Cat eats less than commercial food feeding guidelines?

[Luvyna]

I have been experimenting with different rotations of commercial raw and canned cat food and one thing I've found is that it seems like my cat never eats as much as the guidelines on the bag or can say. He is a kitten and the guidelines say kittens can eat up to twice as much as the guidelines for adult cats, but I've found that my kitten always eats a bit less than the recommendation for adult cats. (e.g. If the guidelines for Primal raw nuggets are 3.5 - 4.5 nuggets per day for a 4-6lbs adult cat and up to double that amount for kittens, my kitten would only eat 3 nuggets.)

I'm not sure if he's eating enough when I'm feeding him commercial food - I do feel like he eats more when I feed him a homemade raw diet, but it's also hard to compare because the caloric content and ingredients for commercial vs homemade food are different. He definitely prefers homemade raw food so I'm not sure if he is just eating less of other types of food because he doesn't like it as much, or because he only needs that much.

Any thoughts on this and do your cats and kittens eat as much, more, or less than the feeding guidelines on commercial foods?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
The recommendations on bags/cans are on the high side. As long as your kitten is eating as much as he wants daily, is gaining weight (and has a good wellness check up) you're golden

 

[LTS3]

The recommendations are just that... recommendations. It's fine to ignore them and feed how ever much your cat will eat Just feed your growing kitten as much as he will eat until he's about a year old or so. If he doesn't eat a whole lot but is still gaining weight and is generally healthy, don't worry about food intake.

 

[sanfran_kitty_lady_21]

By my cat's weight I should be giving her 4 cans of food but she only really eats about 3.25. Cats usually won't over eat so I agree that the recommendation is on the high side. Some other points I've found helpful:
-vets suggest that to maintain weight cats should be eating ~20 kcal/lb/day. So a 10 lb cat should be eating ~200 kcal/day. When I calculated this for my cat, that was closer to 3 cans than 4.
-Is your cat at a healthy weight? Is their weight staying about the same? I'd say that's the best indicator your cat is eating enough food for them.

Overall, unless your cat is getting chubby or starting to look a lot skinnier, I would trust their instinct on how much to eat.

 

[maggie101]

My cats eat less than the suggested amount. I suggest not feeding raw til she is older. That will make it easier to determine how much food she needs. One of my cats I have to be very careful with how much I feed her. Glad I have wood floors now!

 

[Alldara]

Is definitely best to go by a calorie count. It's between 10-30 calories per lb per day depending on activity level of your cat.

Just like people, cats have different metabolisms. So it's normal that some eat more or less to maintain the same ideal weight and shape for themselves.

If your cat's 'output' is good and activity level is fine as well, then it's all good!

 

[ailish]

Is definitely best to go by a calorie count. It's between 10-30 calories per lb per day depending on activity level of your cat.

Just like people, cats have different metabolisms. So it's normal that some eat more or less to maintain the same ideal weight and shape for themselves.

If your cat's 'output' is good and activity level is fine as well, then it's all good!

Couldn't agree more! My 8.9 lb cat gets her 160 calories a day and has maintained her exact weight for 6 years now. She's hungry at feeding time, eats all her food, and doesn't pester me for food constantly, so I know she's not walking around hungry. She doesn't get treats. I agree about feeding calories, not cans. People laugh at me for weighing her food, but I can't seem to convince people that part of the problem they have with their cats' weight is they are feeding CANS, which have wildly different amounts of calories in them. Ailish gets 40 calorie meals, which can be anywhere from 1.3 - 2.5 ozs of food.

 

[Alldara]

Couldn't agree more! My 8.9 lb cat gets her 160 calories a day and has maintained her exact weight for 6 years now. She's hungry at feeding time, eats all her food, and doesn't pester me for food constantly, so I know she's not walking around hungry. She doesn't get treats. I agree about feeding calories, not cans. People laugh at me for weighing her food, but I can't seem to convince people that part of the problem they have with their cats' weight is they are feeding CANS, which have wildly different amounts of calories in them. Ailish gets 40 calorie meals, which can be anywhere from 1.3 - 2.5 ozs of food.

In our house we have an "up to" limit for each cat. Our weather changes a lot here and I find they eat more or have more activity level during certain times of the year. So I'll give a specific portion size but they know if very hungry they can get their "seconds" portion. It's not super often that they request it to be honest and I generally know in advance that if they've had a big day they will ask.
They won't get their seconds portion on a rainy day where they've slept all day

Nobel eats only his lean weight amount and has to dropped any weight in years. Magnus eats 30 calories per lb and can't gain a thing (good thing too as he took steroids a bit and chonked up a slight bit, acted like he couldn't move anymore ). Calcifer chonks and dechonks easily we learned this year (he's new, only 1yr2mo) so he is portioned at 25 calories per lb now. It's kept him in lovely form.