4 cans of food per day?!

[Erha76]

For some background, I used to have 6 cats and was feeding whatever was cheap. My situation has changed and I now have 1 cat and a much better financial situation. My cat is also getting a bit older (he’s 9) and he’s a bit chubby at 14 lbs. I don’t understand HOW he’s chubby because he eats 1/3 cup of dry food every morning and 1 small can of wet food every afternoon, which doesn’t seem like much. None the less, I’ve decided to get him on some better quality food and have been doing my research.

I’ve been looking at tiki cat, and their website says to feed 2-3 small cans of wet food for each 7 lbs of body weight. So according to this, my 14 lb cat should get 4-6 cans of food every single day?! That can’t be right??? Please give me some perspective or tell me if I’m not calculating that right. Yes my cat is big, but I know other people who have even bigger cats and I know they’re not feeding them 6 cans of food every day.

 

[LTS3]

Most people ignore the feeding instructions on the label and just feed the cat enough calories daily. The label instructions are often way too much for any cat.

Most canned foods are pretty low in calories. There's a chart here that lists calories if you don't want to read the teeny tiny print on the label: https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf Dry foods are super calorie dense. Think junky greasy fast food burger vs a healthy salad.

The general recommendation is to feed 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily. A 14 lb cat wold need 280 to 350 calories daily. If a can of food has only 70 calories, then you'd need to feed about 4 cans maybe more daily.

 

[Erha76]

Most people ignore the feeding instructions on the label and just feed the cat enough calories daily. The label instructions are often way too much for any cat.

Most canned foods are pretty low in calories. There's a chart here that lists calories if you don't want to read the teeny tiny print on the label: https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf Dry foods are super calorie dense. Think junky greasy fast food burger vs a healthy salad.

The general recommendation is to feed 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily. A 14 lb cat wold need 280 to 350 calories daily. If a can of food has only 70 calories, then you'd need to feed about 4 cans maybe more daily.

thank you so much for replying. The site you linked has the small cans of tiki cat at ~100 calories per can. Which means that my big boy would need about 3 cans a day. But the tiki cat website says 2-3 cans per 7 lbs of body weight. See what I’m saying? Something doesn’t add up there. Admittedly, 3 cans a day SOUNDS more reasonable, but I also don’t want to be starving my baby when I switch him over to a new food. And I would never know if he’s starving, because he ALWAYS acts like he’s starving.

 

[neely]

Welcome to TCS! I thought this Article that discusses how much food you should be feeding might have some helpful information for you. Note: scroll down to the paragraph, So How Much Food Should I Be Feeding?
How Much Food Should I Feed My Cat?

 

[maggie101]

I dont go buy weight, well not according to what the can says.. Maggie 1 5.5 oz can a day,Coco 3/4 can,Peaches a little less. Maggie weighs the most,then,coco,and peaches. Their food is high fat,low carb,average protein

 

[LTS3]

Honestly just feed by calories regardless of can size or the pet food manufacturer' s recommendation of how much to feed Every cat is unique. Two cats of the same weight and age may eat different amounts daily.

 

[Willowy]

I read somewhere that the feeding requirements on the package are based on the needs of a young unaltered cat with a moderate activity level. And most pets are middle-aged altered housecats with a low activity level. So that would account for the difference.

 

[aliceneko]

I think it also depends on the individual cats in question and what they prefer dietary wise. As LTS3 said, two healthy cats may have different diets - sometimes we have to put Toffee and Fudge on different types of food.

 

[fionasmom]

My vet once said not to ever feed according to the amount on the labels as that is for the ideally young and active cat, plus they do want to sell the food.

 

[Time 2 Recognize]

Something I was wondering specifically with brands like Tiki and Weruva is if the feeding guidelines are not only to do with calories, but general nutrition needs? Like is 190 calories of Tiki cat or Weruva nutritionally optimal in terms of vitamins and all that good stuff for my 9lb kitty or are they putting that recommended feeding at a higher number because the food is not only not calorically dense, but also nutritionally lacking density?

Forgive me if that sentence isn't worded the best, I've not been sleeping well and coffee aint doing it today

 

[MissClouseau]

I didn't read all the answers so apologies if it's been said already but, "X amount of cans to Z amount of weight" is also given with the assumption the weight is normal. Different cat breeds have different normal weight range. For example, a male domestic shorthair is said to be up to 11lbs and still be normal weighed, but a Maine Coon boy can be up to 25 lbs. I love that Acana dry foods give the amount chart based on "this amount if the cat is normal weighted", "this amount if the cat is overweight (and trying to lose weight)"

Of course the food might also be just low calorie. Purina's Gourmet Gold is said to be 3-4 cans for a 4kg cat, Purina's Pro Plan can is 2-3 cans per day for a 4 kg cat. Good that we have different options, some cats love to eat too much at one sitting. But check the prices. Some cheaper foods cost more expensive to get the same amount of calories.

 

[kittenmittens84]

Of course the food might also be just low calorie. Purina's Gourmet Gold is said to be 3-4 cans for a 4kg cat, Purina's Pro Plan can is 2-3 cans per day for a 4 kg cat..

Yeah some of the Tiki Cat wet foods are pretty low calorie, the after dark ones are like 50-65 kcal for the smaller size can

 

[Flybynight]

If feeding only good quality wet or raw or a combination thereof, it is unlikely you will over feed him.
Cats normally do not overeat. My cats often leave food on their plates and go back and forth as they wish.
Cats tend to gain weight from eating carb filled dry food or cheaper plant heavy wet foods & Carb based treats.