I actually set mine to the sound of the fire alarm so if there’s ever a fire (hopefully never) rather than freaked out I hope my cats will run to the food bowls.
I would just switch immediatey to every 12 hrs do it for your wakeup time and 12 hrs later. Maybe be more generous with how long you leave it out the first week (maybe like 30-45 mins vs 20) but try to get that down.
She will eat to satisfy her hunger first. Anything after that is likely boredom or just something to do. You have to make and enforce that choice for her health
The ringtone is a great idea. Classic operant conditioning.
The question then is whether to scale back the third meal bit-by-bit, or to switch straight to a twice a day feeding schedule.
I actually set mine to the sound of the fire alarm so if there’s ever a fire (hopefully never) rather than freaked out I hope my cats will run to the food bowls.
I would just switch immediatey to every 12 hrs do it for your wakeup time and 12 hrs later. Maybe be more generous with how long you leave it out the first week (maybe like 30-45 mins vs 20) but try to get that down.
She will eat to satisfy her hunger first. Anything after that is likely boredom or just something to do. You have to make and enforce that choice for her health