is cat eating too much?

Im posting here because he was once a stray...

Ive had him 2 months now - hes still thin (to me) of course my otehr cat is huge... but he wants to eat all the time.

I feed them both twice a day and usually (a small snack) in the middle of hte night when they wake me up. But this guy cries and whines a few times a day (and night) for more food.

Being its only been 2 months i dont want to feed him every time he wants and get him in a bad habit and over weight.

But does he NEED to eat more due to not eating as much in the wild?

thanks...

Whether he needs to eat more or not totally depends upon his weight and level of activity. Honestly - it's something you need to decide with input from your vet.

We're having a bit of a dilemma here ourselves... we let the cats free feed on dry food, and feed them one wet meal of food a day. This is not ideal for their urinary tract health, but we encourage them to drink water in other ways. Our problem is that we have two skinny cats that we need to encourage to eat - Lazlo and Flowerbelle. But our 2 1/2 year old (most recent feral rescue) boy, Billy, is fat. He weighs 14 pounds, 3 oz. He weighed 8 pounds when we brought him home, and he needed to gain about 2 or so pounds - obviously way past that target! If we don't get the weight off of him, he's at risk for diabetes.

I know that cat's digestive systems are "designed" to eat many small meals a day, which is why we let them free feed to begin with.... but I think we're going to have to pick up the food. If you're home at lunch time, you may want to feed your feral boy an extra meal? Or maybe an extra meal before you go to bed? Again - it really is best to let the vet decide. If your other kitty is fat, it may just be that your rescue kitty looks too thin...

We need more information to be able to give you any answer at all. How much is he eating now? How much does he weigh? What does the vet say his ideal weight should be? Is he a super active cat or does he just lay around in the sun all the time?

Im not really sure how much he eats now - unlike my other cat - i dont measure it (i should). I just fill a small bowl and its never completely eaten.

Im actually not even working now - so im around to feed him - but thats what im worried about that since i am here - he is taking advantage of it.

I tried to weigh him - but he wouldnt let me hold him to do so. Also his last (and only) vet visit was an emergency visit - he had his shots and that was it.

He is pretty active. Today i caught him chasing his own tale

Just dont know if i need to feed him every time or need to ignore him....

and maybe you guys cant give me the exact info either... until i can get him to a vet again. THANKS