What and how much should I feed my cat?

[tatiana10106]

Hello all,

Recently I decided that I would switch my cat Toby to an all wet food diet. Although I’m not sure how many calories he eats, he has always maintained what I would consider as a healthy weight and will naturally stop eating when full. I’m currently feeding him 2 cans of fancy feast classics and leaving out some dry food. I was thinking about feeding him either the Friskies classic pate or the Friskies extra gravy pate (which I believe is lower in carbs?) I hear that the classic pate is decent but I don’t see a lot of people comment on the extra gravy pate.

I’ll add attachments of Toby so people can get a good idea of his size. I would like to mention that Toby is a 6 year old indoor/outdoor cat (he usually stays inside during the night time) that is neutered and weighs 12 pounds. I did give him a can of both the regular pate and the extra gravy pate to try, in which he enjoyed both of them. Do you think 2 5.5 oz cans would be enough for him or would he need less considering that he’s getting older? (Hopefully I’ve provided enough information. I’ve only ever cared for 2 outdoor cats that like to live very independent lives.)

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
To me he looks perfect (and is a very handsome fellow!). I honestly don't know that I'd change a thing other than providing him the extra variety of the pates -- just as a note, he's on the same feeding schedule including some kibble, that my boy is, who is 15 this year .

How Much Food Should I Feed My Cat?

Have you had him in to the vet lately for a wellness check-up?

Here's a body condition guide (tap the right/left arrows to get the chart);

Fit or Fat: Your Pet's Body Condition Score (BCS)

 

[tatiana10106]

Hi!
To me he looks perfect (and is a very handsome fellow!). I honestly don't know that I'd change a thing other than providing him the extra variety of the pates -- just as a note, he's on the same feeding schedule including some kibble, that my boy is, who is 15 this year .

How Much Food Should I Feed My Cat?

Have you had him in to the vet lately for a wellness check-up?

Here's a body condition guide (tap the right/left arrows to get the chart);

Fit or Fat: Your Pet's Body Condition Score (BCS)

Yes, he does go to the vet anually. I also buy the poultry and beef variety pack for him. I’m just a bit worried about him gaining weight overtime while having dry food, as he is a big eater. Do you think that him being outdoors will allow him to maintain his weight even as he gets older?

 

[Furballsmom]

Is he pretty active, running, chasing? If he's fairly sedate even outside you could possibly play with him, (da bird, a laser pointer) to help keep both his mental and physical exercise up, and also you could start weighing him every couple weeks or so and keep a log so you know what's happening, (if you aren't already )

 

[LTS3]

Gravy based foods tend to be high in carbs because of the starches used to thicken the gravy. Pate foods tend to be low in carbs. You can find out carb content and calorie content of many canned foods here: https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf Calorie content is also listed on the can label as kcal. Try to stick to 15% or so less carbs in the diet. A carb heavy diet can cause health issues over time such as diabetes. The occasional higher carb food as a treat or meal is ok. Some people prefer to feed zero carbs but the variety of zero carb foods is extremely limited.

Feed roughly 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily. For a 12 pound cat, that's 240 to 300 calories daily. Two 5.5 oz cans of Friskies pate will be more than enough. You would need to feed closer to one full can plus about half of another can depending on the variety and calorie content.

 

[tatiana10106]

Is he pretty active, running, chasing? If he's fairly sedate even outside you could possibly play with him, (da bird, a laser pointer) to help keep both his mental and physical exercise up, and also you could start weighing him every couple weeks or so and keep a log so you know what's happening, (if you aren't already )

He’s still pretty active but I also play with him outside. I don’t weigh him very often but I’ll definitely start doing that! I will probably stick with the diet I’ve been giving him but try a healthier kibble. I was feeding Purina one but I was just looking at cat food reviews and heard really good things about Dr. Esleys dry cat food so I’ll start feeding him that instead. Thank you for the help!

 

[Furballsmom]

I'm with you, I've been meaning to try Dr Elsey's as well

 

[tatiana10106]

Gravy based foods tend to be high in carbs because of the starches used to thicken the gravy. Pate foods tend to be low in carbs. You can find out carb content and calorie content of many canned foods here: https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf Calorie content is also listed on the can label as kcal. Try to stick to 15% or so less carbs in the diet. A carb heavy diet can cause health issues over time such as diabetes. The occasional higher carb food as a treat or meal is ok. Some people prefer to feed zero carbs but the variety of zero carb foods is extremely limited.

Feed roughly 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily. For a 12 pound cat, that's 240 to 300 calories daily. Two 5.5 oz cans of Friskies pate will be more than enough. You would need to feed closer to one full can plus about half of another can depending on the variety and calorie content.

That’s nice to know! I initially thought the extra gravy pates had less carbs because they didn’t contain rice. Like I said when responding to Furballsmom, I’ll stick to mostly fancy feast pates and try the Dr. Esley’s dry kibble and sometimes rotate between higher quality wet foods, adjusting the calories from there. I’ll be sure to look at the link you posted. Thanks for the info!

 

[tatiana10106]

I'm with you, I've been meaning to try Dr Elsey's as well

I already ended up ordering a bag through Amazon The 2lb bag went out of stock on Chewy quickly!

 

[Furballsmom]

lol, good tip!

 

[MissClouseau]

You don't have to be very strict about portions/calories. Just weigh the cat on the same scale once a week or so. (For short-haired cats if you are careful it's difficult to miss when they gain even a bit weight so once a week might be not needed but once every other week or once a month might work. But if you don't trust yourself, you can of course still weigh every week.)

How much food they need depends on their activity level and even the season. They say they need more calories in the winter for example. And sometimes my cat for example eats less than her usual over a variety of reasons so she gets less calories than usual. It's OK if she sometimes eats more than her usual. She's usually making up for what she missed.

I like your idea of using both dry food and wet food. Ideally less dry food than wet. In my opinion it's the best to get them use to both as it gives more options and dry food comes handy when there is an emergency. I'm envious you will get to try Dr Elsey's! I have my eyes on it as well but we don't yet have it in the country I live in.

 

[Uncled]

I also feed mine FF classic pate and Friskies pate non gravy for my two with a little kibble in a food puzzle a few times a week,they are indoor cats and are at a good weight and on the same feeding schedule you use.

 

[tatiana10106]

You don't have to be very strict about portions/calories. Just weigh the cat on the same scale once a week or so. (For short-haired cats if you are careful it's difficult to miss when they gain even a bit weight so once a week might be not needed but once every other week or once a month might work. But if you don't trust yourself, you can of course still weigh every week.)

How much food they need depends on their activity level and even the season. They say they need more calories in the winter for example. And sometimes my cat for example eats less than her usual over a variety of reasons so she gets less calories than usual. It's OK if she sometimes eats more than her usual. She's usually making up for what she missed.

I like your idea of using both dry food and wet food. Ideally less dry food than wet. In my opinion it's the best to get them use to both as it gives more options and dry food comes handy when there is an emergency. I'm envious you will get to try Dr Elsey's! I have my eyes on it as well but we don't yet have it in the country I live in.

I’ll definitely plan on weighing him every months or maybe even get a good idea of how much he weighs during the different seasons. I’m glad you mentioned that since it’s easy to tell when he gains weight during the winter months and is always wanting more food. He also prefers to stay in my room when it snows. Last year the vet weighed him at 11 pounds, compared to 12 pounds when I weighed him yesterday. (I’m guessing he gained some weight due to it recently being very hot and him not wanting to walk around a lot. But i’m not sure how accurate it was since I had to substract my weight from both of our weights.) He loves going on walks with me and the dogs when it’s cooler out. I hope Dr. Elsey’s is sold in your country soon! I’m excited for Toby to try it

 

[tatiana10106]

I also feed mine FF classic pate and Friskies pate non gravy for my two with a little kibble in a food puzzle a few times a week,they are indoor cats and are at a good weight and on the same feeding schedule you use.

I’m glad that people are using the same feeding schedule as I am! I wanna make sure I’m doing my best for him