7 lb and 7 months old male cat.

[Cheflife15]

Good evening,

I'm about to adopt a 7 month old male cat that is 7 lbs. He's currently eating friskies but after some research I decided to try to switch him to nulo. My real question is how many calories should he be eating daily?

 

[Kieka]

The general rule of thumb is 20 to 30 calories per pound per day. However, at 7 months your kitten is still growing so you don't want to limit calories for a few more months. He still could grow another few inches and likely a few pounds as his muscles fill out the frame. Ideally, wet food meals and dry food available at all times until he is 12 months old and/or he stops growing and has filled out.

I have a 7 pound adult and 16 pound adult. Neither of them were completely done growing until a at least 18 months if you include muscle development time. My 16 pounder actually took 2 to 3 years to stop growing and completely fill out. Neither are considered fat by their vet; the 7 pound needs to gain a quarter pound (she's lower end of healthy) and the 16 pound needs to loose a quarter pound but that's it (he's upper end of healthy). Activity is really where I think many owners should focus. Mine don't have food limits but they eat low carbs and are very active.

 

[tabbytom]

My real question is how many calories should he be eating daily?

A 7 month old cat is still very much a kitten till he matures. A normal breed cat matures at one year old while the bigger breeds matures at 2 - 4 years.

A growing kitten needs lots of proteins and minerals to aid their growth and all these comes from feeding them wet food meant for kittens. They need 250 - 300 calories per day as the are very active and they burn off lots of calories.

A cat will go into a phase call 'Growth Spurt' from age 7 months on till around one year plus. At this time, they tend to eat more than usual and after which, their food intake will taper off. If your kitty is an indoor cat, he needs roughly 250 calories per day.

At 7 months old, all his adult teeth are in and once he reaches one year old, you can slowly transit him over to adults' food or you can feed him food labeled 'For All Life Stages' which you can feed him now till he's an adult you don't have to change from kitten food to adult food. But if you are feeding him kitten food, you have to transit him over to adult food.

Wet food keeps your cat hydrated and also control his weight.

 

[Cheflife15]

Should I do 2 cans of wet per day plus a 1/2 cup of dry?

Nulo medal can 75 calories
Friskies 135 (until I get him off)
Dry 1 cup nulo duck and cod recipe (to eat as he pleases)

He also seems to only eat when hungry so I'm wondering if leaving a little extra dry food out will be a problem.

 

[Kieka]

Two cans of wet and unlimited dry would be the recommendation until he is full grown. Most cats prefer wet so leaving out dry shouldn't be an issue.

 

[maggie101]

Good evening,

I'm about to adopt a 7 month old male cat that is 7 lbs. He's currently eating friskies but after some research I decided to try to switch him to nulo. My real question is how many calories should he be eating daily?

Besides calorie intake because of weight, how active is he? Does he have a sensitive stomach? Does he have high metabolism like one of my cats She eats til she has enough then comes back 2 more times in the morning. Some times leaves a few bites because she's done. Still long and skinny with curvy hips 9 yrs old,9 pds. She does eat alot but not what the calculator says for calories. The way she eats has never changed since she was a kitten. I simply followed the directions on the can. But it mostly depends on how much your cat wants to eat or will eat

 

[Cheflife15]

I've only had him for 2 days. The first night he ate alot as I'm not sure how well he was fed. Yesterday he ate about a can in the am and a little less then a full one at night. I measured his dry food to be missing about 1/3 of a cup. He's an active cat when we're home. Well play with him for at least an hour.