Thanks for much for the feedback, everyone!

Gina's Ark, great advice with lots of tips that should really help! And to clarify, I don't free feed my kitties (or my pup). They get fed twice daily. I have fed Bonnie up on a counter (because otherwise my pup would happily eat her food!) and she usually ate about half, then might walk around, have a nap, and then go finish her meal. But with our new kitty Levi around, there's no going back to anything as he quite insistently helps himself to anything left in any bowl, even to the point of nudging another kitty aside a bit (they don't seem to mind, they move a little but keep eating too) to share the wealth, as it were. When I brought the kits in for their first vet visit after adoption, Levi was 6 lbs, Charity 4.5 lbs -- I know males can weigh more but it's a reminder that Charity's food needs some protection so she has the time to eat what she needs to!

Anyway, to make a long story longer still the past few meals I've fed them in the order that makes sense for our house (first Bonnie, our resident cat, pushing Levi and Charity aside -- then taking Levi & Charity's food downstairs to their feeding station (they'll willingly follow once they realize I'm carrying their dishes!), and then back up to feed Bijou, our pup. For a short time, everyone eats on their own and there's peace...when Levi is done and comes hopping up and tries to get into Bonnie's dish, I push him away and/or close the door to where Bonnie eats. If Bonnie is done eating for the moment but hasn't finished her food, I move her bowl out of reach for all the cats and wait until Bonnie returns to her spot for the rest of her food, and then I give her her dish back. So far, it's working okay, but it takes so much more of my attention than I thought it would My "people kids" don't eat much in general and would rather walk the plank than touch their brother or sister's leftovers, so my furbabies wanting to eat all the time no matter the source is a new issue for me.

I think it will work out fine with some of the tips you all have so generously shared...in the meantime, maybe if I give my people kids their meals out of a kitty dish, they'd start eating better! tee hee