Tips for switching from free feeding to scheduled feeding

[seriously]

Our girls are almost 4 years old and have always been free fed, aka the food bowl is left out all day for grazing.  Over my spring break I'd like to transition them to a scheduled feeding.  Sleepy Cat in my sig, Millie, is a bit chunky as well as being asthamtic and on prednisone.  I'm sure loosing some weight would help a bit with the asthma symptons. So I think portion control is the way to go.

Any tips on how to start scheduled feedings would be greatly appreciated.  I'm sure it's going to be a big adjustment for both of them.

[niemand88f]

I think set mealtimes are a great idea- you know how much your cat is eating and can pick up on problems sooner.

I would take the bowl away one night then bring it back out the next morning. Then remove it after half an hour, put it back out in the evening, etc. Gradually shorten the time the bowl is set out.

I would also advise starting to used two bowls- if my cats had to eat out of the same bowl at the same time they would not be happy.

[midnightmare81]

I agree. Start taking it away and putting it back. They will learn to eat during those times because it won't always be there. They might act like they are starving at first, but they are not. I did it this exact way, and it was very easy!

[seriously]

Thanks for the help. Good thing is they already have 2 bowls. We'll start this in a couple of weeks.

[calico]

In addition to scheduled feeding, we also portioned the food. Once the cat ate her portion of food, she didn't get anymore.

[shellfish26]

Heeeyyy!  I recognize your kitties- they are so pretty!   

You may also want to start teaching verbal cues.  We use "eat" and "snack", but you could also use a clicker.  We seem to have eliminated a lot of begging because they use those words as a time to run to the bowls.  We were forced to switch to timed feedings when Ernie had to go to an Rx food for crystals, and we were concerned how they would adapt, but it was completely fine.