How Many Ounces Of Canned Food Per Meal?

[Pjg8r]

I would like to try and transition my six month old kittens to twice a day canned meals by the end of November. I will be traveling in December and the pet sitter will only be coming by twice a day. I know she can leave some kibble for midday if necessary. They currently eat three times a day and average three ounces each time. The larger one could probably eat four ounces in one meal but the smaller one can barely finish three ounces at a time. I know canned food varies in calories but I’m more interested in volume of food consumed at this point. How many ounces can/do your cats eat in one meal?

 

[MissMolly08]

My cat cannot seem to handle more than 3.5oz per meal. She will eat a whole can of Fancy Feast (3oz), half of a can of Friskies (2.75oz) or 1/4 a large can of Dave's (3.13oz) and be content but last time I tried to give her only 2 feedings of a lower calorie food, I upped the portion per meal to get the right number of calories in her and that was a mistake. I fed her 2/3 of a can of Merrick Rabbit pate (3.67oz) and she ended up vomiting.

 

[lalagimp]

My boys eat raw nuggets I made and we usually give them 1-1.5 oz at a time, but some people say their cats can eat 3 oz or more in a feeding. The cans I use on the girls are higher calorie. Nature's Variety Instinct chicken is 200 calories in a 5.5 oz can vs say feeding them a large can of Wellness.

 

[Neo_23]

In my experience feeding all canned I find it's best for kittens to try and give as many feedings as possible. You might try freezing portions of the canned food and asking the sitter to feed the kitty when they get there and to also leave out some frozen portions when they are leaving. I know a lot of people just leave out the canned food too without freezing it, but I prefer to freeze - it takes about 2 hours to defrost depending on the size of the portion left out (I use a covered ice cube tray to freeze and mix the food with a bit of water when pouring it into the tray).

In terms of amount, it depends on the weight of your kitten and the number of calories in the can of food you are feeding. My kitten is 9 pounds (4.25 kgs) and he eats two and a half 5.5 oz cans a day. The general rule is between 100-130 kcal x weight of cat in kg per day.

 

[Pjg8r]

In my experience feeding all canned I find it's best for kittens to try and give as many feedings as possible. You might try freezing portions of the canned food and asking the sitter to feed the kitty when they get there and to also leave out some frozen portions when they are leaving. I know a lot of people just leave out the canned food too without freezing it, but I prefer to freeze - it takes about 2 hours to defrost depending on the size of the portion left out (I use a covered ice cube tray to freeze and mix the food with a bit of water when pouring it into the tray).

In terms of amount, it depends on the weight of your kitten and the number of calories in the can of food you are feeding. My kitten is 9 pounds (4.25 kgs) and he eats two and a half 5.5 oz cans a day. The general rule is between 100-130 kcal x weight of cat in kg per day.

I tried freezing some yesterday. The pate type pops out of the ice tray easily but the shredded type didn’t. Can I use Pam spray on the ice tray or is there another suggestion? They did eat it once it had thawed from my timed feeder so that was good news.

 

[mizzely]

Mine can eat up to 3oz, but usually only eat 1 to 2 oz per meal.

 

[Neo_23]

I tried freezing some yesterday. The pate type pops out of the ice tray easily but the shredded type didn’t. Can I use Pam spray on the ice tray or is there another suggestion? They did eat it once it had thawed from my timed feeder so that was good news.

Hmm I’m not sure about the Pam spray. I’ve never frozen non-pate kinds of food and I’m not sure if it’s good for kittens to be eating the spray regularly. I might suggest just using the pate for freezing and feeding the shreds fresh.

Glad the method worked for you! Some people also put ice packs under the food inside their timed feeder (it will depend on whether your feeder has space for an ice pack). They do this instead of freezing the food in advance. It might be an option if your kitten doesn’t mind cold food.

 

[ailish]

My 8 lb cat gets three meals of 1 - 1.3 ozs each (depending on calories) and an 1/8 of dry from the automatic feeder at night. I based this on 20 cals per pound and how much she could finish at a sitting when I first got her. I don't think she would eat much more than that at a sitting, because sometimes she doesn't finish that but comes back in about a half an hour. She does always eventually finish that much a day. That combo seems to maintain her weight, which the vet says is healthy. Unfortunately, she became pregnant before she was fully grown, so she's petite.

I think if I were in your situation I would have the sitter feed two wet meals and then use an auto feeder to make up the difference with the best dry I could get. I say this because Ailish barfs bile early in the morning if she goes all night without food, so she's definitely a more-small-meals kinda cat. YMMV

 

[MissMolly08]

I'm shocked to see some cats satisfied on 1oz at a time! My cat must just like to gorge herself! I tried so many different feeding schedules lately and she HAS to get at least 2.75 oz per meal or she acts like she is still starving and will meow and meow after her meal. We recently switched to all wet but when I was doing 50/50 wet and dry, I tried giving her 1/4 of a 5.5oz can (so 1.38oz) in the morning and 1/4 in the evening plus giving her 1/4 cup dry to free feed during the day...She would eat all the wet I gave her in the morning AND eat all the dry that was supposed to last the whole day within an hour!

 

[ailish]

Well, I guess it depends on the cat, her size and activity. And history, like was food scarce at some point in her life so she learned to eat all available food because there might not be more for awhile. Ailish is only 8 lbs, which is pretty small. I don't know her history, although she was underweight a bit when I adopted her. She would not eat 2.75 oz at a sitting and I suspect she would barf it if she did. Cats are just built differently.

 

[maggiedemi]

My cats can eat 3oz of wet food each at one time.

 

[2BlkKitties]

I have been trying to feed my kittens 2.5/3 oz at a time, twice a day. The problem I have is that Wednesday doesn't eat as fast at one sitting as her brother Pugsley. So I've tried to smash his down in the bowl so that he can't inhale it as quickly. Wednesday is a grazer, she'll eat some and walk away so I have to keep an eye out to make sure he doesn't eat all hers.

I have read so much about cat food in the last month my brain starts to hurt but sometimes i have to leave out some dry kibble (tiki born carnivore chicken) while i'm at work until I can get my canned cat food stocked up to allow for more feedings for the kittens.