Calculating Calories

orange&white

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That is confusing. Kg is a weight measurement and cup is a volume measurement, so the bag label doesn't make any sense. Usually the bag indicates kcals/cup.
 
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forcryinoutloud

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I just looked it up on the website and it says 500kcal/cup, so it must just be a misprint on the bag. So a huge amount of calories. Though, I've noticed that several brands of wet food I've been looking at list the feeding guideline on the 12.5 oz cans and it says 1 can per 6-8lbs and the 12.5 oz can has over 500 calories, which would be over 1000 calories for Jack's size. CRAZINESS!
 

lalagimp

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I try to stick around 360 kcal/cup brands so they can eat more. that 500 one you can only feed them like a half a cup of food. I think orijen is one of those super rich ones too that they shouldn't gorge on.
 

orange&white

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I just looked it up on the website and it says 500kcal/cup, so it must just be a misprint on the bag. So a huge amount of calories. Though, I've noticed that several brands of wet food I've been looking at list the feeding guideline on the 12.5 oz cans and it says 1 can per 6-8lbs and the 12.5 oz can has over 500 calories, which would be over 1000 calories for Jack's size. CRAZINESS!
The website does make more sense, but like lalagimp said, you should probably only feed 1/2 cup per day with a food that calorie-dense. The bag feeding recommendations must all be for athletic outdoor "adventure" cats, not indoor beauty queens and kings whose primary job it is to sit around and look pretty.
 
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forcryinoutloud

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This is really, hopefully, only going to be something I maybe give him 1/8 cup of, once I can get him eating wet food but he is so very picky and won't eat anything unless it is almost entirely turkey - I opened a chicken pate yesterday but he won't even lick it let alone eat it. -sigh- My other three will eat absolutely any kind of wet, so at least it isn't going to waste, but Jack is the one I'm desperate to get on the wet food considering his cardiomyopathy and that that makes his kidneys work harder.

ETA:

Yeah, Jack only eats maybe 1/2 cup - if that. He'll get less than that once he starts cooperating with my plan to get him on wet food. lol
 

mizzely

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Most of the dry food I see is about 350 to 500 calories per cup. I usually see kcals per kg roughly almost 10 times the amount of a cup. Example, Orijen Religional Red is 4,060 kcal/kg, 500 kcal/cup.
 
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forcryinoutloud

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I usually see the thousands of kcal per kg too, that's why the 500kcal/kg threw me, because I'd be VASTLY underfeeding Jack if there were only 500 kcal per kg. lol It must be a misprinting on the bag, because their website says 500kcal/cup.
 

orange&white

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Their marketing department needs a new Proofreading Director in charge of bag editing. :biggrin:
 
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forcryinoutloud

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Thanks! According to that calculator, Jack should be eating 272kcal.
 

ailish

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I just looked it up on the website and it says 500kcal/cup, so it must just be a misprint on the bag. So a huge amount of calories. Though, I've noticed that several brands of wet food I've been looking at list the feeding guideline on the 12.5 oz cans and it says 1 can per 6-8lbs and the 12.5 oz can has over 500 calories, which would be over 1000 calories for Jack's size. CRAZINESS!
My 8 lb cat would never eat 12oz in a day more like 3-4.
 
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forcryinoutloud

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No, definitely not. I mean, their stomachs are tiny - I'm not sure what cat food manufacturers are thinking...well, beyond trying to get cat owners to spend more money on cat food. I'm lucky if I can get Jack to eat a whole can of the 5.5oz ones. He'll only eat maybe half a teaspoon at a time.
 
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forcryinoutloud

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I weighed everyone today, and all four cats have lost weight. I'm wondering though, how fast they should be losing weight?

Scooter went from 10.4 pounds to 9 pounds in just under a month
Kitty went from 13 to 12.4
Jack went from 13.5 to 12.6
and Furgus went from 12.2 to 10.4 (however, I did have to shave quite a huge amount of fur from him due to some matts that I just couldn't get out with brushing, so I am unsure how much of that weight loss is the fur I took off him)

They are acting as if I am starving them, which I knew to expect, though it is hard to not feed them when they're crying so pitifully for it. I am measuring out the amount of food they should be getting between the wet and dry so I know they are getting enough calories.

Scooter is the only one I really worry about, because she doesn't eat as much as the others - I am trying to get her to eat more of the wet to get some extra calories in there - I know she needed to lose a little bit of weight, and she's actually not at the weight I was aiming for with her but I am worried she lost it too fast, and that she might keep losing weight.

Furgus lost the most but again, I don't know how much of that was fur weight. However, he eats very well and I know he's getting enough calories, and I think that he's probably closer to a 1 pound loss rather than the 1.8 because of the fur that was taken off (which is really thick and the top layer is really long).

I see sites talking about percentages and all of that, but is there an actual pound weight - like they shouldn't lose more than a pound a month kind of thing? I'd rather have a definite number rather than percentages.
 

kttn

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that weight loss seems way too fast. i would try to figure out a way to curb it to 6-8 oz a month. i can vouch for that speed, my girl lost steadily and never cried for food other than right before meal-times.

maybe do even smaller feedings 3x a day? sometimes 12 hours is just too long between meals.
 

mizzely

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Percentages are more accurate because 1 lb weight loss for a 9 lb cat is very different than 1 lb weight loss for a 20 lb cat. I see ranges from 0.5 - 2% a week. So a 10.4 lb cat should lose 0.8 oz to 3.3 oz a week, or 3.2 oz to 13.2 oz every 4 weeks. So just calculate the numbers for each cat and go from there to get your numbers :)
 

orange&white

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I have read that cat's shouldn't lose more than 1 pound per month, but I'm more comfortable with 1/2 pound per month. As mizzely says, a percentage weight loss is another way to go and not more than 2% per week.

A 10lb cat with a 2% goal would lose more than 1/2lb per month (more than I would be comfortable with) so I would set the goal at 1.3%. Of course, then we are just back around to "I don't want my cat losing more the 1/2 pound per month. lol

The more overweight the cat is, the more careful you have to be that they don't lose weight too fast.

10lb cat/ loss target/ loss
week1 160.00 0.02 3.2
week2 156.80 0.02 3.1
week3 153.66 0.02 3.1
week4 150.59 0.02 3.0
total loss for one month 12.42 (ounces)


10lb cat/ loss target/ loss
week1 160.00 0.013 2.1
week2 157.92 0.013 2.1
week3 155.87 0.013 2.0
week4 153.84 0.013 2.0
total loss for one month 8.16 (ounces)
 

lalagimp

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I'm more comfortable with 1/2 lb per month too. It's not a race. We took 3 years to lose 8 lbs. Now when their weight sneaks up, it's much easier to get them to drop a half lb than before. For comparison, it took 1.5 years for my other cat to lose 4 lbs so we still do it at the same rate. We started on a prescription program in 2013 and 2014 from the vet so it was with guidance.
 
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forcryinoutloud

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Kitty is on target for just under 2% a week weight loss.

Jack is just a tiny bit over at .9 instead of .81.

Scooter and Furgus are definitely over. Scooter lost a bit over double the 2% which worries me. I'm going to increase the amount she's been getting to see if she will eat it (she's not like the others, isn't super desperate to eat, she's a grazer and it looks like she might need to be fed twice as often to get enough calories into her).

Furgus is also more than double the 2% but again, with the shaving I can't tell for sure how much is genuine weight loss. I will also increase his number of feedings, but he is currently close to the "ideal" shape on that chart that someone shared on site. More so than he looked before the shave.

What do those of you that use the 12.5 ounce cans of wet food do when feeding multiple cats? Are you measuring it out in a measuring cup and then putting it in separate containers for each cat, or are you eyeballing the amount you're giving, or do you go by like teaspoon/tablespoon portions? The dry is so much easier to measure to make sure you're giving them the correct amount. I have been going by teaspoon amounts but wonder if there is an easier way that doesn't have the larger can of wet food going gross before they actually eat it all.
 

mizzely

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I put the bowl on a kitchen scale, tare it, and then add until I get to the oz amount I'm going after
 
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