I free fed Taz for the first few years of his life and then stopped when he began to gain so much weight. But even after regulating the amount he ate he still reached 21.5 lbs. Right now he weighs only 15.5 lbs. and I feed him about 3/4 cup a day. I even had him on "light" food for overweight cats and that didn't help him loose weight either, so he is just a BIG cat.