How to make a pet feeding schedule for a sitter

Start with the food and routine your pet already follows

The schedule is a record of an established routine, not a place to redesign it before a trip. Check the current packaging, your usual measuring scoop and any feeding plan already agreed with a veterinary professional.

Use a time or a realistic time window for each meal. Record an exact household measure or weight instead of words such as a little, normal or one portion.

• Food brand, variety and where the current supply is stored
• Exact amount for each pet and each meal
• Meal time or a safe time window
• Any preparation or refrigeration step already used
• What a normal appetite looks like for this pet

Make multi-pet differences obvious

Give each pet a name in every meal instruction. If pets swap bowls, eat at different speeds or need different food, explain where they eat and when the sitter can lift the bowls.

Labels should work without relying on colour alone. A name and meal written on each container is clearer if the sitter is tired, the light is poor or two containers look similar.

• Who eats in each room or position
• Which bowl and measured container belongs to each pet
• Whether doors or barriers are used during meals
• When bowls can be lifted and pets reunited
• Who may approach or guard another pet's food

Add water, treats and the route for a concern

Fresh water belongs on the feeding schedule because bowl and fountain routines are easy to overlook. Add treat limits and foods the sitter must not offer, including whether a treat is reserved for an established medication routine.

Explain when a change in appetite or drinking should lead to a call. Do not ask a sitter to diagnose the cause; give them the owner, backup and veterinary contact route.

• Every bowl or fountain location
• When water is normally refreshed and containers cleaned
• Allowed treats and a daily limit
• Food boundaries and items that must not be offered
• Who to contact if eating or drinking changes unexpectedly

Write instructions that can be scanned at meal time

This fictional example shows specific timing, portions and separation. It is not a feeding recommendation for another animal.

Check the schedule beside the real supplies

Read the finished schedule while standing where the food is kept. Confirm every container, scoop, bowl and location matches the words on the page.

Ask the sitter to explain the first meal back to you. That simple check catches unclear portions and separation rules before the sit begins.