I quit free feeding my cat Lily after 4 years and the crying at 3am finally made sense
For 4 years I filled Lily's bowl in the morning and just let her graze all day, and I always thought the 3am yowling was just her being a brat. Turns out she was bored, not hungry, and switching to two timed meals at 7am and 7pm in January cut the night screaming almost in half within a week. My vet in Dayton told me free feeding makes cats treat food like a toy instead of a meal, and honestly watching her actually walk away from a full bowl now proves it. Anyone else notice their cat gets clingy and loud when the food just sits there all day?