How long should I leave dry food out for my cats?

[none]

I have two cats. They are about 1 1/2 & 2 years old. The two year old is getting a little chubby. I used to leave food out 24/7, because the younger one wasn't fat and I didn't want to punish him by giving him less. Because of my living situation, they have about 400 sq ft of living space, so it's difficult to only leave food out for one of them but not the other. Anyways, I have been leaving food out for them for about 6-8 hours a day. Is that long enough? They have unlimited amounts of food at that time. By the way, it's dry food, if that wasnt obvious.

 

[Cheri]

You should follow the feeding instructions on the bag of food you are feeding, they do have guidelines. Unlimited food is not a good thing for cats, they will get over weight. Make sure that they are playing and you are keeping them active to keep them from becoming over weight.

 

[Sarah]

as long as you want, it lasts forever