# How many calories for an 8 pound cat?



## Merlin_Guinevere (Sep 2, 2012)

I have two twin cats, a biological brother and sister pair, that will be 9 months old on the 15th. I took them to the vet today for a weigh in. Merlin is 8lbs 0ozs and Guinny is 7lbs 11ozs. I am thinking that they are likely almost full grown, so I am wondering how many calories I should be feeding them a day.

What they get right now is:
1/4 cup (twice a day) of dry food
1/2 can (twice a day) of wet food

The dry food is "President's Choice Nutrition" brand, with approximately 106 calories per 1/4 cup.

The wet food changes each day (they eat several brands, and all flavours as I don't want them to get picky). The brands I buy for wet food are: Meow Mix, Whiskas, Fancy Feast, Compliments gourmet, and President's choice gourmet. I am not sure how many calories are in these brands.

Am I feeding them too much? Should I just feed them an 1/8 of a cup of dry twice a day instead of 1/4 cupx2? I'm probably not cutting down on the wet because my vet suggested I keep that high in their diet.


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## OSCARSMOM (Jul 6, 2012)

It's great that you are starting out trying to keep them at a good weight. It is much easier to keep them from gaining weight than trying to get them to lose weight- believe me, I know! If you can, now might be a good time to get a digital baby scale. I weigh my cat once a week so that I know he is on track for his weight loss diet. You could do the same to learn how much food to feed your crew. Once they reach their ideal weight (based on body condition), you can just weigh them once a week - if they lost weight, feed a little more, if they gain weight, feed a little less. A good starting point is a 5.5 ounce can of wet food per cat per day.

The best thing you can do is to get them on an all wetfood diet. That said, the foods that you have listed are not very good ones. You should look for grain free, no by products, no mystery protein foods. Many people here use Wellness, Merrick, Evo, TikiCat, and Weruva, just to name a few. Stay away from too much fish. I'm sure you will get many suggestions from others here.

A good place to start to learn about nutrition for cats is Dr. Lisa Pierson's site: Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition :: healthy cat diet, making cat food, litter box, cat food, cat nutrition, cat urinary tract health. You will learn many things! I wish I had known what I know now when my cats were 9 month old kittens!


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## Merlin_Guinevere (Sep 2, 2012)

Thanks for the advice. I buy the healthy dry food for them because I can't afford the more expensive wet foods. They go through it so quickly, and I am a full-time student with 50 000$ worth of debt. Once I start bringing in money, I will certainly give them better quality, but right now it is just too expensive. Most of the better foods here are 2$ or more a can. That's just too much.


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## Lucas718 (Feb 19, 2012)

I think the general guidelines for an adult cat are 20-30 calories per pound. Kittens should get all they can eat. Yours are technically still kittens, so I'd probably let them have as much as they want until they are about a year old, within reason. You'd obviously want to cut back if it looks like they're gaining too much weight.


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## ktel (Sep 26, 2012)

My understanding is that they need 30 calories per pound of weight


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## ktel (Sep 26, 2012)

Merlin_Guinevere said:


> I have two twin cats, a biological brother and sister pair, that will be 9 months old on the 15th. I took them to the vet today for a weigh in. Merlin is 8lbs 0ozs and Guinny is 7lbs 11ozs. I am thinking that they are likely almost full grown, so I am wondering how many calories I should be feeding them a day.
> 
> What they get right now is:
> 1/4 cup (twice a day) of dry food
> ...



Hi Merlin_Guinevere,

They should get 30 calories per pound of weight from what I understand.

Based on your cats weight that would mean they should be fed in the region of 240 calls per day.

You mentioned the calories in the dry food but not the wet .

You are feeding each 212 calls of dry so you would need to add the wet food calories to that.

It's possible/likely that's a little too much.

Regarding the food brands you are feeding them, they're not the best quality.

I did a lot of research around a year ago on cat foods.

When I first adopted Tiger I was initially feeding him the kind of brands you mentioned, I then moved on to Medical for a few years which was better but not ideal.

I am now feeding him grain free Wellness.

I typically feed him a 70-30% ratio of wet to dry

Based on his weight of 11.8lbs I usually fee him one 5.5oz can and 1/4 to half a cup of dry food.

Although it would appear that premium brands such as wellness and evo etc are more expensive, I personally found that because they are more nutritionally sound they eat less and easily maintain a healthy weight and are generally healthier.

You can equate it to people who eat junk food .

I hope this helps but please feel free to ask me any questions you may have


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## Mom of 4 (Jul 29, 2006)

It depends on the activity level of the cats. Somewhere online, I read 15-25 calories/pound of cat. A lazy cat would get the small amount, a very active cat would get the higher amount.
I weigh my cats monthly, so I can adjust their meals. It is very difficult to judge by looks on long haired cats.
There are several websites that show the calorie count/can or pouch or cup.


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## Merlin_Guinevere (Sep 2, 2012)

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I've realized that I probably was feeding them too much. They are almost at their full-grown weight right now (which the vet helped me calculate what it WILL be for them), so I don't want to go overboard. I'm pretty sure Merlin would NEVER stop eating if I allowed that. Not so for Guinny. She leave when she is full...and then Merlin will go scarf down the rest. Anyway, right now they are getting 1/4 cup a day of dry food and one can of wet food, so that cut out 106 cals.

I will look for some of the brands mentioned to see if I can afford them. I am in Canada, so we don't have a lot of the brands mentioned. And aside from Walmart, most of our stores are different as well. I will definitely check it out. I am moving to the USA in less than two years for school, so maybe then I will be able to find something cheaper. I know the brands I pick aren't ideal, but I do make sure of a couple things to ensure they are getting the best out of those brands that they can: I only buy them cans that are a specific protein (no "Chef's Surprise" or anything silly like that), and I always check the ingredients--if the first ingredient is not a specific protein, I do not buy it. The vet told me that some of the higher end President's Choice brands actually are really good quality, so I do buy them those when I can as they fit my budget. Of course, he suggested the brand at the vet clinic first and foremost. It comes in at 1$ a can which, I have seen worse, but they only come in one flavour. Boring! My kitties never eat the same flavour twice in a row. Not even beef pate and then beef with gravy. I want to make sure their interest stays for all foods.


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