How much to feed my cat?

​My cat weighs about 13lbs. So how much should I give her? Should I combine her 2 cans in the morning and 2 at night, I don't want to over feed her at once. Should I feed her throughout the day? I'm very new at this.

She needs 220 calories of food each day. It is better to feed a cat more often, rather than large meals all at once. for the 45 calorie cans she would need around 5 of those cans each day.

Here are some suggestions for affordable canned foods:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/308964/healthy-but-affordable-canned-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/272192/affordable-canned-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/327692/cheapest-most-affordable-grain-free-or-healthiest-canned-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/330459/...conomical-way-to-buy-friskies-canned-cat-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/306956/new-affordable-petsmart-brand-d

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/292890/4health-now-has-affordable-grain-free-wet-food

Fancy Feast Classic / Gourmet are just fine but those little 3 oz cans aren't a lot of food or calories which means you have to buy and feed more cans than if you buy a brand that comes in a larger can size. Cheaper and smaller isn't necessarily better in the long run Pates are definitely better to feed than ones gravy / sauce / etc (more food in the can) but it's ok to feed a non-pate once in awhile as a treat.

The general rule of thumb is to feed 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily. Calorie information may or may not be printed on the label so check out these canned food charts:

http://www.petobesityprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Cat_Canned_Pouch_Foods.pdf

http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

Small 3 oz cans have under 100 calories while 5.5 oz can and larger sized cans have more. You can split up a larger can into a few small meals daily for your cat. About two or two and a half 5.5 oz cans has enough calories for most cats. That would be about four or five 3 oz cans with around 40 calories.

A13 lb cat needs approximately 260 to 325 calories to maintain body weight. Your cat may  need more or less than that.

Most TCS members discourage feeding dry food but there are people here who do feed some dry food or only dry food. Most of the big name brands you find at supermarkets and big box store are really poor quality filled with junk and litle to no meat. Purina Cat Chow is pretty awful so I wouldn't feed that. Same with Science Diet and any prescription food your vet may recommend for weight control or fiber or something that isn't a medical condition. Pet stores have good quality foods like Wellness and Blue Buffalo but I'm not sure if you can find a brand that fits into your $30 / month budget if you are also feeding canned food. Can you increase your food budget a bit? Here's an article with tips on how to pick a dry food if you have to feed at least some dry food:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/choosing-the-right-dry-cat-food

Pet stores often have big food sales so that's one way to save. Clip coupons out of the Sunday newspaper or look online for printable ones. I posted this in another thread: Sometimes at Target and other big box stores there is a sales shelf or two in the pet care aisle, usually on the "end cap" shelves facing the store walls. I've found cans of FF and Friskies there for like $0.30 each. None were even close to expiring.

I think it's great you're trying to feed your cat more healthy food, BUT......be forewarned.....it is not always easy to transition a cat used to eating only dry food to cans. Cats don't like change, and they can't go very long between meals without health implications (so don't just out the new food down and think she'll eat it eventually.....she probably won't). Sometimes it takes some trial and error to find out what kind of foods she will eat. For mine, they will NOT touch pate foods.....only shredded or chunks. Believe me, I have tried! Your best bet may be to go to Petco and buy single cans of a few different brands and flavors. Good luck!

This site was very helpful to me years ago when I was in your position:

http://catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

Generally in my experience cats fed dry food only in the past go absolutely nuts for canned so the transition to canned only is smooth and easy.

You should have seen Kabby when he was switched to canned, I've never heard a cat scream so loud and frantic for food. He even tried to snatch the bowl from my hands!

​Yes she actually loves getting the wet food. I got the Fancy Feast Grilled variety and gave her some tonight she ate it all.

That's great that she loved the first one you tried! Wow!