Is it ok for me to leave my cats (dry) food out all day?

Both my cats are indoor/outdoor. They have constant access to food and water, both Inside and outside. I am not to worried about them getting overweight because, grace is very active hunting all day (for fun) and Merlin, even though he is 17 years old is constantly showing all of our other dogs, Cats and horses, that he is the king and also roaming around our property looking for attention. I am a little concerned because I know that in the wild they wouldn't have constant access to food, so I am just worried that letting them have food whenever they want might be a little unhealthy.

Many, many, many, MANY people free feed their furkids.   It's probably NOT the healthiest option, but for some, it's just what works for them.  I, personally, feed only canned food, and feed mine 3 meals per day.  Does that work for everyone....NO. 

So, you do what works for you.  If you CAN feed them scheduled meals, that is better for them, say in the morning, after work,and before bed, or even in the morning and at (your) dinner time, but again, if that doesn't fit your schedule, then just do what you can.  If they start getting rotund, then you need to rethink the free feeding. 

Thank you SO much! I was starting to get really concerned, because I didn't know if it was ok for her. But now I know it is and I thank you, once again, SO much!

I have dry food out all day for my cat pack. They are fed wet food twice a day. None of my trio is over weight. I personally, am of the opinion that the dry food is good for their teeth. I also worry that if I fed them at regimented times one of my cats may eat one of the other's food so I leave the dry food out to supplement incase someone got less of their full share.

I know this is silly, but I love the show Animal Cops and when they go to houses they always check to make sure animals have full access to water AND food. So that's another one to the million of reasons I always have food out.

I have dry food out for my girl all the time, but really they're not too much different than us with eating, when they're full they will stop eating.
Plus since your kitties are so active they probably still have very good metabolisms, so even if they do over eat a bit, they tend to work it off a lot easier than a lazy kitty.

She is small for her size, being full grown. This shouldn't affect her to much, should it? Also should I leave a big bowl of food out all day, or a small one out all day?

we feed both. I feed wet in the morning and if they didn't eat much during the day I make another plate of wet but usually they are outside during the day so don't eat as much. I have cut back on how much kibble I put out. I put out 1 cup in the morning and don't fill it until later that night=because one of them eats all the time if I let her and she is 4 lbs overweight. but she is also 17 so I half want to let her be but half want her healthy. I also leave dry out because what if something happens and I cant get home right away to feed? They have three feeding stations. one gets filled morning and night and the other two every other day-its kind of complicated but they usually eat out of the same bowl but sometimes Honeybee gets aggressive and the other two cats hide in the office so that's the backup dish.

Personally I think we are so used to feeding free that we can just cut back how much you put down at once. plus I feed less in the winter-they don't go out-in the summer I let them eat as much as they want-they all are indoor outdoor and stay in our yard. So I think it all depends on the cat and schedule.

also we have been trying to get them on wet for 2 years now with little success..they get so picky. Some days the wet dishes are licked dry. other days they don't touch it...

GraceTheCat said:

She is small for her size, being full grown. This shouldn't affect her to much, should it? Also should I leave a big bowl of food out all day, or a small one out all day?

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I leave a smaller portion of dry food out and refill as needed. That way I don't attract bugs and don't have to dump food in the trash when I need to wash their dishes. I notice when my kids help out and over fill the dish a decent amount winds up on the floor.