How to taper off free feeding?

I have two cats with opposite problems. The one pictured is overweight (19 lbs) and the other one is underweight. This fattie obviously has to lose weight, but the vet told us that the other cat can’t lose any more weight.

We made the mistake of free feeding them, which is how we got into this problem. I want to stop free feeding them and feed them separately, but I’m not sure what to expect or what to do if they’ve only ever known free feeding.

My plan for now is to put them in separate rooms for an hour (?), put out the food, then take it away. And they’ll have to learn to finish it during that time. Does this sound correct, or is there another method? We might also give the skinny cat extra food throughout the day (again, separate from the fat cat).

Also, the fat cat was prescribed special weight loss food (dry food) from the vet, and I don’t think the underweight cat should be eating that.

I have two cats with opposite problems. The one pictured is overweight (19 lbs) and the other one is underweight. This fattie obviously has to lose weight, but the vet told us that the other cat can’t lose any more weight.

We made the mistake of free feeding them, which is how we got into this problem. I want to stop free feeding them and feed them separately, but I’m not sure what to expect or what to do if they’ve only ever known free feeding.

My plan for now is to put them in separate rooms for an hour (?), put out the food, then take it away. And they’ll have to learn to finish it during that time. Does this sound correct, or is there another method? We might also give the skinny cat extra food throughout the day (again, separate from the fat cat).

Also, the fat cat was prescribed special weight loss food (dry food) from the vet, and I don’t think the underweight cat should be eating that.