neko ni esa wo yaru mae ni, mizu mo youisite okimasu.

Because 猫 is the recipient of the food.

• 餌をやる = to give food
• 猫に = to the cat

So the structure is:

• 猫に = to the cat
• 餌を = food
• やる = give

In English, the cat feels like the main object in feed the cat, but in Japanese this expression is built more like give food to the cat.

Here, やる means to give, and it is commonly used when giving something to:

• animals
• plants
• someone of lower status
• in rough/casual speech

So 猫に餌をやる is a very natural way to say give food to the cat / feed the cat.

By contrast, あげる is the more neutral/polite give used for people in many situations.

Important nuance:

• 猫に餌をやる = natural
• 人にやる can sound rude, depending on context

So this sentence uses やる because the receiver is a cat.

Because before 前に, Japanese normally uses the plain form of the verb, not the ます-form.

So:

• やる前に = before giving
• not やります前に

This is normal even when the main sentence is polite.

So the sentence mixes:

• plain form inside the time phrase: やる前に
• polite form at the end: 用意しておきます

That is completely standard Japanese.

Not in this sentence. Here 前に means before in a time sense.

前 can mean both:

• front
• before

The meaning depends on context.

Examples:

• 家の前 = in front of the house
• 食べる前に = before eating

So 猫に餌をやる前に means before giving food to the cat, not in front of giving food to the cat.

In V-dictionary form + 前に, the に is part of the grammar pattern meaning before doing V.

So:

• やる前に = before giving
• 寝る前に = before sleeping
• 行く前に = before going

This に is not doing the same job as the に in 猫に.

They are two different uses:

• 猫に: marks the recipient
• 前に: part of the time expression before

Because も is replacing を here.

Normally, 水 would be the direct object of 用意する, so you might expect:

• 水を用意します

But when you want to say also / too, も often takes the place of を:

• 水も用意します = I also prepare water

So も here adds the idea that water is included in addition to something else.

In this sentence, that something else is naturally the cat food.

も means also / too.

So the sentence is not just saying water is prepared. It is saying that, besides the food, water is prepared as well.

That gives the sentence a sense like:

• Before feeding the cat, I also prepare water.

Without も, the sentence would simply state that water is prepared, without emphasizing the in addition meaning.

〜ておく adds the idea of doing something in advance or leaving it done for later convenience.

So:

• 用意します = prepare
• 用意しておきます = prepare in advance / have it ready beforehand

In this sentence, that nuance fits very well:

• before feeding the cat, the speaker gets the water ready ahead of time

So 用意しておきます feels more purposeful and practical than plain 用意します.

Yes.

• しておく is the plain form
• しておきます is the polite form

This comes from:

• する → して (te-form)
• おく → to put/place, but in this grammar pattern it means do in advance

So:

• 用意しておく = to prepare in advance
• 用意しておきます = polite version

In casual speech, this often contracts to:

• 用意しとく
• 用意しときます

The subject is omitted because Japanese often leaves out information that is understood from context.

So the sentence does not explicitly say:

• I
• we
• someone

But in natural context, it usually means something like:

• I prepare water too before feeding the cat
• or We prepare water too before feeding the cat

Japanese commonly omits subjects when they are obvious or not important.

Japanese non-past forms cover:

• present
• future
• habitual actions

So 用意しておきます can mean different things depending on context:

• I prepare it in advance
• I will prepare it in advance
• I usually prepare it in advance

In this sentence, it could describe:

• a habit/routine
• a future intention
• a general statement

That is very normal in Japanese.

Yes. A helpful breakdown is:

• 猫に = to the cat
• 餌を = food
• やる = give
• 前に = before
• 水も = water too / also water
• 用意しておきます = prepare in advance

So the overall structure is:

[Before giving food to the cat], [I also prepare water in advance].

The first part sets the time, and the second part is the main action.