How much a cat should eat a day, in grams and calories
Half of all indoor cats are overweight, and almost always for the same reasons: portions judged by eye, a bowl that never empties and treats nobody counts. Working out what your cat eats takes five minutes and a set of kitchen scales.
Why the table on the bag is too generous
Feeding tables are calculated for an average cat, and that average cat is more active than one that lives in a flat, sleeps fifteen hours a day and is neutered. They also tend to give wide ranges, and owners round up just in case. The result is that many cats eat ten or twenty per cent more than they burn, and in a 4 kg animal that is a few grams a day that turn into an extra kilo over a year. A kilo on a cat is like fifteen kilos on a person. The table is a starting point; after that, the scales and above all the cat’s body are in charge.
The calories it needs
The European FEDIAF guidelines calculate an adult cat’s energy needs from its body weight raised to the power of 0.67, multiplied by a factor that depends on its lifestyle: around 100 kilocalories for an active cat or one that goes outdoors, and about 75 for an indoor or neutered cat. In figures, a calm 3 kg (6.6 lb) cat needs about 155 kilocalories a day; a 4 kg (8.8 lb) cat, about 190; a 5 kg (11 lb) cat, about 220; and a 6 kg (13.2 lb) cat, about 250. If it is active, add twenty to thirty per cent. These are starting points, because every cat is different, but they are much closer to reality than the table on the bag.
From calories to grams
Look on the packaging for the kilocalories per kilo or per hundred grams; if they are not there, the manufacturer usually publishes them on its website. A typical dry food has between 3,500 and 4,200 kilocalories per kilo, or 3.5 to 4.2 per gram. For a 4 kg cat that needs 190 kilocalories, that is between 45 and 55 grams a day. Wet food has between 0.7 and 1.1 kilocalories per gram: an 85 g pouch provides around 70 to 85 kilocalories. If you combine them, subtract: with one pouch a day, that same cat would be left with about 30 to 35 grams of dry food. Our portion calculator does these sums for you.
Weigh, do not scoop
A measuring cup is an unreliable way to portion food: depending on how you fill it, level, heaped or shaken, the amount can vary by thirty per cent, which is a lot for a cat. Kitchen scales cost between €10 and €20 in Spain and solve the problem for good. A practical trick: in the morning, weigh out the whole day’s portion, keep it in a jar and serve from there. If the jar is empty before evening, you know someone at home is giving extra, and in households with several people that happens far more than you would think.
How many meals a day
In the wild, a cat hunts and eats small prey between eight and sixteen times a day, each worth about 30 kilocalories. Its stomach is designed for small, frequent meals, not two large ones. That is why many cats do well with dry food available in small amounts throughout the day, as long as the daily portion has been weighed. If yours eats greedily and finishes it all in ten minutes, it is better to split it into three or four meals, or use a slow feeder or a programmable automatic feeder. Vomiting straight after eating, with whole kibble, is often down to eating too fast.
Kittens, neutered cats and seniors
A growing kitten needs two to three times more energy per kilo than an adult, and up to four to six months of age it can eat kitten food almost on demand, split into several meals. At around twelve months it moves to an adult portion. After neutering, energy needs drop and appetite rises, which is the perfect recipe for weight gain: you need to cut the portion by about twenty to thirty per cent or switch to a food for neutered cats. In cats over twelve or fourteen years the opposite happens: many lose muscle mass and digest less well, and they need more protein and sometimes more calories. An older cat that loses weight for no reason needs to see the vet.
Treats count too
Treats, creamy sticks, the bit of ham and the cheese it gets because it asks are all calories, and they add up. The usual rule is that they should not exceed ten per cent of what it eats in a day, which for a 4 kg cat is about 20 kilocalories: barely a couple of creamy sticks or a small handful of treats. If you give more, take it off the portion. A very handy trick is to use kibble from its own food as treats, set aside from the day’s portion: they work just as well for training or play and do not add extra calories.
How to tell if it is a healthy weight
More than the number on the scales, body condition is what counts. Run your hand along its sides without pressing: you should feel the ribs under a thin layer of fat, as when you run your fingers over the back of your hand. Look at it from above: there should be a slight waist behind the ribs. And from the side, the belly should not hang much, although many cats have a small pouch of loose skin on the belly, the primordial pouch, which is normal and not fat. If you cannot feel the ribs, if it looks oval from above or if the belly swings as it walks, it is overweight. Our ideal weight tool guides you step by step.
How to adjust without mistakes
If it needs to lose or gain weight, change the portion by ten per cent at a time and weigh the cat again after three or four weeks. To weigh it at home, weigh yourself holding it and subtract your own weight. Weight loss in a cat must be slow, around one to two per cent of its body weight a week, because an obese cat that stops eating or loses weight too quickly is at risk of hepatic lipidosis. Never put it on a strict diet on your own: if it is more than one or two kilos overweight, the plan should come from the vet.
When appetite changes
A change in appetite is one of the first signs that something is wrong with a cat, because cats are very good at hiding illness. A cat that eats more than usual and still loses weight may have hyperthyroidism or diabetes, especially if it is also drinking and urinating more. One that eats less, picks at its food or goes up to the bowl and walks away may have mouth pain, nausea or something more serious. And a cat that eats nothing for twenty-four hours, especially if it is overweight, needs a vet visit, not a wait-and-see approach. Keeping track of what it eats does not just control its weight: it warns you of problems earlier.
A calm 4 kg (9 lb) cat needs about 190 kilocalories a day, roughly 45 to 55 grams of dry food. Weigh the portion on scales, split it into several meals, count treats as part of the total and adjust according to how easily you can feel the ribs.
Educational content from Michipedia, translated from the Spanish original. It does not replace the advice of a vet or a feline behaviour specialist. Every cat is an individual.