Our cat (a 7-8 month old unsterilized female) eats only dry cat food (actually she's currently eating prescribed "Veterinary Diet S/O Fibre Response" brand food).
If I follow the recommended dose printed on the bag (according to her weight) and give it at once, after a few hours there is nothing left and at the end of the day she's licking the empty bowl and wailing for more. I often took pity and gave her more, but anyway she lost about 200g in two weeks.
I mentioned it to our vet, who said we may give her a bit more than what is written, and to give it as several portions rather than at once. Today I gave her three portions, equivalent in total to the bag recommendation. She didn't complain, and actually I noticed she only ate half of the last portion immediately, and the other half later.
I don't have feedback on the influence of the new policy on her weight, but it seems obvious that it has a physiological influence, since she doesn't seem to be hungry anymore, while eating less. Hence the question, is there an ideal frequency for feeding a cat? For me, it seems that once a day is not a good policy.
P.S.: Amusingly, there is a similar question for Bichon Frisé, which says the printed recommendations on the food packaging is usually too much…
Edit : To clarify things since both current answers mention we're doing the right thing as the cat is losing weight, we do not want her to lose weight, she's already quite thin — and she's 7-8 months old, she's supposed to gain weight. We feed her prescription diet food because of transit issues.