"Feeding Schedule for Full Time Worker" & "Wet food vs Dry Food"

I recently adopted two cats, and in their previous home they never had a consistent feeding schedule. Since they were outdoor-indoor cats they come in and go out as they please, and if they were hungry they would probably come up to you and meow. They always had dry food on the side to snack on, and we would feed them wet food when they "asked". The wet food and dry food is something I've kept up since they've arrived at my home (around 3 weeks). 

Recently I've been rethinking their feeding schedule and diet. Since I work Monday - Friday 8:30AM - 4:30PM, I usually feed their first meal (of wet food) at 6:30AM/7AM, and I don't get to feed their second meal until i get home which varies - sometimes 4:45PM, sometimes 5:30PM. (I try to get home as soon as possible.) As mentioned previously, they do have dry food out to snack on if they get hungry. 

So here are the questions!

1. Since we want to try and cut down on carbs consumption, if I removed the dry food from their schedule would they have enough to eat?...
2. What is the "ideal" feeding schedule (understanding that it varies for every cat). 6:30AM/7AM, 4:45PM/5:30PM, 11PM?

All in all, I'm just confused and would like some feed back on what a "good" diet & feeding schedule looks like.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Consdering getting a timed feeder or two so that the cats have access to canned food during the day. I like this one.

A small amount of dry food can be left out. It won't harm the cats at all Are you feeding grain free dry food? Or instead of dry food, leave some freeze dried raw out. Freeze dried raw is healthier than dry foods IMO. You can leave the freeze dried raw dry instead of rehydrating it in water as the packge directions may say.

My cats can go as long as 14 hours between breakfast and dinner with no snacks. During the week I'm away from 5am to 3:30pm/4pm because of work. On weekends the cats get fed breakfast at the same time and I don't leave until 9am or so and get back by 7pm. I feed raw so maybe raw just keeps their tummies full longer. They are hungry by dinner time which is good because that means they'll eat all their food. My Aby gets a small snack maybe 2 hours after dinner and then another small sback before bed time. My other cat just gets a before bed time snack.

IMHO, the schedule you have is just fine. If you are concerned about carbs, make sure the main ingredient in all the foods is meat, even the dry food.

I also in morning, early evening, late evening.

LTS3 said:

 
Consdering getting a timed feeder or two so that the cats have access to canned food during the day. I like this one.

Click to expand...

Do they make a canned food feeder? This one looks like it's only for dry, I'd be interested in the former, thanks.

You can also freeze some food that defrosts as day goes on

I think your schedule is just fine! In order to avoid the carb issue, I feed my cats grain-free wet food, and I give them just a little bit of dry kibble (also grain-free) along with the wet food. My adopted cat's previous owners would free-feed dry food (according to the history they filled out on the surrender forms), and he was very overweight. He was already accustomed to being fed on a schedule during his stay at the shelter before we adopted him, but when we brought him home he seemed to think he was going to have free-feeding time again since he was back in a home, haha. He adjusted, and now he's totally fine with getting fed on a schedule and not having access to dry food 24/7. 

LisaMarie12 said:

 
Do they make a canned food feeder? This one looks like it's only for dry, I'd be interested in the former, thanks.

Click to expand...

Yes they do!  They have ice packs to keep the food fresh until meal time.  For example:

LisaMarie12 said:

 
Do they make a canned food feeder? This one looks like it's only for dry, I'd be interested in the former, thanks.

Click to expand...

Any timed feeder similar to the Petsafe one can be sued for canned food I've used it with canned food for my previous diabetic cat. Many diabetic cat owners use timed feeders to give their cats mini canned food meals during the day. I've always put straight from the can food into the feeder but you can also freeze canned food into serving size chunks and pop the frozen chunks into the feeder. The Catmate brand of feeders has an ice pack feature. The Petsafe 5 compartment doesn't per se but there is a small space in the bottom of the feeder that you can fit a small gel-type ice pack into.

LTS3 said:

 
Any timed feeder similar to the Petsafe one can be sued for canned food

I've used it with canned food for my previous diabetic cat. Many diabetic cat owners use timed feeders to give their cats mini canned food meals during the day. I've always put straight from the can food into the feeder but you can also freeze canned food into serving size chunks and pop the frozen chunks into the feeder. The Catmate brand of feeders has an ice pack feature. The Petsafe 5 compartment doesn't per se but there is a small space in the bottom of the feeder that you can fit a small gel-type ice pack into.

Click to expand...

Oh, okay thanks.  I guess I could try it with frozen canned although if the Catmate has an ice pack area then that makes sense that opened cans of food would still remain fresh.

I have to figure something out as my IBD cat now requires more frequent but smaller meals, otherwise, her appetite is just ravenous and she tends to gorge and not digest the food as well. Thanks.