I also free feed my cats. I have two that were strays, and if that bowl ever gets empty, oh my goodness, it's like the world ended!! My one girl, Sophie, gets very stressed and will gorge on the food once it would be refilled. I think it's just residual from having been a stray for a long time. I've had her for about 4yrs, and she has gotten a little better, but she's still the most skittish. My parents have never seen her unless she's run from the room they were in, or if they actually went through the house looking for her (which of course freaked her out even more... parents, they never listen to what you tell them, lol).

My father had a maine coon that weighed in at about 25lbs, and we tried to tell him it wasn't healthy, he also had a heart problem and died of congestive heart failure (I'm sure weight attributed to this). He actually got him from his father when he passed away. My grandfather fed them ON the table (they had their own seats ), and Tiny (ironic name) loved all people food. Cold cuts were bought weekly for the kitties, and my grandpa also fed and named all the strays. When he passed, we took away about 250 cans of food, 50+bags of food, and about 20 boxes of tender vittles. It was just overwhelming. And he only had 2 indoor cats at that time, but fed about 15 outdoor strays or wandering cats.

A lot of our cats in the shelter are very heavy. I think that is because they do not get a lot of exercise and just lay around and sleep. I think that is a big problem at shelters where the cats stay for a lengthy amount of time before being adopted.