Am I feeding my cat enough food?

[Jordan.beadle]

I recently adopted a male bengal and have been feeding him 2 and a half to 3 pouches of wet food a day. Is this too much or too little as the previous owner said she put 4 pouches down for 5 cats twice a day. So I have no idea if he was getting all the food or none.

Any help would be great!

 

[ArchyCat]

Age?

 

[Rosepud]

I recently adopted a male bengal and have been feeding him 2 and a half to 3 pouches of wet food a day. Is this too much or too little as the previous owner said she put 4 pouches down for 5 cats twice a day. So I have no idea if he was getting all the food or none.

Any help would be great!

It would be helpful to know the types of food and size of pouch as well as weight and activity level of your cat, age is also important. Usually for a bengal who is an adult assuming the ideal weight of your cat is 12lbs, and the pouches are something like weruva slides 2.5-3 pouches seems reasonable assuming he is very active. A good system is 20-30 Calories per pound of body weight, if they are low activity or overweight than 20 per lb is probably where you want to be, and if they're active around 30 per lb.

 

[Columbine]

Hi, and welcome to TCS

Two and a half to three pouches sounds like a good start point for the average size adult cat on an all-wet diet. However, age, size and activity all impact exactly how much you should be feeding. The caloric content of the food plays a part too, as cat foods can vary a fair bit from brand to brand. If you're feeding a mix of wet and dry food the amount needed changes again.

How Much Food Should I Feed My Cat?

 

[Jordan.beadle]

He’s 2 years old and is pretty active. He stays indoors now though but likes to play a lot. He only eats wet food, and he’s currently eating a mixture duchess and asda own wet pouches as that’s what the previous owner was feeding him.

Thank you for all the help

 

[lisahe]

He’s 2 years old and is pretty active. He stays indoors now though but likes to play a lot. He only eats wet food, and he’s currently eating a mixture duchess and asda own wet pouches as that’s what the previous owner was feeding him.

Thank you for all the help

It's great that he's eating only wet food and stays indoors!

I took a quick look for calorie counts for some of those foods but could only find ingredients. If they're on the pouches, you can just calculate, using the rule of thumb that Rosepud mentioned. But keeping in mind that if your Bengal is super active (don't they have a reputation for that!? ) that he might need lots more.

Since I don't weigh our cats or count their calories, IMHO, the big thing is behavior: Does he seem hungry? Beg for food? Does he always eat everything up? Or does he leave some food for later? Does he look thin? Like he's gaining weight? Or otherwise? We can tell pretty easily when we need to increase or reduce their food based on factors like those. Sometimes the cats eat more and sleep less, sometimes they eat less and sleep more. Their appetites even seem to change a little with the seasons.

 

[Marlow cat]

I bought a weigh scale for babies that is accurate down to the ounce. (Our vet uses one) It's a great way to monitor weight and health.