Your cat’s diet plays a major role in its well-being. If you give your cats too much or too little, they will not maintain optimal health. Similarly, deficient marine can lead to a lack of nutrients and too much can lead to obesity and all the problems associated with being overweight.
Finding the sweet spot for feeding a cat can be difficult, especially for new cat keepers. But in this article, you’ll find all the information you need about feeding frequency and amount, helping your cat live its best life, and taking the guess work out of the equation.
How often should you feed your cat?
This seems like a simple question on the surface, but how would you answer if someone asked how often you should feed someone? We all know that it depends a lot on several factors like age, size, and appetite. Cats are no different. They eat different amounts, depending on similar characteristics such as age, weight, race, size, and more.
Younger cats need to feed more often than adults. Growing felines require more food per pound of body weight compared to older cats. Rather than feeding all of that in one sitting, it’s better to spread it out over several feedings throughout the day.
As your cat ages, it will need less food per pound of body weight, which means less feeding. Once your cat reaches adulthood, two or three feedings each day will be sufficient, as long as your cat gets all the necessary nutrition within those feedings.
Cat Feeding Chart
Age Cat | Weight Cat | How Much Cat Feeds Per Day | Daily Feeds |
Up to 1 week | 3-7 oz | Kitty formula: 25-65 ml | 12 |
1-2 weeks | 5-14 oz | Kitty formula: 40-110 ml | 10–12 |
2-3 weeks | 12-16 oz | Kitty formula: 110-125 ml | 6–8 |
3-4 weeks | 1–1.5 pounds | 11 g dry or 40 g wet food | 6–8 |
4-8 weeks | 1.3–2.6 pounds | 18 g dry food or 65 g wet | 3–4 |
2-3 months | 2.2–4 pounds | 20 g-30 g dry or 65 g-110 g wet food | 3–4 |
3-6 months | 3.5–7 pounds | 30 g-50 g dry or 130 g-165 g wet food | 3–4 |
6-9 months | 6-10 pounds | 45 g-60 g dry or 160 g-215 g wet food | 2–3 |
9–12 months | 7–15 pounds | 50 g-85 g dry or 150 g-300 g wet food | 2–3 |
1-5 years | 8-20 pounds | 60 g-105 g dry or 160 g-365 g wet food | 2–3 |
5-10 years | 8-20 pounds | 60 g-105 g dry or 160 g-365 g wet food | 2–3 |
10+ years | 8-20 pounds | 60 g-105 g dry or 160 g-365 g wet food | 2–4 |
Keep in mind that this chart is only a rough guideline. The amount of food a cat eats should be based on daily calories. Different cat foods have a specific caloric density per gram of product. Monitoring a cat’s weight gain as it grows and develops and its body condition score as an adult is the best way to determine how much to feed a cat.
Source: https://www.catster.com/guides/how-much-to-feed-kittens/
Factors Affecting How Much to Feed Your Cat
As mentioned, many factors affect the amount of food your cat requires. Although younger cats eat more per pound of body weight, they eat less overall. Larger and heavier cats will need more whole food. But as a cat gets bigger, they can eat more in one sitting, so the frequency of feeding decreases, even though the total amount eaten continues to rise.
Another factor to consider is your cat’s current activity level. If your cat is restless and spends its time sitting in comfortable spots around the house, it will not need as much food as if it is constantly running around, playing or spending a lot of time exploring the backyard .
You will also need to make adjustments to feeding wet or dry food. While either is perfectly acceptable, provided it provides complete nutrition for your cat, they do not measure up. Of course, wet food weighs more, so you will need to give your cat more of it in terms of weight. When it comes to deciding how much dry food to feed a cat, you will be feeding less by weight, but it will appear to have more volume in your cat’s food bowl.
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Health Dangers for Obese Cats
Obesity is a major problem for domesticated cats in North America. In fact, it is the most common of the preventable feline diseases. In America, about one-third of all cats are considered obese and about half of cats over 5 years of age are considered overweight.
So what problems will obesity cause for your cat? For starters, it will shorten your cat’s lifespan. Obese cats show increased mortality rates 2.8 times higher than cats of a healthy body weight.
If that’s not enough, obesity puts your cat at greater risk of other diseases that can reduce their quality of life and shorten their lifespan.
Obese cats show an increased risk of diseases such as:
- Urinary bladder stones
- Osteoarthritis
- Hypertension
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Anesthetic conflict
Being obese isn’t just bad for your cat. Obese cats who stop eating it may be even worse. When an obese cat stops eating or loses weight too quickly, they often develop a condition called hepatic lipidosis; liver disease that can be life threatening.
Obese cats have a much harder time fighting off infectious diseases since their bodies are already in poor health, which means they are more likely to develop serious or even fatal diseases.
Monitor Your Cat’s Feeding
When cats are stressed or sick, they are often very good at hiding it. Some of the most obvious signs you can look for are changes in their feeding habits. These can also reflect how your cat is responding to his feeding routine, allowing you to make any necessary changes.
If your kitten is eating in the middle of the night, there is nothing to worry about. Kittens have tiny stomachs, which is why their food needs to be divided into many smaller meals. It’s hard for them to go 8-12 hours without a meal, so it’s okay for your kitten to seek out a nighttime snack. Adult cats should be used to a separate feeding schedule, however, and should not be fed in the middle of the night. If your adult cat begins to exhibit this behavior, it may indicate that there is another underlying issue.
If your cat is licking his bowl clean every time you feed him, he may be undernourished. However, you will need more evidence to be sure. Instead of guessing, find out what your cat’s body should feel like so you can estimate your cat’s weight. Feel for proper rib coverage and weigh your cat to ensure it is at a healthy weight.
Vets have developed something called a body condition score. This system assesses a cat’s body shape from above and from the side as well as how easy or difficult it is to feel the ribs. This system helps place a cat’s body on a scale that goes from 1-9. Cats with an ideal body weight are in the middle of the scale, at number 5. Overweight cats can be between 1-3, with 1 being overweight or underweight. Obese cats are placed at number 9, and the 7-8 range is considered overweight. The best way to manage your cat’s diet and to evaluate and determine the body condition score is to use it under the guidance of a veterinarian.
Conclusion
There are no hard and fast rules for the frequency and volume of cat feeding. When deciding how much to feed a cat there are many factors involved, such as the cat’s age, breed, size, weight, activity level, and more. Still, there are some general guidelines you should follow to ensure your cat is getting the proper amount of nutrition.
If you still have questions or are not sure if you are feeding your cat too little, too little, or if he is at a healthy weight, you can consult your veterinarian to help you get the basics for your cat.
Featured Image Credit: New Africa, Shutterstock