How much do you feed your cats?

Question

I have two spayed kittens -- Chubby (6 mos), Healthy (7.5). Originally I was free feeding both cats way too much food just going by the labels on the cat food so per vet's advice, I ended up cutting back to 1 can wet and 1/2 cup dry per cat. Later this went down to 1/2 can of wet, 1/2 cup of dry. Soon I stopped free feeding them and they now eat 3 times a day. Another vet recommended that I scale back their food EVEN more, as Chubby was still chubby. He suggested I do 1/2 can wet and 1/4 cup dry.

Science Diet labels indicate that they should eat about 400 cals/day. Wellness labels suggest 270 cals/day. Research indicates that adult cats need ~40 cals/lb/day so for my cats, that would be about 280 cals (yet don't kittens need more??). The current amount they now eat totals 182 calories. Why don't these numbers agree??

Since Chubby is still gaining weight, my instinct tells me they are not underfed yet 182 cals seems so low. Advice? How much do you feed your cats?

*They eat Wellness wet and dry food
*They are both very active cats -- in fact Chubby is far more active than Healthy

*I have made a conscious decision to feed them a mixture of wet and dry food, to not free feed them, and am interested in calories since Chubby keeps gaining weight. Please DO NOT RESPOND if your advice is simply to free feed them, switch to only wet or dry food, or to laugh at the fact that I am "counting calories" for my cats.

*They are fed separately and each eat only what is given to them.

Answer 1

my cat (2 yrs) is on a vet-prescribed diet too. he gets 1/2 cup of hill's prescription diet dry food every day (1/2 in the morning & 1/2 at night). originally i was feeding him 3/4 cup but he wasn't losing weight so the vet said i could cut back to 1/2 cup & see if he started losing. he hasn't been on the 1/2 cup long enough for me to weigh him yet. but i hope this works! he's not that overweight, only by about 1.5 lbs. the vet said apparently he is the type of cat who will eat & eat & eat even when he's not hungry, that's why the automatic feeder didn't work for him. so now he has an electronic automatic portion feeder that dispenses his food.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

My cat is 4 yrs old and weighs about 7 or 8 pounds. I feed her 1/2 cup of dry food a day (1/4 in the morning, 1/4 for supper) of Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Indoor. After that food is gone I will be switching to a higher quality food. You are supposed to feed depending on the weight of the cat. I also feed her a bit of wet food a day, but she mostly just drinks the juice from the extra water I add in, and there is always food left over each day from wet and dry food, so she eats 1/2 cup or less of food a day in reality.

Answer 4

I have a 10 year old gray tabby that is fat- maybe 4-5 pounds overweight. The vet recommended that I feed him a 1/4 cup twice a day. I just feed him dry food. (According to the vet, do not feed him urinary tract type food.)
I've been doing this since September and he hasn't lost any weight! Tried diet too with no success.
Is that 40/cals/lb a maintain current weight figure? Perhaps you need to reduce by 10-15% to lose weight.
Meanwhile my cat will wait patiently by his bowl for breakfast and dinner every day.
He free-fed for the first 9 years; probably a mistake.
Maybe will try kitty cardio.

Answer 5

I Give My Cat Science Diet Cat Food. She Loves A Little Tuna Fish As A Treat. A Couple Times A Week.And I Give Her Fresh Water 2 Times A Day. Morning And Night.

Answer 6

I feed my cat Mia dry cat food. I have a self feeder and waterer. She eats& drinks when she wants. She is slightly chubby but that is because she is a lazy cat. I don't count calories or measure food. I do let her have a small can of Fancy Feast wet food twice a week.

Answer 7

I have 2 cats. I feed them 1/2 cup of dry food in the morning and 1/2 cup of food at night. They are maintaining their weight. I dont feed them wet food, cause that wil cause them to gain weight.

Answer 8

I usually keep my cats bowl filled with dry food all of the time. Cats eat until they are full, unlike dogs. I usually give him one can of wet food per day, seeing as how wet food can damage teeth. I work at a cattery, and they feed each cat one cup of dry food per day, and if they can eat it, 2 to 3 small fancy feast cans in one bowl per day.

Answer 9

I feed her one can of cat food twice a day. But my cat, Baby, eats real food too. She likes anything from potatoe chips to coconut popsicles to strawberry yogurt. I share with her most of the time when I eat something. I give her a little on my finger, and if she likes it i put some in her bowl. She thinks that she is a human! She even talks back. When I tell her to get off of a table or something, she gets down, but she meows at me.

Answer 10

If you have more than one cat I think the larger one is eating the most of the food. I would put them in separate areas during feeding to make sure that the overweight cat is getting the cut back amount.