Why Feeding Instructions Specifically Need Two Copies
Feeding is the part of a sitter's visit that happens with hands full, a cat circling, and a measuring scoop already in motion. A printed sheet taped beside the food bin or on the fridge door can be checked in a glance, with no passcode, no scrolling through a long message thread, and no guessing which of two versions you sent is newer. The digital copy does a different job: it travels with the sitter, it can be re-read the night before the first visit, and it is where you send a correction if your trip changes. One copy is a single point of failure — a sheet knocked behind the bin or a phone left charging in another room — and feeding errors are the easiest sitter mistake to prevent.
What the Feeding Sheet Must Actually Say
Write the routine the way you perform it, not the way the food packaging describes it. Name each meal by its time and place: what goes in the bowl in the morning, what changes in the evening, and where each cat eats if you have more than one. Give quantities in your own household measures — this scoop levelled, half of this tin, this many pieces from the treat jar — and show the scoop itself beside the sheet if it is an unusual one. Add the details a stranger cannot guess: food lives in the garage, the wet food warms for a few minutes out of the fridge, the bowl is washed between meals, and fresh water is topped up at the evening visit.
The Details That Prevent the Common Mistakes
Most sitter feeding problems are not about the main meals. They are the extras: a neighbour also feeding your outdoor cat, a sitter generously adding a second breakfast because the cat asked convincingly, or treats given on top of a full day's food for a cat watching her weight. Note plainly whether anyone else feeds your cat, whether begging should be ignored, and what to do if a whole meal is refused — leave it down for an hour, or lift it and offer nothing until the next meal. If your cat eats a prescription or sensitivity diet, say that no substitutes should be offered, even well-meant ones, and where the spare food is stored if a bag runs out.
Which Copy Wins When They Disagree
Decide in advance, and tell the sitter, that the printed sheet is the routine as you left it and a message from you personally is the only update that overrides it. That rule protects your cat from an old forwarded note or a family member's well-intentioned edit. If you do change a portion mid-trip, send the change as a short, clear message and ask the sitter to cross out and amend the printed line, so the kitchen copy and the phone copy match again for the next visit. When you get home, update your master instructions once, while you remember what actually worked.
Set It Up Once, Reuse It Every Trip
Keep a master feeding sheet you print fresh for each sitter rather than relying on last time's annotated copy, and walk a first-time sitter through one actual feed before you leave if you can. KinsLe's Care Pass gives a trusted sitter temporary, clear access to your cat's feeding routine and key details while you are away, which pairs naturally with that fridge sheet: the paper serves the moment, and the shared routine serves the whole trip.