The only benefit of free feeding is when you have a schedule conflict, if you are not home in time for their meals, they always have food. However, you can find automatic feeders to easily address this issue.
Others will say it can help with food aggression with other animals, however, this isn’t fully true as well, because once they know there is always food around, they will still be aggressive towards special food they do not get all the time. Therefore, food aggression cannot be solved simply by free feeding.
6 Reasons to Stop Free Feeding
1. The biggest issue with free feeding is that it increases the likelihood of obesity and overeating in many pets. With scheduled feeding you know exactly what your cat needs in a day, and you have full control to ensure they are eating a healthy amount and prevent obesity.
It also means you can give your cat treats without adding too many calories to their diet, because again, you control what they eat, when they eat. They will also associate you, as the person who gives them food.
2. In houses with several pets, it is very challenging (especially if they are on different food).
3. Housetraining free feeding pets is infinitely harder. Since the pet feeds frequently throughout the day, potty training may be challenging because you can't easily estimate when they'll need to go outdoors without a set mealtime.
4. Food left out can encourage unsanitary situations, depending on your setup. Usually, people will not clean the food/water bowl often as they are consistently re-filling the bowl.
If there is food in the bowl your pet will have saliva and water mixed in with the leftover food which can grow bacteria. If there is always food in the bowl, consistently refilled new food on top will leave the leftover food on the bottom old and go bad.
Pests are also drawn to a bowl of food. Vets have discovered ants and mice droppings in and around the food bowls of cats who are free fed, which is disgusting but very real.
5. You are unable to monitor how much your pets are eating, or any changes in their appetite. Which in many cases, this can be a sign of illness. If you have a cat who eats all of his food as soon as you give it to him, but one day he doesn’t eat, he should be sent to the vet right away.
If there are ever a reason to go to the emergency room with your pet, the vet will want to know when they have last eaten, and if you choose free freeing, you will not know your pet’s diet, schedule, or consumption level.
6. It lowers your cat’s desire to consume treats. The majority of the time, many complain that their cat isn't motivated by food, that is because they are free feeding the animal.
Imagine having a bowl of $1 bills on the table for anybody to take, then telling your child they must work for their $5 weekly allowance. Why would they want to when they can simply grab cash whenever they want? Why would they work it? It is the same in this case, they are no longer motivated by food.
Want to Transition from Free Feeding to Schedule Feeding?
Check out this article 7 Steps to Transition from Free Feeding and how to troubleshoot if you are having issues!