Unfortuately, I had to adopt 2 kittens way before they were ready to leave their momma, they are 7 weeks old. Would an automatic wet food feeder be useful while I am at work? One kitten is starting to eat just kibble but the other one does not like it as much. I feed them 1/2 a can of wet food each with some kibble in it right before I leave in the AM and have started to leave pure kibble for during the day. I am scared that they will go hungry while I am at work. I really do not want to give them up, I want to make it work as much as I can.
Hi Halowithharmony! Congrats on your new friends! I'm not a vet but I'm happy to offer my thoughts. It's generally recommended that weaned kittens aged 5-8 weeks eat about every 6 hours, so it's definitely a good idea to make sure they have something to eat while you're out.
I see you're giving them wet food before you leave, which is great, I'd just recommend checking the feeding recommendations on the can to make sure they're getting enough calories for the whole day with the total amount you're feeding them. (I wouldn't worry about trying to measure how much dry food they're grazing on while you're gone, as overeating is unlikely to be an issue at this age.)
Here's a good article on figuring out how much to feed your kittens: https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat
For the kitten who doesn't care for kibble, a wet food feeder could be helpful. I don't think you even need to buy anything fancy. What might work is something like the CatMate C200 2-bowl feeder. It has two compartments you can fill before you leave and set the timer to open after a couple hours. I haven't tried the 2-bowl model, but the bowls look pretty open and easy for a kitten to access. And it comes with a reusable ice pack, so just make sure you refreeze it overnight so it's ready when you set up the feeder in the morning.
Here's a link to the feeder I'm talking about: https://www.chewy.com/cat-mate-c300-automatic-dog-cat/dp/103147
I'd still leave some kibble out, like you're doing. You might also have to do a little training to get the kittens used to the feeder but it should give you some peace of mind knowing that they'll have both food options available.
Hope that helps!
- Kate