Indoor kitty is getting a bit chubby :P

Hi everyone,

This is my first cat ever, so . I've probably been a bit to "generous" with his food.

He is  almost 1 year old indoor cat.

I don't think  he can control  his free feeding of dry food anymore

My day and night cycle is kind of unstable sometimes, so freefeeding seemed like the way to go.

I  live in a small apartment,  i'm only allowed 1  cat, so getting a playmate for him is out of the picture.

I got him a  big climbing tree thingy that I found used and cheap on the internet, and that sometimes keeps him busy by himself   for a long time, so that got me thinking of what else I could get him.

So I need some advice on some  great toys/devices to encourage him to move  around a bit more, or whatever ideas you may have.

I try to play with him myself for  at least 20 min a day, with one of those "strings on a stick" toys that he loves.

He already have like maybe 10 mice  toys and 20 balls, they are all just stockpiled by him under the bed  lol, he rarely use them, it happens sometimes though.

Also, i've tried to find out exaclty how much I should feed him, but it seems to be different everywhere I  read lol.

What is the optimal way of  feeding him, how much times a day, and how much each time? 

Now  I only give him about 50 grams of wet food a day, then he should have what, about 150 grams dry food in different portions throughout the day? 

I'm danish, so if you could keep it in grams it would be easist for me  to understand xD

I also need to work on not caving in to his "give me a snack" eyes everytime I'm in the kitchen xD Why is that so hard xD?

Thanks, and you are welcome to give any feedback that you might think could be useful.

Switch him to canned food for the times when you are home and supplement with "snack" size portions of dry food.  You can get a timed feeder to drop kibble throughout the day at scheduled times.  Be sure you're only feeding a measured amount each day. 

It's hard to resist when they suck you in with those eyes because you love them.  I have found that telling my kitties, "It's not time yet" or "You're not starving" really helps ME not cave in.  If it gets too severe, try initiating playtime when the begging becomes too much.  We really try to keep kitties out of the kitchen when we're preparing meals to cut down on the begging. 

You may want to look for a "treat ball" that you can put the dry food in.  The ball dispenses only a small amount of food and has to be pushed around/played with to get the food to come out.  This can help your kitty be more active, "hunt" for his meals, and eat more slowly.  I used to use one like this before I had a dog (who likes to break open the ball and eat the food himself): http://www.thecatsite.com/products/play-n-treat-treat-ball.

I second the "treat toy" idea and the other tips already mentioned (canned food on a schedule as much as you can do that, etc).  Anything that gets him to "work for his dinner" will help keep his mind and body active and reduce the overall amount of snacks he consumes (because he has to spend more time getting ahold of each piece of kibble).  Even lightly crumpled pieces of paper with kibble hidden inside, so that he has to unfold or shred it, can be a good option and they don't cost anything.

Be aware that you'll probably have to "train" him to interact with each new type of puzzle feeder.  Make it really easy at first; build an association between the toy and food.  Rig it so that he gets his first pieces very easily.  Once he figures out the game, he'll learn to work for longer periods in order to get his treats, and you'll be able to hide them around the apartment to keep him "hunting" while you're away.