I have a large multi-cat household and I was wondering how everyone deals with feeding time? We free feed, but soon I will have to give seperate feedings to one of our cats who really needs to lose weight.
I free-feed dry food to my cat. My cat eats 1/2 cup of food/day. If I give her that amount in the AM, it doesn't last more than 15 hours. However, if I give her 1/4 cup in the AM and 1/4 in the PM (12 hour spread), my cat somehow manages to ration her portions better and make it last 24 hrs!!
Mabel is fed dry food in the morning and evening on the floor in the kitchen. Spoiled little Mynx gets his dry food in bed where he is sleeping. I wait a little bit until Mynx is finished eating then pick up his bowel since Mabel is on a diet and is allergic to Mynx's food.
They are both fed wet at the same time in the afternoon and eat on the kitchen floor.
We also have a very large cat family and free feed dry the wetfood is only given in the morning. Mr.Poe-Poe and Fluffman get theirs in their bedroom sinve they can't seem to share with the others, Bozo and Demi eat in my bedroom because no one will share with them, Orangie our recently tamed feral eats in the jaccuzzi room because she has her own special food, Urtel eats hers in teh bow window lookink out to the ferals, the others (survi, OJ, EG, Casper, Ray, Mr.Lipps, Stripe, Meiu) all eat in the kitchen. We leave low fat dry food out all day long, and have different feeding stations all over the house, that way there are no arguments from the kitties.
For the ferals, we put out about two large cans of wet food and then several large bowls of dry food and water that is replenished throughout the day, since thier hut is lighted we have little worry about our nocturnal friends (racoons, opposums) so we make sure there is always plenty of food for them in there as well.
Free feed dry; they each get about an ounce of wet morning and evening, in separate bowls, but all in the kitchen -- though Suzy usually won't come into the kitchen until the others have finished.
Rosie gets a teaspoon of tuna for breakfast, and theres always a bowl of dry food left for her while i'm at work, then another teaspoon of tuna before bed.
I'm new to having multi cats , but what we worked out is we have 2 separate feeding areas , one for each cat in 2 different rooms , we give 1/4 of a can wet and a measured amount of dry ( 1/3 of a cup) 2X a day .
One of our kits who came to us a week and a half half ago , has some special feeding needs because of the condition she came to us in (she has sores on the inside of her mouth left over from a treated URI ) The vet said we should feed wet and moist food (ie tender vittles ) until her mouth heals.
We have had to try to keep Cat A out of Cat B's food , now thats a challenge!
Jeepers has half a can of wet food daily (Tuna sized cans) and as much dry food as she can wolf down. She doesn't overeat at all, more a 'grazer' than a 'gulper'
While Sierra is trying to lose a little weight, she eats Innova Lite canned in the morning when we get up and again in the evening. Normally she gets her raw meal in the morning and then Innova Lite canned in the evening. She also has a small amount of dry in her treat ball and then a small treat at bedtime. Sierra LOVES to eat, so freefeeding isn't a good idea. She would probably eat the entire bag if I left it out for her!
JC would only eat dry food if I free-fed, so he gets half a day's portion of dry food in the morning, and a small can of food in the evening. Unless the food is his current favorite (this month Eukanuba lamb and liver, and almo salmon and chicken (Italian brand)), he tends to nibble at his food. If for some reason he's "absolutely starving", I give him a little more kibble to snack on. Some days he doesn't finish his food, and then generally wants a bit more the next day.
Up until recently I free fed them. Unfortunately, they are both up to 14 pounds, about 40% above their ideal weight. So recently, I've been measuring out a total of 1 1/2 cups of dry food per day for them, but giving it to them a little at a time as they want to snack. That way, I do have to say "no more" several times during the day, but they aren't so hungry that they get too pesky about it.
The only problem with this method is that I do allow them to roam freely during the daytime, and I know that sometimes they supplement their diet. (Both had been outdoor strays before I took them in, so I expect they are pretty fair hunters.)
I feed in feedings only. My oldest is one a senior diet, so in order to make sure he and the others get the right food, I have to supervise. They get fed twice a day.