Hi...I have 2 adult cats and a kitten. They are all free fed..I have always free fed all my cats..I never thot it was bad..
Both my adult cats are in perfect body shape accoarding to my vet..I guess I would say that if the cat gets overweight to put him on a time feed schedule..My friend has to do that with her cats cause they never leave the bowl otherwise..
I guess what I am saying is...It all depends on your cat..!
I think freefooding is acceptable at any age also...as long as they aren't getting obese or anything. We always leave dry food out and feed half a can of wet food once in the evening and my cat is a healthy weight.
My cat is six, and I still free feed. It just matters if you want to free feed, or if you want to feed regularly. If you want to switch it, then I wouldn't do it while you are switching foods also. That is a lot of change all at once. It is whatever you prefer.
I free feed also....it seems to work best around here. At one point I was measuring it out and feeding twice per day and they acted like they were starving all the time. They seem to be more satisfied and eat less when they can nibble throughout the day.
I free feed my cats too! Peppurr is 18 pounds and he doesn't eat very much! He'll eat about 10 pieces of kibble every 2 hours. I guess he knows that he needs to be on a diet! My others cats are endless pits! They will eat until the bowl is empty! After they eat all of it, I don't put any more out for them!