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I'll be moving to my new apartment in +/- 2 years, and I plan on adopting a cat, since I always wanted one, but never could due to our dogs (which I also love).
But then I realized that his feeding times would be "irregular". I leave my home to go to work at 6:40AM and come back only at 5PM.
So, could I give him a reasonable ammount of food before leaving home and then he eats what he needs? Or would he overfeed himself? What other options do I have?
Cats will generally overfeed themselves (there are always the exception), from the Association for Pet Obesity, in 2016
An Estimated 59% of Cats and 54% of Dogs in the United States Are Overweight or Obese.
A large portion (if not all) of a cats diet should be wet food, since wet is expensive most owners will supplement with dry to cut the cost. Depending on the food you choose and how much your pet weighs he should be fed a specific amount daily. When starting a new food weigh your pet every 2 weeks to ensure he is not losing or gaining weight (if a kitten we want gain of course).
As Journeyman mentioned, buying an automatic food dispenser is great!! Cats are grazers and will benefit from being able to eat small portions throughout the day vs all at once.
For dispensing wet food be sure the product you use can keep the food refrigerated until use. Cats typically like warmer foods as the smell is much stronger, their taste buds are sub-par compared to us so they heavily rely on smell.
If you do not wish to have an automatic food dispenser you can feed him twice a day, 1/2 the daily portion in the morning and 1/2 in the evening.
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There's machines that would let you feed a cat at regular intervals. Not being a cat owner, and it being a product recommendation, I can't say a specific one, but that sounds like a option that ensures your cat is fed at the right time.
Some cats manage to hack em - though needing to build an armoured cage around is unlikely. Its still a good way to get measured amounts of food at specific times.
Depends on the cat.
In general, cats being small animals need several smaller feedings a day. Human normal habits do not work for them. On the Wikipedia page you can find:
[...] cats tend to consume many small meals in a single day [...]
If you have one that can control its intake of food, then you are golden.
But if your cat likes to overeat, it will get fat from that. Not a good thing! Or a cat that eats more then it can digest and then throws up. In these cases and others, you will need a feeder. Search around for a good one, should not be to hard.
Shouldn't be an issue. All the cats we had were given a serving of wet food when one of us came home and otherwise had a bowl of dry food that they could access whenever they wanted. Usually they should only eat as much as they need.
