i use to free feed maggie but talking to people on here I found out it is better not to...I guess its all what u prefer.
It's not so much what you prefer as much as it is a recommendation based for health. Some cats do great on free-feeding. They maintain their weight and they're healthier for it. However, many cats (most cats) eat all the time. Cats do have a tendency to be grazers when they have the chance. This is not something that happen commonly in the wild (actual large cats or the domestic cat that's feral). Inside cats that have nothing to do often eat and eat and eat. And they get fatter and fatter and fatter. Now, we do have the advantage because we can actually see if a hairless cat is pudgy. A really furry cat may appear plump because of fur and truly be a sausage underneath.
The majorityof house cats are overweight because of their lack of exercise and their high volume of food.
Free feeding also leaves a few other problems to be noted:
1) Owners are slower to figure out that there are feeding problems, therefore treatment for dental, internal and appetance issues can go un-noted for days longer than in the family that feeds 1-2 times per day and has a direct relationship with their cat's feeding schedule.
2) Owners cannot monitor a multi-cat household in their total food consumptions.
More reasons to feed twice a day (when it's more simple to monitor) or even once a day. Moreover, if you ever have a companion that becomes sick and must have food regulation (or more regulation than normal), it's much more difficult on the family to deal with such things because a cat is used to free-feeding. This is when you often get the cat that calls and hollers for food and doesn't understand why there's a change. With a cat that eats once or twice a day, they're in the kitchen--they get their portion and they're done.
