Minimum Amount A Cat Can Eat

[maggie101]

Peaches is 7+yrs old, weighs only 7 pounds. A little more than 3 ounces a day. Health wise she is fine. Runs and plays by herself and chases my other cat. Her food is high protein high fat. Canidae chaparrel canyon Turkey duck and canidae frontier trail chicken. Anyone else have an adult cat that eats so little?

 

[maggie101]

Also high in fiber. Even more protein and fat than she would get from eating 3/4 5.5 oz can. I do realize she also needs calories. What is the minimum amount she can have?

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Rule of thumb is 20-25 calories/1 lb of body weight for indoor cats. So a 7 lb cat should have between 140 and 175 calories per day. Granted, every cat is different- my Emerson is 13 lbs and he has never in his life eaten over 300 calories a day, even when offered that amount!

 

[maggie101]

So she would need almost 2 cans(80 cal ). I feed her small meals 4x a day so she should get 6 meals a day. She can only eat a little bit every meal she is more active tha my other cats. After eating just 80 calories, Peaches does not act hungry

 

[maggiedemi]

I would feed at least one whole 5.5oz can per day.

 

[Willowy]

I think 10 calories per pound of ideal weight is considered minimum when force-feeding a sick cat. So 70 calories minimum for her. A 3 oz can of most pate flavors has about 90 calories, so I think she's doing OK.

ETA: hmm, Chaparral Canyon only has 77 calories. So that's cutting it a bit close. Although at her age maybe her caloric needs have decreased. Does she eat any treats?

In general, if her body condition and activity levels are good I wouldn't worry.

 

[maggie101]

Thanks. That makes me feel better. On the catfooddb.com it says 80 cal

 

[maggie101]

I give her freeze dried chicken every day. She will bite my hand off if I'm not careful giving it to her! Soo, for an idea, if your cats bothering you, throw a treat across the room and she will sprint after it

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Maybe split her meals into 2oz feeds, 3 times a day, if you are able to. Some cats just have tiny tummies and can't handle an entire can at once.

 

[maggie101]

Yep, that's how I have been feeding her tiny tummy. I used to worry about feeding my cats too much. Now I worry about not feeding enough. My other cats do eat a 5.5 oz can each