how to switch from free feeding to set meal times

[debbiegarland]

I'm getting a second cat-and I think I should switch my resident cat from free feeding to meal times.  When I originally got my cat I was going to do two meals a day but he would take forever to eat so i switched him to free feeding leaving out a half a cup of food all day.  But I feel like meals are better so I can monitor him closer-and with getting a second cat I think meals are better so that way they are both eating at the same time and not under/over eating.  Any advice about meals vs free feeding?

Also how do I switch my cat to meals because he literally takes all day to eat.  

Also I realize I have only been feeding my cat dry food.  But I read about how wet food promotes renal health so any thoughts on wet food?  I think I would like to incorporate wet food into his diet. 

Any help is greatly appreciated! This is my first cat and sometimes I feel like I have no clue and that I am a bad cat owner! But i'm getting a second one because my current cat is crazy hyper and needs a buddy.  Any advice will be welcomed!! 

 

[Ms. Freya]

We switched to set meals a few years ago and it's been great to control their intake. With dry food, leaving meals out isn't a bit deal, but wet you have to be careful isn't out for too long. We had a grazer as well - she'd take hours to eat and started by giving her 4 relatively equal small meals over the course of the day, then we began to shift more food to the meals at times we wanted to keep, and eventually went down to two regular sized meals. I think as long as you switch gradually and make sure wet food isn't sitting out to long, things should be fine.

As to is wet better than dry? The short answer (in my opinion) is yes! I've seen a drastic improvement in my guys' health since we moved them away from dry, but you can check out our nutrition forum for more information, opinions and pros and cons of various foods from grocery-store canned to raw feeding.

 http://www.thecatsite.com/f/64/cat-nutrition

I'm also glad to hear you're getting your cat a friend! Cats often do better in pairs, especially with like ages. Some reading for when you get to that stage, here are some great articles we have here on introducing cats to each other:
[article="32680"]How To Successfully Introduce Cats The Ultimate Guide  [/article][article="29726"]Introducing Cats To Cats  [/article]
Best of luck!

 

[debbiegarland]

Thanks so much!