from the 2.0-liter bottle.
Kibble Feeder
You might also need to leave kibble out for an animal while you are away. Kibble is fed to animals in cages, like guinea pigs. Fill a 20-oz plastic bottle with the animal's kibble. Tip the bottle upside down and stick the top through the bars of the cage, and into the kibble dish. Hook the bottle with wire so that it suspends from the cage and hangs about 1 inch above the level of food in the dish. Kibble will spill out of the bottle and make a pile underneath the bottle's lip, which will prevent more from spilling. As the animal eats what is in the dish, gravity will pull more food from the bottle to the dish.
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