Cat Food Fever

July 3, 2013 10:15 AM

How much grain free wet food should an indoor, high energy, just over 1 years old, seemingly still growing, not fat, 15lb, male cat eat in a day?

Our cat, Captain Tightpants, is an extremely high energy and demanding beast. At this point he's eating up to 5 three ounce cans a day (which can actually be more like 7 because he'll also just turn his nose up at a food he loved for the previous 2 weeks). If this is just the end of his growth spurts, that's fine and we'll deal with it. If this is how big his appetite is, I'm not sure we can keep up!

We've read things like this which is why he's on wet food - he's allowed to free feed on dry, but very rarely does (less than 1/8 a cup a day). I was under the impression for his size that we'd be looking at more like 3 cans a day with 1/8-1/4 cup of dry. Are my estimates off? Is 5-7 something that will just continue on?

posted by radiopaste to Pets & Animals (11 answers total)

At a year, many cats are still growing and maturing, and especially if he's active he'll be wanting yet more food. If the vet says he's healthy and not obese at 15lbs, then you should certainly continue feeding him everything he demands. I'd only worry if he starts getting a bit soggy around the midsection. If you haven't taken him in for "Cat Inspection" then at a year it's probably time to get a vet's opinion about his eating habits and also check for possible parasites.
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:37 AM on July 3, 2013

Response by poster: I meant to add that part to the question, thanks for reminding me! He went to the vet a few months ago with loose stools, was checked for parasites, got a round of antibiotics, and a clean bill of health (as far as we can tell, he's just a gross man who sometimes eats things he shouldn't and is also just sort of nervous stomached - thunderstorms, fireworks, especially loud trucks will inspire a loose stool event). She was not worried about him being obese. He'll be back for booster shots in a couple months and we'll make sure that things still look good in that department.
posted by radiopaste at 10:46 AM on July 3, 2013

That seems like A LOT of food to me.

My kitties Eartha and Malcolm are about the same size and they SHARE 1 can of wet food per day.

After that, look to the crunchies.

I think the average cat takes in 300 calories per day, and each can of Fancy Crack has about 95 calories in it.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:14 AM on July 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

For reference, we have 2 mature indoor fairly laid back cats totaling about 20 lbs and we split between them 50g of wet food and 75g of kibble totaling about 360kcal for both total. They are on the last stage of a diet so that is a little low for maintenance but they are losing only very slowly now. They are keen at feeding time but happy otherwise.

As you can see, cats vary and there is no rule, only what seems to allow them to thrive.
posted by seanmpuckett at 11:44 AM on July 3, 2013

I think the average cat takes in 300 calories per day, and each can of Fancy Crack has about 95 calories in it.

Then shouldn't your cats eat around 3 cans each/day?
posted by RustyBrooks at 11:44 AM on July 3, 2013

I have an adult 8.5lb indoor cat who was eating 3 3oz cans of quality grain free food a day. I was worried that she was eating too much and discussed it with my vet. The vet said it is a totally reasonable amount and that my cat was exactly the right weight for her size but suggested that I switch to larger cans divided over feedings as a way to make things a bit more affordable (the larger cans are cheaper per oz).
posted by Pineapplicious at 12:00 PM on July 3, 2013

Then shouldn't your cats eat around 3 cans each/day?

They are free-fed crunchies (Purina One). The Fancy Crack is more like a treat.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:53 PM on July 3, 2013

Ask your vet. When my dogs had to switch food for a while, the vet gave me a little printout that showed how many kcal they each needed per day, and it was easy to translate that into volume of the food.
posted by radioamy at 3:39 PM on July 3, 2013

My cat goes through stages of eating about twice the recommended amount for months on end, but is, if anything, a little underweight. no parasites. She just gets a lot of exercise.
posted by lollusc at 4:52 PM on July 3, 2013

They say that cats will be satisfied on a smaller amount of premium food than on the cheap supermarket food. Fewer carbs, no grains, more protein, all that good stuff that applies to humans as well your big handsome obligate carnivore. So you might test that out. Premium food comes in big cans, and you feed less -- maybe the cost won't be too much more?
posted by troyer at 7:20 PM on July 3, 2013

We need to figure out your cat's resting energy requirement (RER) to calculate your cat's daily energy requirements. The formula for this is body weight in kgs x 30 + 70. So for your cat his RER is 275kcals a days. Since your cat is a healthy active adult multiple his RER by 1.2 to get to daily energy requirement. For your cat 330kcal a day. This is how many calories he needs to maintain his weight. For weight loss times his RER by 0.8.

Find out how many kcals are in a cup of the food you feed your cat and go from there.

I'm a veterinary technician and I do these calculations for my patients.
posted by OsoMeaty at 6:08 PM on July 5, 2013 [2 favorites]