Transitioning to Scheduled Feeding

[Kvla]

Hi all!
I mostly post in the cat behavior part of this forum because that's what I need help with the most, but they suggested something to me that I've recently started doing, but need some help.
I didn't want to mess anything up this time and try something without doing research beforehand, so I looked up a lot about transitioning your cat over from free-feeding to scheduled feeding. Lucky for me, when she was younger, she was on a 7am/7pm schedule everyday (which I know isn't the best for kittens, now). She always got 1/2 a 3oz can of wet food in gravy, with 1/4 cup of dry food in the morning and in the night. She ate her wet and dry food all at once and I would clean the bowls and repeat again at the next meal time. This schedule lined up perfectly with my old schedule. After moving out of my parent's house and into my own place, I found that it was hard for me to feed her on scheduled times and would often just leave the bowls sitting out after a feeding.
I'm trying to get a positive association with my kitty, Ophelia, and food is the gateway to that. I want to get her back on a scheduled feeding. Doing research, they suggest I should feed her as many times as possible throughout the day at consistent times. They suggest 8-10 times a day, which I'm unable to do with college and work. I started putting down bowls for 20-30 minutes at 8am, 11am, 1pm, 7pm, and 11pm. Sometimes I've had to skip the 1pm meal, but most days I'm able to make it. They also suggest if I'm gone for most of the day, to leave dry food down at night because they still should be eating.

Here are some of my questions:
1. I'm worried how to preserve wet food for longer periods of time. I was told that leaving it out for a long time can make it gross. She usually ate it by the next mealtime anyway, but I don't want to do anything wrong. I used to open a can of wet food in the morning, and leave it out for her. The other half of the can went into the fridge with a can-lid. At nighttime, I would finish the can, throw it out and leave the wet food out for it to be gone by morning and we would repeat. When I first started to transition, 1/2 a can of wet food went all day without being touched, and then I wasn't sure what to do with the other half of the can at nighttime when she finally at her morning meal. And if she didn't eat the meal in the bowl, what do I do with the bowl?
2. What if she doesn't eat? With her only eating a 1/2 a 3oz can a day, would she be hungry? I feel like I heard somewhere that you think cat's won't starve themselves, but if they're stressed, they might actually starve themselves. Also, is 1/2 a 3oz can and 1/4 cup of dry enough food? I give her Purina Proplan. I tried talking to my vet about it when she was younger, but she never really gave me a clear answer, so I stuck with this. I tried figuring out her calories needs, but there's so many factors that I'm trying to put in place, like she's a pretty big cat already, but she's very active and loves to run and play like a kitten.
3. Should I be letting her free-feed dry food overnight? I feel like this might be teaching her that she's able to wait it out until nighttime to snack on her dry food over a period of 8 hours, but I don't want to starve her, or cut her off so suddenly.
4. Is there a way I can get her to eat out of a food puzzle faster? I tried doing a little cardboard DIY feeder, but she free feeds so she wasn't interested in it very much. I'm trying to tire her out mentally, since she wants to play-play-play!

Also, I've heard that wet food only is good for their health, but I'm not completely convinced and I'm worried to make that switch. Many people on this site have told me that it's better. Convince me one way or the other.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Furballsmom]

How old is she?

I used to open a can of wet food in the morning, and leave it out for her. The other half of the can went into the fridge with a can-lid. At nighttime, I would finish the can, throw it out and leave the wet food out for it to be gone by morning and we would repeat

This is exactly what I do for my boy. Do you absolutely have to move to a schedule? I'm confused about 8-10 feedings for an adult cat, each one must be a tiny amount.

Wet food can be left out for several hours and if you're concerned, you can set up an arrangement of an ice tray underneath. After each meal whether eaten or not, remove the plate and use a fresh clean one for the next meal.

My boy gets kibble freefed. Some people feed it overnight only, some people don't feed it at all. If you are concerned about your cat gaining weight you'll want to avoid kibble. For the puzzle feeder, use treats in it or stop freefeeding til your cat uses the puzzle.

You know your cat, and need to decide what works for the both of you. You don't need to overthink this

How Much Food Should I Feed My Cat? – Cat Articles

 

[Kvla]

How old is she?

This is exactly what I do for my boy. Do you absolutely have to move to a schedule? I'm confused about 8-10 feedings for an adult cat, each one must be a tiny amount.

Wet food can be left out for several hours and if you're concerned, you can set up an arrangement of an ice tray underneath. After each meal whether eaten or not, remove the plate and use a fresh clean one for the next meal.

My boy gets kibble freefed. Some people feed it overnight only, some people don't feed it at all. If you are concerned about your cat gaining weight you'll want to avoid kibble. For the puzzle feeder, use treats in it or stop freefeeding til your cat uses the puzzle.

You know your cat, and need to decide what works for the both of you. You don't need to overthink this

How Much Food Should I Feed My Cat? – Cat Articles

This is the article I'm referencing about the 8-10 feeding times:
Transitioning Free-fed Kibble Kitties To Timed Meals – Cat Articles

Since she doesn't eat her meals when I put the bowls down, switching to a scheduled feeding time suddenly by only offering bowls twice a day for 20 minutes basically starves her. I think it's a way to wean them off of free feeding so that they know the bowls won't always be down on the ground. You would slowly offer less feeding times until they eat their whole meal 2 times a day. This is how I interpreted the article. She's almost a year and a half.

I don't have to switch her to scheduled feedings, but I'm trying to create a routine for her to help with some behavior problems. Feeding her at the same time everyday and playing with her at the same time everyday are included in that.

Thank you for the advice and the article I'll try some of that!

 

[Azazel]

You can use a timed feeder with an ice pack to keep wet food fresh for timed meals when you’re not home. I freeze the wet food into portions and then pop a frozen portion into the timed feeder before I leave. I usually set it for 3-5 hours and it’s defrosted by the time the lid opens. I use the catmate c20 and it’s worked great for me for 2 years.