How To Get Cats On Feeding Schedule

I've free fed my cats for all of their lives. But because smokie has to be on a wet food and I can't leave the dry out I've had to go to a scheduled feeding for all of them.

How do I get them onto a schedule. Do I basically just put the food out there for a certain time and take it away? Then if they're hungry they'll have to wait until the next time to eat? Will they get used to this quickly?

I'm not sure how to go about doing this. I have one cat that is picky and likes to eat without anyone around so I may have to put her in a room when she eats.

I'm just worried that some that are at the right weight now will start loosing weight because at first they will not eat when I put the food down.

I plan on feeding them twice a day dry in the morning and dry at night. Smokie gets 2 cans a day wet.

When I got my Chester he was 9 months old. I didn't know where he came from or what kind of life he had before. I just put his food out twice a day to start and he adjusted. I also had two dogs at the time that would certainly eat up his food if he didn't, that may of motivated him to eat it then too. I sometimes recommend putting the dry food out and leaving it for a certain amount of time. Like 15-30 minutes. If Smokie doesn't eat it in that amount of time then put it up. Continue to do that with each scheduled feeding, most usually in my experience they catch on. Of course every cat can be different.

Good luck!