What's your honest opinion?

I think it partly depends on the animal. Some of them will eat all their food and their owner will refill the bowl and they'll keep eating, while others will only eat what they need. If you have a pet of the first type you need to regulate their eating yourself, but if they regulate themselves there's no real need to.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not very cat-savvy. However, I've been raising rabbits for the last 7+ years or so.

The reason free-feeding is not suggested is because rabbits have very short memories. They will not remember that they ate 5 minutes ago and will eat again if the opportunity arises. During a bad season in the wild, a rabbit may not consistently find a good supply of food. So when it DOES find it, the rabbit eats enough to last for a period of time until they can find another food supply. Your domestic rabbit will do the same thing. If there is food sitting there, he'll eat it...in preparation for a bad season. But obviously, that won't come because you feed him every day. So the overeating will likely cause obesity.

Another reason not to free-feed is simply to keep the food fresh. If you feed them their ration once or twice a day, they eat it immediately so none is left sitting in the dish going stale.

So those are just a few reasons. I'd suggest rationing your pets' feed and feeding a portion once or twice a day. If they are not overeating, you don't necessarily *have to* do this, but it is just overall a better idea than keeping them constantly stocked.

I hope I was able to answer your question!

There is nothing wrong with free-feeding. My family has always done that when we fed animals kibble; it's only now that we've switched their diets that they have structured meal-times. Animals generally know when to stop (very few will over eat, at least in my experience). So don't worry about what others think of how you feed, just go with what works for you and your animals!

I would say that you should at least stop giving the rabbits unlimited access because i did that for a few months and now my rabbit is obese so, she is now on a diet of 1/4 of a cup of pellets a day (read in a book how much to feed her) so please don't think i am starving her though. my rabbit thinks i am starving her. she takes the bowl of food in her mouth, throws it, dumps it and then flicks it everywhere. p.s. thanks for answering my question, but i forgot to put one more detail, go back to my question and see what it is if you want to. Thanks that really helped. (i do not mean that sarcastically)

no i don't believe your doing anything wrong. we have 3 cats and we are constantly filling up there water bowl and food bowl. none of them are over weight. i am not sure about the rabbit though you might want to call your local vet about that though.

I don't think it is a big deal as long as they are not over weight, I have 2 cats and I allow them to have access to it all the time as well.I have read information that says that it is bad because cats tend to overindulge, but as long as you do not think that your cats are then I would not worry!

I personally don't believe in free feeding. But as long as your pets are maintaining a good weight then you can keep it up. Don't stop what works for you.

I leave my cat's dry food out all of the time too, and she's not overweight. I think that as long as your animals don't overeat and aren't overweight, it should be fine.