How much to feed cat
Chris Frey
Maine Coon/Tabby mix. She was fairly scrawny when we got her, but has been
putting on weight ever since.
Any guidelines on the amount we should be feeding her? She currently gets
about 2 oz of wet food and 1/3-1/2 cup of dry food per day.
By all impressions, she seems to be a bit more than a year old, and now
weighs a little over 8 pounds. I just don't want her to get too fat!
TIA
Phil P.
Chris Frey <chris...@REMOVECAPSyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:9886a...@news1.newsguy.com...
Congratulations on your new addition! Now, just be prepared to be "taught"
your place in your household by your cat ! :)
In order to determine how much to feed your cat, you need to know three
factors: her weight, the caloric content of the food and her activity level.
Label recommendations are usually overestimated to assure adequate feeding
but often result in overweight cats.
For a moderately active, young cat (not a kitten), 70-75 kcal/kg/day is
considered about right.
For example, a 5.5 oz. can of adult, Nutro Max Cat contains 168 kcal; and a
cup of dry, adult, Nutro Max Cat contains 420 kcal. Using a 4 kg. (9 lb.),
moderately active cat as an example, her daily energy needs are about 300
kcal/day (75 kcal/kg). Thus one, 5.5 oz. can (168 kcal) and about 1/3 cup
of dry food (140 kcal) = 308 kcal/day should be just about right. You can
feed 1/2 can twice a day and leave the 1/3 cup dry food out all day for her
to nibble on. However, put out the canned food first so she finishes it
first before reaching satiety.
You can always fine-tune the dry food component of her diet to maintain
optimum weight.
For information about feline nutrition, please visit my site:
http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm
Good luck and Congratulations!
Phil.
--
"Cat people are different, to the extent that they
generally are not conformists.
How could the be, with a cat running their lives?"
--Louis Camuti
Feline Healthcare: http://maxshouse.com
LizMcEwen
I have two cats and a dog. I was told that the best way to regulate their
food according to their personal requirements is to feel the animal's ribs.
You should be able to feel them - but not see them. All my pets met this
criteria until we went away for Christmas for three weeks. A friend came
in once a day and fed my 8-month kitten Chica. (We didn't have Blossom
then) She filled her bowl with kibble in the middle of the afternoon and
we hoped that would be enough for the day.
When we came home, Chica was very noticebly fatter ! I could no longer
feel her ribs - and still can't ! She is now 10 months old and weighs
just over 8 lbs. She was 5lbs before we left her at Christmas. She
looked sweet and delicate before Christmas, now she looks quite puffy and
chubby. It's amazing what a difference 3 lbs can make, but I am worried
that she is getting too fat. Our other cat is a skinny 6-month old who
eats like a horse. As she is still so young (and skinny) I feed her
several times a day. Trouble is - when she appears in the kitchen to be
fed, tubby Chica comes along too!!! Chica bulges quite visibly at the
sides. The company I get her food from (PHD) make less dense kibble for
less active cats. I know she is still very young, but do you think it
would be a good time to restrict her food and give her something less
'fattening'?
Liz
"Phil P." <ph...@maxshouse.com> wrote in message
news:wyRp6.493$8I5.4...@typhoon2.ba-dsg.net...
Phil P.
LizMcEwen <e_mc...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:sLTp6.12764$H5.24...@news1.rdc2.pa.home.com...
Hi Liz,
Weight control in growing cats can be a little tricky because their
nutritional and energy needs change. From 8 months to 10 months her
energy needs dropped from ~280 kcal/day to ~260 kcal/day. If her
caloric intake wasn't reduced accordingly, she'll gain a little weight.
Its also possible that your (well-intentioned) neighbor overfed her a
bit.
An "average" 10 month old female should weight about 6 lbs., and her
energy requirement is about 90 kcal/kg or about 260 kcal/day (this will
drop as she gets older). She probably doesn't need to be on a
weight-loss diet, per se, and because of her young age, I would not
restrict her caloric intake very much.
My advice would be to try feeding her 260 kcal/day, which is her normal
daily energy requirement and see how she does on that. If you could
switch her over to a combination of canned and dry food, that would be
ideal.
For example, Nutro Max Kitten (Chicken & Liver) 3 oz. can = 96 kcal.
Feed 1 can twice a day (192 kcal) and leave 1/8 cup (2 tbsp) (63 kcal)
out all day for her to nibble on if she gets hungry. That's a total of
255 kcal/day. Weight loss (and weight gain) is hard to notice in a cat
that you see every day, so it might be a good idea to weigh her at your
vet's office before you begin her diet then weigh her again in about 4
weeks. Its going to be a little tricky because she's still growing a
bit.
Here's a body scoring diagram to judge your cat's weight:
http://maxshouse.com/feline_body_scoring.htm
Good luck.
Phil
Phil P.
Fruklass
of dry. Do make sure she stays active--play with her. (You get some exercise
too!)