Method chaining onto $this->load->model

Used to be in CI2 I could do this:
$this->load->model('cat_model')->meow();

Was that bad practice?

Because it seems like CI3 is making me separate these:
$this->load->model('cat_model');
$this->cat_model->meow();

Or am I doing something wrong in CI3 (PHP 5.4) ?