Do Pets Know When They Are Full? - PetMD

I often get asked what, how much, and when to feed dogs and cats. I don’t have a standard answer, because it depends on the specific animal. Some animals can be free-fed and will stop eating when they are full, while others will gain weight with just the occasional table scrap. Similar to people, some of this is genetic and some is environmental.

When to Feed Your Dog or Cat

As for “when” to feed your pet, most healthy adult dogs and cats can have their bowls filled once or twice per day. Whether the animal is required to eat the food all at once or it can sit out is up to you and them. Dogs who are fed meals on a regular schedule will have more predictable potty requirements, which may be important to your lifestyle. But some dogs, and many cats, prefer to nibble throughout the day.

If your adult dog or cat has always been offered meals and eaten them quickly, suddenly switching to unlimited quantities of food (so there is always food in the bowl) will not end well. But if you have a puppy or kitten or are planning to add one to your family, those first few weeks will tell you what kind of eater your new fur baby is. For adult animals, it is easier to switch to meal feeding, but it is possible to try to spread out their food throughout the day. Slow feeder bowls or automatic feeders can help, too.

Of course, you may be in the situation where one dog is a fast eater and the other would slowly graze all day if she could. This definitely complicates things but also gives you an opportunity to be creative. I like the idea of being able to feed each pet in the way they prefer, so long as they are healthy. Maybe putting a bowl up high or under a short table will prevent one or the other pet from getting extra food. Or maybe they just need to be separated for feedings.

When I visit my parents, I have to put my dog’s food upstairs where my parents’ dog can’t get to it. My dog free-feeds while my parents’ dog eats any food immediately. I have clients who put the bowl of dry food in a box with a narrow entrance so that the lean cat can free-feed but the chubby cat on a diet only eats at meal time. There are also tech tools to facilitate differential feeding for pets, such as microchip-activated bowls, if that is your style.