Is two pouches per day + a layer of dry food enough for a 6kg (13lbs or so) cat?

[Kee]

He doesn't seem very hungry most of the time, other than when he's whining for food at around dinner time and his health is good. He usually finishes all of his breakfast and dinner, which is around 100g of wet food in jelly mixed with some water.

However, the marketing team of many food pouches seem to recommend 4 pouches per day, which seems like way too much, especially when he's trying to lose weight.

I'm thinking of starting him on tins rather than pouches, since they're 150 grams rather than 100 and I can still feed him twice per day, plus his usual bit of kibble.

 

[suzeanna]

I personally don't trust the recommended food amount on packaging. My cat who was already 16 lbs when brought to the shelter gained 2.5 more lbs there based on the food packaging recommendations. It took quite a (gradual) substantial lowering of calories to get her to lose weight. It was very detailed work with a spreadsheet to calculate meal and daily calories based on the combination of food and treats that we give her. I would recommend paying attention to calories (per gram).

Edit: if you are trying to get him to lose weight, you can transition to feeding him more, smaller meals to minimize the pre-meal hunger mischief.

 

[Kee]

I personally don't trust the recommended food amount on packaging. My cat who was already 16 lbs when brought to the shelter gained 2.5 more lbs there based on the food packaging recommendations. It took quite a (gradual) substantial lowering of calories to get her to lose weight. It was very detailed work with a spreadsheet to calculate meal and daily calories based on the combination of food and treats that we give her. I would recommend paying attention to calories (per gram).

yeah, there's only about 90 calories per pouch, but I heard that cats need around 250 calories per day, hence the supplemental dry food.

I'm not a big fan of those food companies either. Sometimes I wonder how many cats marketing teams have led to the deaths of for the sake of higher sales.

 

[suzeanna]

If he's not losing weight (and/or is actually gaining), then he probably doesn't need more food. This will sound a little insane, but my 16 lb girl (still needs to lose more weight) consumes ~150 calories daily and only loses maybe .1 lb per week, maybe. Cats also have different metabolisms of course, what works for one may not work for another.

You mentioned thinking of canned food -- canned is great, and I love it for the fact that you can spoon out exact gram amounts and store the rest of the can in the fridge for later.

 

[Kee]

If he's not losing weight (and/or is actually gaining), then he probably doesn't need more food. This will sound a little insane, but my 16 lb girl (still needs to lose more weight) consumes ~150 calories daily and only loses maybe .1 lb per week, maybe. Cats also have different metabolisms of course, what works for one may not work for another.

You mentioned thinking of canned food -- canned is great, and I love it for the fact that you can spoon out exact gram amounts and store the rest of the can in the fridge for later.

Yeah, he was 6.3kg when we got him 1 month ago and 6.3kg when he was weighed last week, so you're probably right.

 

[KarenKat]

It’s better to look at calories rather than weight or number of pouches. The calories varies greatly between food types and brands. Kibble is very calorie dense and tends to have fillers that can make a cat gain weight. Not ideal for weight loss. Pates are super calorie dense vs a shredded food.

I think I remember the feeding guideline being 20-25 kcal/pound to maintain weight, although obviously as suzeanna demonstrated kitty mileage may vary. It can get a little math heavy but it’s the best way to figure out an initial amount to feed and you can adjust from there.

 

[Kieka]

If he's not losing weight (and/or is actually gaining), then he probably doesn't need more food. This will sound a little insane, but my 16 lb girl (still needs to lose more weight) consumes ~150 calories daily and only loses maybe .1 lb per week, maybe. Cats also have different metabolisms of course, what works for one may not work for another.

You mentioned thinking of canned food -- canned is great, and I love it for the fact that you can spoon out exact gram amounts and store the rest of the can in the fridge for later.

And my 16 pound boy puts down close to 300 calories and is still a lean boy. Picture for proof because it is a good amount each day...

Metabolism really is all over the place with cats. Once you figure out the sweet spot to maintain body weight the focus really does have to shift to calories and away from manufacturer guidelines.