how can I get him to respect meal times?

Hey guys,
My 2 year old Pasha is neutered and been with me for 3 months now. He's my first pet so I'm reading a lot and figuring things out together as we go.

I am seeking advise on how can I get him to respect meal times and eat his food?

Pasha is deaf

He's now on a dry/wet food diet. Mostly dry but he gets wet food once a week. He naturally loves the wet food and finishes his portion in one go however not the same case with dry food. He'd eat a little and then take a walk. He also follows me everywhere so if I go anywhere during his feeding he'd leave the food and follows me. That I can manage but I want him to know that when food is served it's time to eat coz there ain't more food later.
I had him on sort of free feeding earlier but not in the sense that I'd always leave food but for example I'd give him breakfast and he won't eat it by the time I'm out for work so I'd keep it in and won't remove it. Now I try to have him realize that he needs to eat once his meal is served so I'd allow him a short walk after he eats but if he doesn't come back to finish his food few minutes later, I'd remove it.
The servings are only 20g so it's not a lot of food

Any advise? Is it just a matter of time or is there something else I should try??

perhaps he just wants wet food rather than dry food? since he seems to like wet food and not the dry food, i suggest you try to give him wet food along with the dry food. 

If you can afford it, you may want to consider switching him to wet. Aside from wet just being much better for cats, you also mention that he finishes it in one sitting. It does help with timed schedule, and you should continue what you're doing (i.e remove the food after, say, 30 minutes). Just make sure that he's actually eating enough (as in, don't starve him, but hunger can be a good motivator).

my 2 were the same way. the humane society told me to keep them on science diet dry, which is what they ate there so I did at first. they were both about 5.5 pounds when they came home. they ate but with no real enthusiasm. they also were meh about mealtimes. I found this site and read about the benefits of canned vs dry so I slowly changed them to a canned only diet by increasing the wet and decreasing the dry until it was all wet. they eat much more enthusiastically at mealtimes and are both at a good 6.5 pounds. they are pretty petite so this is a good weight for them. they do not look for food other than mealtimes but will happily accept treats if offered. when it is mealtime, they let me know. Lilith is rather polite about it but her sister Sophie, not so much. I no longer need an alarm clock. she sits on my chest, gets in my face and the alarm is her saying ACK!! in my face.  no snooze button. she will do this until I get up and fix breakfast. Lilith watches all this and I'm sure finds it rather amusing.

Thanks guys for the feedback. I don't want this thread to switch to wet vs dry. I had posted about that in the past and aware that everyone recommends dry food but for some reason the 2 vets I visited and asked about this both said wet food isn't good for their teeth on the long run. Someone on the catsite explained that cats don't even chew their food so it doesn't make sense and so based on this I decided to have him on combo. Everyone I know in my region has their cats on dry food and so I'd like to stick to the combo but need help getting him to eat on time

Once a week for canned is not enough, put a tablespoon of canned on top of his dry and watch it dissapear.

I'll try that. I'm now also linking lunch to going out on balcony so if he finishes his food I'd immediately let him outside which he obviously loves. He just ate a little of his lunch and when I attempted to remove it he came back to finish it which was great to see. I've now let him out. I think repeating this will get us there.

Shatha said:

Thanks guys for the feedback. I don't want this thread to switch to wet vs dry. I had posted about that in the past and aware that everyone recommends dry food but for some reason the 2 vets I visited and asked about this both said wet food isn't good for their teeth on the long run. Someone on the catsite explained that cats don't even chew their food so it doesn't make sense and so based on this I decided to have him on combo. Everyone I know in my region has their cats on dry food and so I'd like to stick to the combo but need help getting him to eat on time

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Some days I wish I had this problem with one of my boys. Max is my male tabby, a big-boned cat who loves to eat, and is always hungry it seems, probably because he used to be free-fed kibble. I now feed the majority of commercial canned and raw, but do continue to serve a bit of good quality high protein dry.

I know you said that you prefer to keep dry food as part of the diet, and I respect that, but, if your kitty really enjoys the wet food, I would suggest that you make this the primary part of the diet, so you can at least be assured that he is getting some wet meat protein. If he doesn't like to eat the dry food, it could be that this is not his thing, or, he doesn't care for the particular brand that you are serving.

As cats are very much creatures of habit , it is very important to feed at the same time every day, and always feed your cat in the same location. Moving food dishes to different places, can cause confusion and a feeling of uncertainty

you are right about the dry food because if the cat keeps eating soft foods, they might have teeth issues like gingivitis, had a cat that suffered from that. 

it is best to serve both i think, or a spoon of wet over the dry as suggested. 

Thanks oneandahaldcats I might do that. I had him on primary wet food diet for sometime but honestly I'm hearing different reviews as I wrote earlier and not sure if my decision should be based on what he likes which is obviously wet. He'd eat the same dry food band in wet and would finish his portion so I know it's not the brand but my vet warned me against wet food so it's really been tough decision.

Shatha said:

Thanks oneandahaldcats I might do that. I had him on primary wet food diet for sometime but honestly I'm hearing different reviews as I wrote earlier and not sure if my decision should be based on what he likes which is obviously wet. He'd eat the same dry food band in wet and would finish his portion so I know it's not the brand but my vet warned me against wet food so it's really been tough decision.

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If you are concerned about wet food and dental issues, there are products that you can add to water that can help to keep plaque from forming. There are also enzymatic dental chews that do the same sort of thing. Below are links to some different products, that you can discuss with your vet.

http://www.virbacvet.com/products/detail/c.e.t.-hextra-premium-chews-for-cats/dental-health/chews

http://www.virbacvet.com/products/d...itive/dental-health/rinse-and-water-additives

https://tartarshield.com/index.asp?cmd=products