While not being the naysayer (everyone has good advice) I have other things to add. Ultimately I moved my males to homemade raw because it was cheaper than canned food, and they were moved to canned food for urinary reasons.
However, going back to 2013, we did dry food prescription program Metabolic. Tommy's weight was 21 lbs. His set calorie amount was 225 calories per day, and at that rate, he took 4 years to reach 13 lbs. FOUR YEARS. He also was not very active. Hearing that other users are saying your cat needs at least 400-500 calories blows my mind. That is usually for an large active cat who is maintaining their weight.
If you end up sticking with kibble, and he is an only child, I would recommend trying something like this Indoor Hunting Feeder: Cat Food Dispenser | Doc & Phoebe’s Cat Co. where he has to go find his meals and use his instincts.
Taking Tom from a free feeding lard to a calorie restriction meant scheduled meals so we could spread his allowance out throughout the day. We end up with 5 1/2 feedings a day.
When we moved to wet food it was with a dense pate. Nature's Variety Instinct was about 205 calories per 5.5 oz can, so he would get 1.2 cans per day. The changes to wet food, and lowering his carbohydrate consumption continued to increase his efficiency, and he'd require more and more food and has the energy of a kitten. He's 12 1/2 lbs, almost 10 years old, and taking in around 265-300 calories on rabbit and turkey raw.
My other male has just a slightly smaller frame, is a half pound less than Tommy, but he uses much less per day. He's getting 4.5 cubes of food mix, while Tom is eating 7. Stewart is also three years younger.
However, going back to 2013, we did dry food prescription program Metabolic. Tommy's weight was 21 lbs. His set calorie amount was 225 calories per day, and at that rate, he took 4 years to reach 13 lbs. FOUR YEARS. He also was not very active. Hearing that other users are saying your cat needs at least 400-500 calories blows my mind. That is usually for an large active cat who is maintaining their weight.
If you end up sticking with kibble, and he is an only child, I would recommend trying something like this Indoor Hunting Feeder: Cat Food Dispenser | Doc & Phoebe’s Cat Co. where he has to go find his meals and use his instincts.
Taking Tom from a free feeding lard to a calorie restriction meant scheduled meals so we could spread his allowance out throughout the day. We end up with 5 1/2 feedings a day.
When we moved to wet food it was with a dense pate. Nature's Variety Instinct was about 205 calories per 5.5 oz can, so he would get 1.2 cans per day. The changes to wet food, and lowering his carbohydrate consumption continued to increase his efficiency, and he'd require more and more food and has the energy of a kitten. He's 12 1/2 lbs, almost 10 years old, and taking in around 265-300 calories on rabbit and turkey raw.
My other male has just a slightly smaller frame, is a half pound less than Tommy, but he uses much less per day. He's getting 4.5 cubes of food mix, while Tom is eating 7. Stewart is also three years younger.
to that story, 
