From what I understand for dogs it's very important for you to feed them, but for cats it's more important that food is made available to it regularly and consistently than from you specifically.
If a cat is hungry and knows you provide food, it will keep trying to figure out ways to make you give it the food which can lead to very strange and negative behaviours.
However if a cat learns that food will show up in a mysterious box at precise times, it will just wait until that time which will make it happier as it understands what it has to do to eat (wait) and you happier because it won't be scratching at you and yowling
Yup. I had a very "food motivated" cat and our lives was made much more pleasant by setting a "food alarm". That way she wouldn't bother me until the alarm goes off.
My current cats are free-fed but they get quite annoying if their bowl runs low. (they know how to get your attention)
If a cat is hungry and knows you provide food, it will keep trying to figure out ways to make you give it the food which can lead to very strange and negative behaviours.
However if a cat learns that food will show up in a mysterious box at precise times, it will just wait until that time which will make it happier as it understands what it has to do to eat (wait) and you happier because it won't be scratching at you and yowling