'Uh oh': Friend hired to cat sit three fluffy felines accidentally feeds them a week's worth of treats instead of food

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Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Mar 27, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

It's so hard to find good help these days. 

Going out of town, for work or for pleasure, is always more complicated when you have pets. If you don't have family in the area, you're forced to rely on friends or a professional pet sitter. And even if you do have a friend, you can't always be sure that they're going to follow your instructions to the T. In today's story, a cat pawrent of three fluffy felines had to take a last minute work trip for a week, and was able to get a friend to watch their cats. They left them with instructions, and plenty of food to keep them well-fed. But when they got home, they found the food bag still full…. and the 30 lb. treat bag empty! The friend accidentally fed their cats treats the whole week instead of food!

Their cats are okay, just grumpy that they have to go back to eating their boring, normal dry food now that "mom" is back.

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  • 01
    I went on a last minute week long work trip, so I had to find somebody to watch my cats last minute. I left my three cats with my friend who I have known and been close to for over a year. I included regular purina dry food, wet food, churus, and dry treats in the supplies to take care of them.
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  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10617769728
    via Aninka Bongers-Sutherland

    Cat treat and play time

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 03
    However, my friend apparently thought that the cat treats (Friskies Party Mix, 30 oz jug) was regular cat food. My cats free feed dry food so that was in the instructions and my friend let them free feed treats in their confusion and gave them wet food occasionally.
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  • 04
    Cheezburger Image 10617776384
    via Nils Jacobi

    Feeding cat treats

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 05
    So now I am concerned about their nutrition, especially my boy cat because of boys' sensitivity to diet and potential urinary problems that can come from that. Is this a cause for alarm?!?! Should I bring them to the vet??
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  • 07
    worldlydelights I'm sure your cat will be fine, just probably salty with you for a couple days that you won't feed them only treats Cats are resilient creatures. Trust me, I take care of tons of feral cats.
    via worldlydelights

  • If stray and feral cats can survive in the wild against snowy weather, terrible drivers, and survive mostly eating trash, we're sure their cats will be fine. It's like the equivalent of eating fast food for a whole week. Will you probably have some tummy troubles? Yes. Will all of your normal food afterwards taste terrible? Probably also yes. But it's not like the cats were fed bags of cheese in their absence. They probably enjoyed every single second of it!

  • 08
    Shot_Loan_354 It s alright. I'm sure they think it was the best vacation of their life over there
    via Shot_Loan_354
  • 09
    InspectorTop1281 a week of treat overload is probably not going to cause lasting damage, cats are more resilient than we give them credit for, but keeping a close eye on your boy's litter box habits over the next few days is a smart
    via InspectorTop1281
  • 10
    move. If he's straining to urinate or going way less than usual, that's when you'd want to call the vet, but otherwise just transition them back to their normal diet and they should be fine. Your friend definitely thought they were spoiling them rotten, which is kind of sweet even if it was a little chaotic
    via InspectorTop1281
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    Cheezburger Image 10617769984
    via Africa images

    Woman Choosing Treats for Her Cute Cat in Pet Shop

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 12
    Imaginary-Contest887 Most of dry treats are in composition very similar to dry food. Usually just lesser protein and more fat. Not ideal to feed your cat with it for life obviously but very unlikely it would cause any harm to your cats over week.
    via Imaginary-Contest887
  • 13
    anothercairn Lol they will be totally fine but will probably be furious with you for not continuing their treats only diet. Cat treats actually have a little more moisture in them than dry kibble so I wouldn't be concerned about urinary blockages (but I get it, my cats are that way too). Just keep an eye on the litter box. All will be well
    via anothercairn
  • 14
    karinchup I laughed. A week isn't going to k I them but they might have some tummy grief for a while. It must have been like "woohoo! Junk food while mom is gone!"
    via karinchup
  • 15
    Only_Lawyer8133 If it makes you feel better I think temptations or one of them actually has instructions/says it can be used for meals.
    via Only_Lawyer8133
  • 16
    Im currently feeding my cats cheap canned food temporarily because one had a dental. It won't harm any in the grand scheme of things!
    via Only_Lawyer8133

  • We got into a tough financial spot in our mid-20s. We're not proud of it, but we could barely afford cat food. We fed our cats what we could, oftentimes choosing to feed them over ourselves. We're no longer in that place, but what we're trying to say is that cats will be fine if you don't feed them the organic, no-grain, processed food-free cat food that everyone says will make your cat live five years longer. One of our cats ate nothing but dry food her whole life, and she lived until she was 19 years old. She was the best cat.

  • 17
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  • 18
    Alarmed-Newt-7742 The friskies party mix actually is AAFCO formulated to meet to dietary requirements for maintenance in cats like other kibble. The main issue is probably the amount of fat in it which means they probably ate a lot more calories than they needed. So as long as they are acting fine, just go back to their normal diet.
    via Alarmed-Newt-7742
  • 19
    deerfawns They just had the best week of their lives lol
    via deerfawns
  • 20
    Old-Arachnid77 Just a little for a bit. It's like living on McDonald's for a week. They'll be fine. Maybe have some tummy troubles and mad that you're not giving them junk food all the time, but they'll probably be ok.
    via Old-Arachnid77
  • 21
    Meyesme3 I am sure some people eat chips and ice cream and pizza for a few days and they just end up with a bad mood and gain a few pounds. Not me I didn't do that but other folks probably did. Same with your cats. They should bounce back soon.
    via Meyesme3
  • 22
    bluejellyfish52 Some cat treats are low calorie and nutritionally dense enough they can be used as cat food for particularly picky cats. Only know this because our ragdoll wouldn't eat real food for a little bit, and was only eating the treats! He's back to eating real food, though!
    via bluejellyfish52
  • 23
    Western-Yam552 "Uh oh"
    via Western-Yam552

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fluffy felines accident friends cat treats cat food Cats animals cat sitting
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