@stebo02 no, never had that problem so far, they've stayed healthy weights, but I think it might depend on the cat.
With my cat I had as a kitten we had a policy of cat biscuits and water in her bowls 24/7 so she could snack whenever. Because she was brought up with that setup, she was really casual about it and never overate. It was only at mealtimes she miaowed for wet food.
Come to think of it I did the same for my old rescue after a while but when she got super old she wanted soft/wet snacks a lot. With old cats the challenge is keeping the weight on them.
I feel so lucky I haven't had a cat or dog have issues with free feeding! If I ever had a pet that was a glutton, I'd need one of those timed feeder bowls or I'd constantly forget to do it. Though, I'm sure they would make sure to remind me anyway!
My freely fed tortie used to @ me if her kibble got to low tide. I was like, you haven't even eaten it all and she was like no I need a replenished stockpile nooooooow.
Yeah, as someone with pretty bad ADHD I never forget to feed my animals cause they will make sure to let you know that they are hungry if you do. My dog is a little harder to read but my cat will literally walk up to his food bowl and meow directly at you
but then they’ll ask more and more frequently and get fat
My cat's eating habits seem to keep changing (how fast and how much she eats, and when), but I think I've finally figured out a good way to keep us both happy - weigh out the daily portion in the morning, then split that over morning, afternoon, and evening (or just morning and evening if I forget). That way she's not getting any extra but doesn't eat it all at once then whine at me all day for more, and usually has a little food left in the morning (my "evening" actually being late at night), so she doesn't wake me up as early lol
I did that with mine, and they made themselves fat. The vet basically made me start feeding them regular meals instead so they'd lose some weight. But I've had other cats before that were fine with just having food out.
We have two cats. Each about 14 pounds. A little overweight, but not so much that the vet is concerned.
Both get 70 grams of food a day. One gets fed once a day right before bed. His food is left out, out of reach of the other cat. The second cat gets fed at various times throughout the day. Her food bowl is put up when it's not a mealtime.
So far, neither of them are waking us up at night lol
