Cutting Back

I have an awkward dilemma. My one year old male is a perfect weight, long and lean. My almost one year old female is definitely chubby. They both eat the exact same amount of food every day....11 ounces each. I feel like my female needs to cut back a bit but my male is fine with that much. Is this a lot of food? Those of you who feed wet only, have much are you one year or older cats eating?? I’m not sure that these two need to eat this much.

11 ounces of what food? Caloric density can vary greatly so if it is overfeeding would depending on that calories. It is also possible that your boy is still filling out while your girl has finished growing. You could also just have two different body types so she looks chubbier but isn't.

Mine have never eaten more than 9 ounces each per day.

Jasmine at 10 lbs would only eat about 6 oz a day, Lydia is 9 lbs and eats 3 to 5 oz depending on the food and 1 tbsp of dry.

As said, some food has more calories than others (Weruva for example is a lot lighter on calories vs Nature's Variety)

my cats (1.5 and 2yo) eat around 5-7 oz a day each

That seems like a lot but it does depend how many calories the food has.

Males do take a bit longer to mature so it could be that she's ready to cut back but he isn't yet.

That big number on the side of the can the Kcal/Kg ME, what is it on the food you’re feeding? Divide by 1000 and that’s the calories per gram. Greater than 1 is good. Less than one and you’re feeding more water than calories. How much do your cats weigh right now?

My Krista is a senior kitty with IBD. That’s two strikes against her digestion. She eats 7-8 oz of a high calorie pate (1.16 cal/gram) for about 240 calories on the day. She’s 8 lbs and needs every last one of those calories due to her impaired digestion. Healthier, younger cats could probably get away with less calories than that for the same weight.

It’s 166 calories per can. I’m currently feeding them Authority flaked wet food. I had to stop rotating foods because Kaia had almost constant diarrhea, and any food with any kind of fruits or veggies also gives her diarrhea. This food is veggie and fruit free, no by products, does have wheat gluten and potato starch which really sucks, and is a mid grade food I’d say. I’m still paying $80 every 16 days for this food because they eat so much. I was doing one feeding of a commercially prepared raw food for a while but ran out and just haven’t bought more.

My previous 10lb male ate 8oz a day. It would be good if they could get down to that.

Kieka said:

11 ounces of what food? Caloric density can vary greatly so if it is overfeeding would depending on that calories. It is also possible that your boy is still filling out while your girl has finished growing. You could also just have two different body types so she looks chubbier but isn't.

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Yes to all this! We have two that are like this, too -- littermates, one is long and lean, the other is rounder and plumper -- and they will never be the same size! They'll always have different appetites and shapes. They ate huge quantities of food into their second (even third?) year. I don't remember how many calories, ounces, or anything else because we just kept feeding them, as the vet said to; they were not getting overweight. I do, though, remember totalling up some sample menu calories and finding that they were in the range you're citing, Erin80, with your cats' two cans at 166 calories a day. This went on for a long time! We didn't really have to cut back significantly on their food until they were at least three. They weighed 7 (Ireland) and 8 (Edwina) pounds when they were 3.5 years old so they were (and still are) relatively small cats.

Having said all that, I'd be careful not to reduce the female's food too much: cats at that age can still have growth spurts, plus they're very active, and they can still fill out (in good ways) even when they look done. (Or so it all was with our cats! Of course they're all different.) Beyond that, even when we thought Edwina was a bit too chunky, the vet was very happy with her weight. And that continues to be the case, now that she's about six. She's fluffy and has a (normal) pouch, so those things make her look bigger. She has a tendency to overeat if given the chance but by just keeping her to her share of the food, it's easy to feel her ribs and spine -- and she basically just looks like the larger end of normal on the body condition charts. And her sister continues to be svelte.

We do separate them for meals, which might be helpful for your cats if the female tends to try to scavenge food from her sister.

Erin80 said:

It’s 166 calories per can. I’m currently feeding them Authority flaked wet food. I had to stop rotating foods because Kaia had almost constant diarrhea, and any food with any kind of fruits or veggies also gives her diarrhea. This food is veggie and fruit free, no by products, does have wheat gluten and potato starch which really sucks, and is a mid grade food I’d say. I’m still paying $80 every 16 days for this food because they eat so much. I was doing one feeding of a commercially prepared raw food for a while but ran out and just haven’t bought more.

My previous 10lb male ate 8oz a day. It would be good if they could get down to that.

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332 calories per day is on the higher side. It depends on their activity level though. My cats are fairly active with outdoor access and my boy will eat close to 400 calories in a day. But he is 14 pounds of muscle. My girl is 7.5 pounds and she eats only around 200-240 a day. We've also had people on the site whose cats are chunky eating just 150 calories a day because of their low activity level and metabolism.

Given their age, they may still be too young to cut calories dramatically. Both of mine were still growing until they were well past 18 months old. And there is still the whole body shape factor in play that could impact your assessment. I'd feel comfortable saying to reduce by an ounce per feeding and see how it goes. If they complain too much then give them back the ounce for now and continue to mointor. It's hard because they are in that growing period still.

For reference this is Rocket, 7.5 pounds of barrel chested cat who looks chunky but in reality tends to be too skinny. Right now I can feel every bone and am offering her all the food and treats she wants to get her to add just four ounces.



While this is my 14 pounder who I have to monitor a little more. He was growing and eating 400+ calories a day until 3 years old when I started mointoring more closely because he got a little chunky.

Krista gets about 7.5 to 8 oz a day for about 220 to 240 calories. She's a senior kitty with IBD. That's two strikes against her digestion and metabolism. I would feed her more if she would eat it and keep it down. She's stable at 8 lbs but I can still feel more bone than I'd like to. I think we'd both be happier at 9 lbs. If I can get her to eat another ounce...