Wet food only diet: How many cans do you feed you your kitty per day and how often?

kittyneko1995

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Ok, so I am transitioning my kitty to a wet food only diet and I am still trying to figure out how much to feed him and how often.
 

Rylka

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From my research, indoor cats generally need 20-25 cals per pound of weight. If your cat is at a healthy weight, you can look on the package of food you're feeding her now and calculate the calories, then use that as a target for the amount of wet food, the cals per can should be on the label.
 

FeebysOwner

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Also, just to get an idea of how much you are currently feeding your cat, calculate the calories s/he is eating in a day on dry food. In addition to the caloric calculation, and how old this cat is, anywhere from 2 times to 4 times a day for each meal might be appropriate. If you have watched how your cat eats dry and when, that would help. If not, I would recommend 3 times a day and see how s/he reacts. If your cat is currently a dry food grazer - a little here and there a lot of times during the day/night, you might want to go with 4 meals. Or, perhaps make one of those meals dry, as in overnight. A lot of when you feed depends on your cat's tendencies.
 

Erin80

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I guess it depends on the calories in the food you’re feeding.
My youngest guy, Tea, eats 9oz a day split into 3 meals. He eats fancy feast pate.
My other two split a can of PC extra meaty (pate, so more calorie dense) twice a day, and split a can of friskies prime fillets (lower calorie) once a day.
They eat at 7am, 2:30pm (or 4:30 pm if I’m at work) and 9pm.
 

tabbytom

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Ok, so I am transitioning my kitty to a wet food only diet and I am still trying to figure out how much to feed him and how often.
If your cat is a strictly indoor cat with a healthy active day, as what others mentioned, 200 - 250 calories day is needed. If very active cat, maybe 300 calories.

For me, my boy is almost 4 years old and he's pretty active, he eats around 250 + - calories a day, which I don't go by calories when I feed him but his food comes in a 3oz can and each can is around 50 calories. Some days he eats more and some days less. I don't have a fix timing to feed him. I feed him whenever he's hungry and on days that I can't feed him when he's hungry, he'll fast for 8 - 12 hours and after that what he eats equals to 250 calories. Sometimes he can eat one over can at one sitting which I don't know why he is so hungry :headscratch: Most time when he has enough, he'll look up at me and then walk away and if he still wants more, he'll just sit there till you fill up his plate again.
As I was writing this post, I have to stop because he's asking to be fed and he just ate 2 1/2 hours ago and he ate slightly more than half a can and now another slightly more than half a can. And he'll ask to be fed next will be like 8 - 2 hours away. That's how he works. He does not have treats and he's on wet food only and no grazing throughout the day.

Every cat eating habits are different and best if you can feed them low carbs food which will keep them fuller. So bottom line is active indoor cat > 200 - 250 calories.

Edit :
Just checked printed on the can for my boy's food > Net Weight 2.82oz(80g), Metabolizable Energy 600kcal Per kg, 48kcal Per Can
 
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LTS3

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Feed by calories needed daily, not the size of the can. Cans vary greatly in amount of calories. 3 oz can tend to have under 100 calories while 5.5 oz cans maybe around 150 or so. The calorie content is on the label in teeny tiny print. Many canned foods are also on this chart: https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

Two or three meals a day works for most cats. Kittens eat a lot so you generally feed them as much as they will eat several times a day. How old is your cat?
 

Uncled

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Two Male cats that split a five ounce can of friskies in the morning then a three ounce can of food in the afternoon and another in the evening
 

mariya

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I’m concerned about how much I feed my cat. He’s a little overweight (13lb) and on a prescription diet. He get 1/3 cup dry formula for breakfast. And 1/3 can of wet food for dinner. According to my calculations, he’s getting 150 calories daily. This doesn’t seem like enough based on the stuff I’ve read.
but when I try to give him 1/2 can wet food he never finishes it. He’s being fed this much for a year now and seems fine on it. He doesn’t get hungry throughout the day and I also give him treats. I just wanted a second opinion on whether I’m feeding him enough.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi mariya mariya ! How old is he? What food are you feeding him? A lot of this has to do with their age and their activity level.

Feeby is 15+ yo, weighs around 15.5 pounds, is very sedentary, and is on urinary care prescription food (almost exclusively canned at this point). She eats about 250 calories per day and maintains that weight. So, she can sustain her weight on about 16 calories per pound (the 'base line' for an adult cat is generally 20-25 calories per pound of weight). An older cat at 13 pounds, if using Feeby's guide would be able to sustain on about 200 calories per day, so 150 calories seems a tad bit low. Dry food is higher in carbohydrates, so that might explain some of the difference. Do you feed him other foods you are not counting calories for (e.g.; human food bites)?

Do you weigh him often? Does he have regular senior vet check ups?
 

mariya

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Hi, thank you for the reply! So Muffin is 4 yeara old and he has FLUTD and eats the royal canin Prescription dry and wet. I have tried to go fully wet with him but he just wasn’t having it. I give him cat treats once or twice a week. And he likes to clean his brothers bowl occasionally (his brother is on a mix of raw and wet food. But if I try to give him that food, he won’t eat it at all). But he doesn’t get human food at all.


Hi mariya mariya ! How old is he? What food are you feeding him? A lot of this has to do with their age and their activity level.

Feeby is 15+ yo, weighs around 15.5 pounds, is very sedentary, and is on urinary care prescription food (almost exclusively canned at this point). She eats about 250 calories per day and maintains that weight. So, she can sustain her weight on about 16 calories per pound (the 'base line' for an adult cat is generally 20-25 calories per pound of weight). An older cat at 13 pounds, if using Feeby's guide would be able to sustain on about 200 calories per day, so 150 calories seems a tad bit low. Dry food is higher in carbohydrates, so that might explain some of the difference. Do you feed him other foods you are not counting calories for (e.g.; human food bites)?

Do you weigh him often? Does he have regular senior vet check ups?
 

FeebysOwner

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He is young, I would think he needs more calories than he is getting. I would first make sure your calculations are correct. However, tbh, RC SO dry has about 100 calories for 1/3 cup, and the canned about 50 per 1/3 can (5.5 oz can), so you sound pretty much on target. I would also monitor just how much of his brother's food he is eating. How is his brother doing weight wise? Are you throwing out food daily, and if so, do you deduct calories for that? Any other house members 'sneaking' him food?

Again, has he recently been to the vet - maybe hypothyroidism?
 

kittyluv387

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Honestly my cats are good with one 5.5 oz can a day. A caloric one at approximately 180 calories or so. Split into 2 meals.
 

mizzely

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My cat eats half a 3 oz can of food in the morning and then 3 Sheba sections a day. So fed 4 times. Equals out to about 180 calories for a 9 lb , 10 year old cat.
 

Dario the GreyCat

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My 5mo kitten gets 3-4 3oz cans a day depending on how much he wants because he's a kitten. We also do raw food as well so that often varies up the can schedule.
He usually eats between: 5:30-6:00am (depends on if its a work day), 2-4, 7-9, and sometimes he gets more before bed depending on how much he's eaten.
 

MissClouseau

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Mine doesn't eat more than 2 cans a day at most, and that's only if she can eat them in four portions. She doesn't get enough calories from 2 cans though although her wet foods aren't the lowest calorie. She still eats some dry food at night and a bit boiled turkey/chicken breast as treats during the day.
 
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