What is the best way to feed 4 cats?

I've had my babies for about half a year now (well Vienna only 3 weeks and Tiramisu and Chantilly about 4 months and Caspian 7 months to be precise)!! But anyhoo!! I feed my cats on a complete dry kitten food (whiskers). I fill 3 bowls up of food and leave it in the kitchen and top each bowl up when it's empty. I have noticed Chantilly likes her silver bowl, (well madam does like to have her own things)!! Each cat goes to the bowl when he/she wants to. They appear to be eating "sensibly" and not over eating or under eating. They are all happy and healthy. I just wonder if I am feeding them the best way? I worry that they could potentially over eat by the way I am feeding them? On Sunday they get roast chicken (or salmon) but I reduce the amount of dry food I put out. I don't know exactly how many grams of feed each cat gets per day (so I don't even know if they are getting enough tho plenty is available whenever they want it). Am I doing things correctly and just being paranoid or is there a much better way to feed them?
Also the type of feed I use, I tried them on a feed called James Wellbeloved (whitch seems a lot better) but they arn't really interested in it and seem to enjoy the whiskers dry a lot more. Dry food does have it's advantages for me too, it's a great deal cheaper and doesn't smell at all! Perhaps if people wouldn't mind sharing how they feed in multi cat households and if I am doing things correctly! Thank you!! Kitty Caspian Chantilly Tiramisu and Vienna

I have a gravity feeder that holds about 2 pounds of dry food and they are free fed a decent quality dry.
In the evenings they each get 1/3 of a 6oz can of Friskies (blech!).

As long as they get their icky evening meal (icky because I can't convince the 14 year old to eat any canned other than Friskies), they are pretty good about regulating their dry food throughout the day.

I have 7 cats that are fed wet food twice a day and no dry food.

I moved from feeding only dry food to feeding only wet food not long ago. I had a transition period of a couple weeks where they got both.

I made the move to wet because it really is so much better for them. Kitties have a very poor thirst instinct. When fed dry food, you wind up with chronically dehydrated kitties.

Since switching to wet, I have eliminated ALL inappropriate peeing, the cats are in better weight (the thinner ones bulked up, the fat manx slimmed down) and their coats look phenominal. The litter box is wetter (good) with fewer, smaller poops (also good.)

I went from feeding Innova dry to California Naturals wet. I have an allergy kitty, so I feed exclusively their salmon and sweet potato (novel protein source.)

Cons about feeding all wet? The cost. The inability to not be home, or need a cat sitter. Those are the only issues I have. There is no wet food stink as long as I rinse out the cans before they go into the trash. The kitties are more than happy to eat from their own bowl, and they don't finish in one go, so the hungry ones can go back for more. They're always done by the next feeding.

Pros of feeding all wet? Healthier kitties. Much smaller risk of renal failure. No peeing outside of the box.

Originally Posted by Arlyn

I have a gravity feeder that holds about 2 pounds of dry food and they are free fed a decent quality dry.
In the evenings they each get 1/3 of a 6oz can of Friskies (blech!).

As long as they get their icky evening meal (icky because I can't convince the 14 year old to eat any canned other than Friskies), they are pretty good about regulating their dry food throughout the day.

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That's pretty much what I've done with mine for the last 10 years (youngest is 10, oldest is 16 years). We have a community bowl that gets filled usually about once a day with a good quality dry food. Then they get their can of Friskies divided up twice a day, because I have 2 that get maintenance meds twice a day and that's pretty much all I can be sure they'll eat either- I wonder what they put in that stuff ? I feed the cats with the meds in seperate, adjoining rooms (everyone can sit in their "spot" and watch me fix their bowls at the kitchen counter, lol).

Mine got a little "round" on a lower quality food, but since I switched them to a better food, they have done well with maintaining a healthy weight, and none have ever weighed too much according to the vet. IMHO, if it (your feeding arrangement) ain't broke, don't fix it!

how about their teeth if they eat only a wet diet? is that a concern?

Originally Posted by lovemykitty3

how about their teeth if they eat only a wet diet? is that a concern?

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No. Not at all. The idea that dry food "cleans the teeth" is a construct of the pet food industry and is really not true.

IME, kitties develop dental issues when fed a grain-rich diet, whether wet or dry.

The idea of feeding wet food does seem more appealing and Im going to give it some serious thought. Wet food does seem more "natural" for them. Still I have about 2 weeks supply of dry for them to get through! I don't mind cost much though I do have to cringe, it costs about £10 a week in dry food to feed them on wet for 4 cats eating a £5 box a day (12 pouches 3 a each a day) that will be £35 a week. £70 a fortnight woa. Perhaps I could look into tins as opposed to pouches as that would probably be some what cheaper. Hmmm. Interesting thanks for all your advice Only question in my mind is how to feed 4 cats wet food individually as I am positiv mine would steal each others food!!! But I am thinking I can bring each into the kitchen to eat and keep montering how much they are eating each day. That sounds better too, I don't like not knowing how much each are eating and I am worried they could be undereating. Thanks

It took no training for my kitties to eat out of their own bowl. All bowls have the same thing and about the same amount, so there's no attraction to a different bowl. They all eat till they're full when I put the bowls down, and there's still quite a bit of food to come back and snack on later.

If you can find wet food in cans (mine are 13 oz, I think--big, soup-type cans) you'll save money. Individually packaged servings are just rediculous when you've got more than a couple cats to feed.