Is there an 'eating schedule' for cats

Question

my cat is constantly sleeping and when he wakes up or is scared he runs to his food bowl (which i always make sure has food) and eats for a few minutes. should he be eating at all hours of the night and day? he is only 4 months old. also how can i make his food bowl less of a 'safe haven' for him when he's scared?

Answer 1

Yes! A schedule helps prevent obesity. If I were you I would keep the bowl out of reach until it is eating time. After awhile he will become less dependent on his bowl. It's important to do this NOW instead of at 3 years old.  

Answer 2

If you got him from the pound, he might not have gotten enough to eat and therefore has anxiety.

My cat who is really fat, about 20 lbs, knows exactly when she is supposed to be fed and will let you know, too..

she was a rescue kitty. now she is a blimpo, she even eats the dog's food.

Cats sleep about 18 hours a day so thats normal

Answer 3

Ok first, just put a certain amount of food into the bowl, what cats can eat per day depending on his size. If you keep putting more food into the bowl everytime you see it´s empty or with little food, the cat will eat all of it and go overweight. It´s ok if he eats all the food you should give him in everytime, he can eat at everytime but just the amount that he is actually supposed to eat (:  

For doing that, I guess you can hide the food bowl sometimes, and get a toy or any other thing that he may run to for use of "protection", if you see is really hungry put the bowl back on its place.. for some days, try giving it just a small amount of food, and if he is behaving give him milk, fish or any other thing he likes ;D

I hope I helped!

** Caro

Answer 4

I used to keep my cat's bowl constantly full and I noticed he was getting very large and he is only 6 months old. Now I feed him 1/4 of a cup of dry food twice a day (by the vet's recommendation).