feeding cats in a multiple cat house

Question
hi again! I have a dilemma that I am probably making too big a deal out of.  I have 2 cats; Sandy and Fat Cat. FC is 17 lbs and dr wants him to weigh 12.  I was going to feed FC 1/4 cup of food 2 x a day...my problem is that when I try to feed Sandy twice a day too, she doesn't eat very much of her food cuz she's used to nibbling thru the day. I can't find a place to put her food that FC doesn't figure out (!!) how to reach.  Should I just keep feeding Sandy 2 x a day too and will she learn to start eating it all at those times...or what would u suggest? I even tried locking FC up at night so Sandy could eat..but then Sandy doesn't eat cuz she gets upset that the other cat isn't with her. I don't want to have to be at home all day constantly putting the food down for Sandy and then putting it back up so she can have her way ;-)  i dont remember if i askedu about this already  thanks for your help

Answer
Nope, you haven't asked this already!

This is a tough one.  Cats are nibblers, eating as many as 17 small meals per day.  That's fine for cats who don't overeat, like Sandy.

However, they will adapt to having meal times.  I used to free-feed my cats.  But we ran into some obesity, too, so we started feeding a controlled amount twice a day.  Now most of the cats are at very healthy weights.  A couple are still pudgy, but none are underweight.  They know they eat while it's there.

You could encourage Sandy to eat her full meals by giving her canned food instead of dry.  Most cats will happily gobble up canned food in one meal.