🕷️ Crawler Inspector

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Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 147 (from laksa180)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa147.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat","crawl_time":1775455344,"first_indexed_time":1673898367,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,cats!\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat s443","src_root_hash":"16893941416705149747","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"How Much to Feed a Cat (And How Often) - Cats.com","meta_descriptions":["How much to feed a cat? It's an essential question, but the answer can be complicated. Veterinarian Pete Wedderburn, DVM explains."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Kate Barrington \/ Cats.com\nAs with all carers of animals, one of the basic questions that we need to answer every day for our cats is:\n“how much should I feed my cat?”\nBack\nSTEP\n1\nof 4\nQUESTION 1\nCat's weight (lb)\nPlease enter cat's weight (lb)\nQUESTION 2\nCat's age\nPlease enter cat's age\nQUESTION 3\nSpay\/neuter status\nPlease enter spay\/neuter status\nQUESTION 4\nCarefully observe your cat’s silhouette and body composition, then compare it to the illustrations and descriptions in the chart below.\nSelect the number that most closely describes your cat’s body condition.\nSwipe to see other conditions\n1\nRibs, backbone, pelvic bones stick out. Loss of muscle mass present. Severe tummy tuck and dramatic waistline.\n2\nRibs, pelvis, backbone easily palpated and somewhat visible. Severe waistline and tummy tuck.\n3\nRibs, pelvis and backbone palpable with a thin layer of fat covering. Waistline and tummy tuck obvious but not severe with more gradual curves.\n4\nRibs covered with heavy fat layer requiring finger pressure to feel. Difficult to feel backbone or pelvis. Waistline not apparent. Tummy tuck still slightly visible.\n5\nRibs and backbone not palpable under thick fat layer. Abdominal distention projects downwardand outward . Fat deposits on legs, face and over tail head covering pelvis.\nThis article will help you discover how much food you should be feeding, so that you can ensure that your cat stays at their\noptimal body weight\n.\nIn This Article\nWhat Type of Food Should Cats Eat?\nWhy Cats Become Obese\nMethods for Calculating\nHow To Start\nCalculate by Reading the Label\nHow Much To Feed a Cat by Age\nHow Much To Feed a Cat by Weight\nHow Much To Feed a Cat Chart\nCat Feeding Schedule\nFirstly, What Type of Food Should Cats Eat?\nIt’s critical to feed your cat a nutritionally complete and balanced diet that contains all of the nutrients your cat needs to thrive.\nKirsten McCarthy \/ cats.com\nYou can meet a healthy cat’s nutritional needs met by feeding the right amount of the right type of food every day.  This diet should give your cat the correct quantities of carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins and proteins\/ amino acids, including essential nutrients like taurine.\nThe easiest way to do this is to use a nutritionally balanced complete commercial pet food, whether wet cat food (canned cat food) or dry cat food (kibble) or a mixture of the two types.\nGood quality food should be fed in the right quantities, with other aspects (like grain-free or specific ingredients) being far less important than many owners may believe.\nCat treats\ncan also be offered, in limited quantities. Fresh water, of course, is calorie-free and should always be available to cats. A cat’s litter box should be monitored by cat carers. Normal feces is an important guide to the suitability of a diet to an individual cat.\nThe daily food offered to a cat is an important contributor to their overall health.\nWhy Is It So Common for Cats To Become Overweight or Obese?\nAn estimated 50% of cats over the age of five carry too much bodyweight, making them either overweight or obese. Too much food is the main contributor to excessive bodyweight, so it’s essential to make sure your cat is eating the right amount.\nIt has become increasingly common for pet cats to become\noverweight or obese\n, with estimates that around 50% of cats over the age of five years carry too much body weight. Cat carers are often not aware that their pets are overweight or obese, yet an overweight cat is more likely to suffer health issues such as\ndiabetes\n, heart disease,\narthritis\n,\nkidney disease\n, and a shorter life span.\nThe most common reason for cats becoming overweight or obese is simply that cat carers offer their cat more food than their cat needs.\nThat’s why it’s so important to know how much food you should offer your cat every day, so that your cat avoids preventable health problems later in life.\nCats, just like humans, enjoy eating: it’s one of the great pleasures of life, and a cat’s diet is one of the most important parts of their day. And because cat carers like to make their pets happy, it’s all too easy to want to give them extra food, to give them even more enjoyment in life.\nAlso Read:\nThe 10 Best Cat Foods\nHowever, we all need to step back and recognise that while feeding a pet makes them happy in the immediate moment, if we give them too much food, the excessive food intake causes serious discomfort, poor health, and a shorter life in the long term.\nSo if we genuinely care about helping them achieve their best possible lives, we should be disciplined about how much food we feed them so that they stay at a healthy weight.\nWhat Sort of System Should I Use for Feeding My Cat?\nThe way you feed your cat can be almost as important as how much you feed them.\nIn the past, many people have given their cats free choice , free-feeding, or ad libitum i.e. offering them as much in their food bowl as they wish to eat. In particular, a bowl of dry food (kibble) has often been continually topped up, allowing the cat to eat this whenever they wish to do so.\nIt is now recognised that feeding cats using this method is likely to lead to cats eating too much, leading them to be overweight or obese. Instead, cat carers should calculate the correct daily amount to feed, and either weigh this amount daily, or use a feeding container to give the measured amount every day as their cat’s food supply.\nWhichever method is used to calculate how much a cat should be fed, it is impossible to generalize for every individual cat, because of several variables that are not the same between different animals.\nThe first three variables can be factored into calculations:\nAge\n: growing animals need more food, and the precise quantity varies depending on how fast that cat is growing. Meanwhile, older cats (senior cats) tend to be less active, with reduced energy needs.\nSize\n: larger animals have higher daily energy needs compared to smaller animals.\nNeutered status\n: if a cat has been spayed or neutered, then they generally have lower energy needs than entire animals.\nOther significant variables between animals that are more difficult to specify include:\nActivity leve\nl: outdoor cats spend more time moving than indoor cats, so they need more energy. As well as this broad difference, individual cats, whether indoor or outdoor, have different levels of activity that can be hard to monitor or calculate.\nMetabolic rate:\nsome individual cats have a faster resting metabolic rate than other cats, meaning that they need more food than others to supply their basic energy needs every day. Again, this is not something that can be easily calculated by owners.\nHere’s How To Start To Work Out How Much To Feed.\nSeveral factors go into determining how much your cat needs to eat.\nThe starting point is to establish five facts about your cat.\nHow old are they?\nHow much do they weigh currently?\nAre they neutered or entire?\nAre they active (e.g. outdoor) or inactive (e.g. indoor)?\nAre they currently the correct weight, are they underweight, or overweight? Please read our article on\nbody condition score\nto discover this important fact about your own cat.\nThese five facts are used to help to work out how much to feed, using one of several different possible methods. You also need to note what type of food you are using, and get a notebook to record how much food you feed every day, recording the number of sachets of most food (or tins of canned food), and the weight, in grams, of dry cat food.\nYou Can Also Calculate How Much To Feed Your Cat by Reading the Label\nCats, just like humans, enjoy eating: it’s one of the great pleasures of life, and a cat’s diet is one of the most important parts of their day.\nMost commercial pet foods include a guide to feeding quantities on the label of the packaging. Typically there is a chart, with the cat’s weight in the left column, and the recommended amount of food in the right column e.g 8.8lbs (4kg) and 2.3 ounces (65g) for dry food, or 8.8lbs (4kg) and 2 sachets or pouches for wet food, or a mixture, such as 1 ounce (28g) dry food plus one sachet of wet food.\nSome people prefer to work with volumes (e.g. cups) rather than absolute weights, but the challenge is that dry food varies in density, so it’s better to work with weight on the first occasion, but place the volume of food in the container of your choice (e.g. a plastic cup) and draw a line with a permanent marker so that you can see how much volume this makes. Then on future occasions, you can simply use the plastic cup, up to your line, as a daily guide.\nSometimes there are different recommendations for active (outdoor) and inactive (indoor) cats, neutered or entire cats, and for cats that are obese, overweight, or at their correct body weight.\nThese recommended amounts represent the manufacturer’s calculation of the correct amount of daily food for an average cat.\nOften, a range of recommended quantities is given, rather than a single specified amount. This is recognition of the fact that it is impossible to say precisely how much any individual cat should be fed: there is always variation based on a number of factors.\nThere is an untrue myth that pet food manufacturers deliberately overstate the recommended feeding amounts on the label in an attempt to make people use more pet food. In fact, the recommended feeding amounts do represent a reasonable estimate that is useful for many cat owners who may not be able to calculate correct feeding quantities using other methods.\nThere is an untrue myth that pet food manufacturers deliberately overstate the recommended feeding amounts on the label in an attempt to make people use more pet food.\nGrowing kittens need comparatively more food than adult cats, because they need nutrients to allow their body to grow. This can be difficult to calculate precisely, and professional veterinary nutritionists have charts and guides that may be applied.\nFor most cat carers, it is simpler to recognise that kittens do have higher requirements, and that it is rare for kittens to become overweight or obese. Using the broad guidelines on the packaging, it is fairly safe to say that kittens can be fed almost as much food as they wish to eat at each mealtime, within reasonable limits.\nIf the kitten is still chasing the bowl, looking for more food when they have finished, they should be offered a little more.\nIf the kitten routinely does not finish the food that is offered in the bowl, they should be offered less the next time.\nHow Much To Feed a Cat by Weight?\nOnce a cat has passed kittenhood, and has stopped growing, it is possible to work out how much to feed based on their body weight. The recommended daily caloric intake can be calculated using a formula to work out the resting energy requirement (RER):\nRER=70 x (body weight in kg\/lbs) to the power of 0.75 or 70 x (weight in kg\/lbs ^ 0.75)\nTo work out the “to the power of 0.75” part of the equation, you can either use a calculator that allow you to use exponents,  or you can multiply the weight in kilograms by itself 3 times (e.g. 4x4x4 for a 4kg\/8.8lbs cat), then work out the square root of that sum, twice.\nThis calculation will give you the resting energy requirement for your cat in kilocalories. You then need to multiply this by a different factor depending on your individual cat to estimate their total daily energy needs, with possible variables listed below.\nHow Much To Feed a Cat Chart\nNeutered adult cat\n1.6 x RER\nEntire adult cat\n1.8 x RER\nInactive adult cat\n1.2-1.4 x RER\nCat aiming to lose weight\n1.0 x RER for ideal weight\nCat trying to gain weight\n1.2-1.8 x RER for ideal weight\nVery active outdoor cat\n2.0-4.0 x RER\nOnce the daily recommended number of kilocalories has been calculated, you then need to discover how many kilocalories are in the food that you are offering. This depends on the ingredients in the food. You can usually discover this, if not on the food label, by visiting the pet food manufacturer’s website, or by contacting them directly.\nThis method will allow you to calculate for yourself, from first principles,  approximately how much food you should be feeding your cat.\nFor many people, this type of calculation is too complex, and they prefer to simply follow the manufacturer’s guide on the label, modifying this over time depending on how their pet’s body weight changes.\nCat Feeding Schedule\nKate Barrington  \/ Cats.com\nCats in the wild are hunting carnivores\n, consuming small meals frequently as they catch small prey throughout the day. Ideally, a feeding regime at home should follow the same pattern, with smaller meals being offered more frequently, e.g. four times daily.\nAlso Read: \nThe Complete Feeding Guide From Kittens To Seniors\nMany people, for reasons of convenience, feed their cats less often, but the frequency should never be less than twice daily e.g. morning and evening.\nConclusion\nThe exact quantity of food fed every day is an important variable to ensure long term feline health. It’s important to record how much food is fed every day, and to monitor your cat’s body condition every month. Weight gain, or weight loss, can then be monitored. If your cat starts to become overweight, you need to feed less food every day, and if they start to become underweight, you need to offer more food every day.\nIdeally, you should weigh your cat every month to monitor how their body weight changes: you can do this using electronic scales (e.g. at your local veterinarian’s office) or you can stand on your own bathroom scales holding your cat, then weigh yourself afterwards to work out the difference.\nFrequently Asked Questions About How Much to Feed a Cat\nHow much should you feed your indoor cat?\nIndoor cats are generally less active than outdoor cats, so they burn up less energy, and require a lower number of kilocalories in their daily food. Indoor cats should be fed the lower level of recommended quantity on recommended levels on food packaging.\nHow much dry food should I feed my cat?\nYou should use the guidelines on the label on the food packaging as a starting point, offering your cat more or less over time, depending on their body weight. If your cat is becoming overweight, you should feed less, and if they seem underweight, you should offer more.\nWhy are my cats so hungry all the time?\nIf cats become used to being fed too much food, it can be difficult for them to get used to a restricted amount of feeding. Cats enjoy the act of eating, just like humans, and so you need to find ways to give them enjoyment in different forms, such as getting new toys to play with, or simply by engaging with them more as their carer.\nOver time, most cats learn to adapt to the new way of feeding, and they become less hungry. If your cat does continue to seem hungry all the time, you should take them to your DVM veterinarian for a health check in case there is an underlying health reason for this (such as hyperthyroidism). If it turns out that your cat is in full health, but simply very hungry despite being fed the correct amount of food, your veterinarian may be able to suggest a type of high quality cat food that is more likely to make your cat feed full (satiated).","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to content](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#content \"Skip to content\")\n\n[![Cats.com](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ribosome\/img\/cats-com-logo.svg)](https:\/\/cats.com\/)\n\n- [Cat Food](https:\/\/cats.com\/cat-food-reviews)\n  - [Best Rated](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-cat-food)\n  - [Dry Cat Food](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-dry-cat-food)\n  - [Wet Cat Food](https:\/\/cats.com\/reviews\/best-canned-cat-food)\n  - [Kitten Food](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-kitten-food)\n  - [Recalls](https:\/\/cats.com\/cat-food-recalls)\n- [Cat Litter](https:\/\/cats.com\/cat-litter-reviews)\n  - [Best Rated](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-cat-litter)\n  - [Clumping](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-clumping-cat-litter)\n  - [Non-Clumping](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-non-clumping-cat-litter)\n  - 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Pete is well known as a media veterinarian with regular national tv, radio and newspaper slots, including a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph since 2007. Pete is known as \"Pete the Vet\" on his busy Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, regularly posting information on topical subjects and real-life cases from his clinic. He also wr...  [View more](https:\/\/cats.com\/author\/petebrayvet-com)\n\nShare   [![Email](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ribosome\/img\/email.svg)](https:\/\/cats.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#b68990c5c3d4dcd3d5c28bfed9c19dfbc3d5de9dc2d99df0d3d3d29dd79df5d7c290d4d9d2cf8bdec2c2c6c59385f79384f09384f0d5d7c2c598d5d9db9384f0ded9c19bdbc3d5de9bc2d99bd0d3d3d29bd79bd5d7c2) [![Pinterest](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ribosome\/img\/pinterest.svg)](https:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcats.com%2Fhow-much-to-feed-a-cat&media=https%3A%2F%2Fcats.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F04%2FPurina-One-Tender-Selects-Blend-17.jpg&description=How+Much+to+Feed+a+Cat) [![Linkedin](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ribosome\/img\/linkedin.svg)](http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcats.com%2Fhow-much-to-feed-a-cat&title=How+Much+to+Feed+a+Cat) [![Twitter](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ribosome\/img\/twitter.svg)](https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcats.com%2Fhow-much-to-feed-a-cat&text=How+Much+to+Feed+a+Cat) [![Facebook](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ribosome\/img\/facebook.svg)](https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcats.com%2Fhow-much-to-feed-a-cat)\n\n![how much to feed a cat](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/raw-1.jpg)\n\nKate Barrington \/ Cats.com\n\nAs with all carers of animals, one of the basic questions that we need to answer every day for our cats is: **“how much should I feed my cat?”**\n\nThis article will help you discover how much food you should be feeding, so that you can ensure that your cat stays at their [optimal body weight](https:\/\/cats.com\/weight-calculator).\n\nIn This Article\n\n- [What Type of Food Should Cats Eat?](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#firstly-what-type-of-food-should-cats-eat)\n- [Why Cats Become Obese](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#why-is-it-so-common-for-cats-to-become-overweight-or-obese)\n- [Methods for Calculating](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#what-sort-of-system-should-i-use-for-feeding-my-cat)\n- [How To Start](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#heres-how-to-start-to-work-out-how-much-to-feed)\n- [Calculate by Reading the Label](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#you-can-also-calculate-how-much-to-feed-your-cat-by-reading-the-label)\n- [How Much To Feed a Cat by Age](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#how-much-to-feed-a-cat-by-age)\n- [How Much To Feed a Cat by Weight](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#how-much-to-feed-a-cat-by-weight)\n- [How Much To Feed a Cat Chart](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#how-much-to-feed-a-cat-chart)\n- [Cat Feeding Schedule](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#cat-feeding-schedule)\n\nExpand More\n## Firstly, What Type of Food Should Cats Eat?\n![What to Feed a Cat](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Purina-One-Tender-Selects-Blend-17.jpg)\n\nIt’s critical to feed your cat a nutritionally complete and balanced diet that contains all of the nutrients your cat needs to thrive. **Kirsten McCarthy \/ cats.com**\n\nYou can meet a healthy cat’s nutritional needs met by feeding the right amount of the right type of food every day. This diet should give your cat the correct quantities of carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins and proteins\/ amino acids, including essential nutrients like taurine.\n\n**The easiest way to do this is to use a nutritionally balanced complete commercial pet food, whether wet cat food (canned cat food) or dry cat food (kibble) or a mixture of the two types.**\n\nGood quality food should be fed in the right quantities, with other aspects (like grain-free or specific ingredients) being far less important than many owners may believe.\n\n[Cat treats](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-cat-treats) can also be offered, in limited quantities. Fresh water, of course, is calorie-free and should always be available to cats. A cat’s litter box should be monitored by cat carers. Normal feces is an important guide to the suitability of a diet to an individual cat.\n\nThe daily food offered to a cat is an important contributor to their overall health.\n\n## Why Is It So Common for Cats To Become Overweight or Obese?\n![Overweight Cat How Much to Feed a Cat](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Overweight-Cat-How-Much-to-Feed-a-Cat.jpg)\n\nAn estimated 50% of cats over the age of five carry too much bodyweight, making them either overweight or obese. Too much food is the main contributor to excessive bodyweight, so it’s essential to make sure your cat is eating the right amount.\n\nIt has become increasingly common for pet cats to become [overweight or obese](https:\/\/cats.com\/feline-obesity), with estimates that around 50% of cats over the age of five years carry too much body weight. Cat carers are often not aware that their pets are overweight or obese, yet an overweight cat is more likely to suffer health issues such as [diabetes](https:\/\/cats.com\/feline-diabetes), heart disease, [arthritis](https:\/\/cats.com\/arthritis-in-cats), [kidney disease](https:\/\/cats.com\/kidney-failure-in-cats), and a shorter life span.\n\n**The most common reason for cats becoming overweight or obese is simply that cat carers offer their cat more food than their cat needs.**\n\nThat’s why it’s so important to know how much food you should offer your cat every day, so that your cat avoids preventable health problems later in life.\n\nCats, just like humans, enjoy eating: it’s one of the great pleasures of life, and a cat’s diet is one of the most important parts of their day. And because cat carers like to make their pets happy, it’s all too easy to want to give them extra food, to give them even more enjoyment in life.\n\n**Also Read: [The 10 Best Cat Foods](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-cat-food)**\n\nHowever, we all need to step back and recognise that while feeding a pet makes them happy in the immediate moment, if we give them too much food, the excessive food intake causes serious discomfort, poor health, and a shorter life in the long term.\n\nSo if we genuinely care about helping them achieve their best possible lives, we should be disciplined about how much food we feed them so that they stay at a healthy weight.\n\n## What Sort of System Should I Use for Feeding My Cat?\n![How to Choose a System for Feeding Your Cat](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/shutterstock_1285682953-1.jpg)\n\nThe way you feed your cat can be almost as important as how much you feed them.\n\nIn the past, many people have given their cats free choice , free-feeding, or ad libitum i.e. offering them as much in their food bowl as they wish to eat. In particular, a bowl of dry food (kibble) has often been continually topped up, allowing the cat to eat this whenever they wish to do so.\n\nIt is now recognised that feeding cats using this method is likely to lead to cats eating too much, leading them to be overweight or obese. Instead, cat carers should calculate the correct daily amount to feed, and either weigh this amount daily, or use a feeding container to give the measured amount every day as their cat’s food supply.\n\nWhichever method is used to calculate how much a cat should be fed, it is impossible to generalize for every individual cat, because of several variables that are not the same between different animals.\n\n**The first three variables can be factored into calculations:**\n\n- **Age**: growing animals need more food, and the precise quantity varies depending on how fast that cat is growing. Meanwhile, older cats (senior cats) tend to be less active, with reduced energy needs.\n- **Size**: larger animals have higher daily energy needs compared to smaller animals.\n- **Neutered status**: if a cat has been spayed or neutered, then they generally have lower energy needs than entire animals.\n\nOther significant variables between animals that are more difficult to specify include:\n\n- **Activity leve**l: outdoor cats spend more time moving than indoor cats, so they need more energy. As well as this broad difference, individual cats, whether indoor or outdoor, have different levels of activity that can be hard to monitor or calculate.\n- **Metabolic rate:** some individual cats have a faster resting metabolic rate than other cats, meaning that they need more food than others to supply their basic energy needs every day. Again, this is not something that can be easily calculated by owners.\n## Here’s How To Start To Work Out How Much To Feed.\n![How to Calculate How Much to Feed Your Cat](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/How-to-Calculate-How-Much-to-Feed-Your-Cat.jpg)\n\nSeveral factors go into determining how much your cat needs to eat.\n\n**The starting point is to establish five facts about your cat.**\n\n1. How old are they?\n2. How much do they weigh currently?\n3. Are they neutered or entire?\n4. Are they active (e.g. outdoor) or inactive (e.g. indoor)?\n5. Are they currently the correct weight, are they underweight, or overweight? Please read our article on [body condition score](https:\/\/cats.com\/weight-calculator) to discover this important fact about your own cat.\n\nThese five facts are used to help to work out how much to feed, using one of several different possible methods. You also need to note what type of food you are using, and get a notebook to record how much food you feed every day, recording the number of sachets of most food (or tins of canned food), and the weight, in grams, of dry cat food.\n\n## You Can Also Calculate How Much To Feed Your Cat by Reading the Label\n![A Devon Rex cat enjoying a meal.](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/devon-rex-eating-compressed.jpg)\n\nCats, just like humans, enjoy eating: it’s one of the great pleasures of life, and a cat’s diet is one of the most important parts of their day.\n\nMost commercial pet foods include a guide to feeding quantities on the label of the packaging. Typically there is a chart, with the cat’s weight in the left column, and the recommended amount of food in the right column e.g 8.8lbs (4kg) and 2.3 ounces (65g) for dry food, or 8.8lbs (4kg) and 2 sachets or pouches for wet food, or a mixture, such as 1 ounce (28g) dry food plus one sachet of wet food.\n\nSome people prefer to work with volumes (e.g. cups) rather than absolute weights, but the challenge is that dry food varies in density, so it’s better to work with weight on the first occasion, but place the volume of food in the container of your choice (e.g. a plastic cup) and draw a line with a permanent marker so that you can see how much volume this makes. Then on future occasions, you can simply use the plastic cup, up to your line, as a daily guide.\n\nSometimes there are different recommendations for active (outdoor) and inactive (indoor) cats, neutered or entire cats, and for cats that are obese, overweight, or at their correct body weight.\n\nThese recommended amounts represent the manufacturer’s calculation of the correct amount of daily food for an average cat.\n\nOften, a range of recommended quantities is given, rather than a single specified amount. This is recognition of the fact that it is impossible to say precisely how much any individual cat should be fed: there is always variation based on a number of factors.\n\nThere is an untrue myth that pet food manufacturers deliberately overstate the recommended feeding amounts on the label in an attempt to make people use more pet food. In fact, the recommended feeding amounts do represent a reasonable estimate that is useful for many cat owners who may not be able to calculate correct feeding quantities using other methods.\n\n## How Much To Feed a Cat by Age?\n![Cat looking and eating.](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cat-looking-and-eating-compressed.jpg)\n\nThere is an untrue myth that pet food manufacturers deliberately overstate the recommended feeding amounts on the label in an attempt to make people use more pet food.\n\nGrowing kittens need comparatively more food than adult cats, because they need nutrients to allow their body to grow. This can be difficult to calculate precisely, and professional veterinary nutritionists have charts and guides that may be applied.\n\nFor most cat carers, it is simpler to recognise that kittens do have higher requirements, and that it is rare for kittens to become overweight or obese. Using the broad guidelines on the packaging, it is fairly safe to say that kittens can be fed almost as much food as they wish to eat at each mealtime, within reasonable limits.\n\n- If the kitten is still chasing the bowl, looking for more food when they have finished, they should be offered a little more.\n- If the kitten routinely does not finish the food that is offered in the bowl, they should be offered less the next time.\n## How Much To Feed a Cat by Weight?\nOnce a cat has passed kittenhood, and has stopped growing, it is possible to work out how much to feed based on their body weight. The recommended daily caloric intake can be calculated using a formula to work out the resting energy requirement (RER):\n\n**RER=70 x (body weight in kg\/lbs) to the power of 0.75 or 70 x (weight in kg\/lbs ^ 0.75)**\n\nTo work out the “to the power of 0.75” part of the equation, you can either use a calculator that allow you to use exponents, or you can multiply the weight in kilograms by itself 3 times (e.g. 4x4x4 for a 4kg\/8.8lbs cat), then work out the square root of that sum, twice.\n\nThis calculation will give you the resting energy requirement for your cat in kilocalories. You then need to multiply this by a different factor depending on your individual cat to estimate their total daily energy needs, with possible variables listed below.\n\n## How Much To Feed a Cat Chart\n|   |   |\n|---|---|\n| Neutered adult cat | 1\\.6 x RER |\n| Entire adult cat | 1\\.8 x RER |\n| Inactive adult cat | 1\\.2-1.4 x RER |\n| Cat aiming to lose weight | 1\\.0 x RER for ideal weight |\n| Cat trying to gain weight | 1\\.2-1.8 x RER for ideal weight |\n| Very active outdoor cat | 2\\.0-4.0 x RER |\n\nOnce the daily recommended number of kilocalories has been calculated, you then need to discover how many kilocalories are in the food that you are offering. This depends on the ingredients in the food. You can usually discover this, if not on the food label, by visiting the pet food manufacturer’s website, or by contacting them directly.\n\nThis method will allow you to calculate for yourself, from first principles, approximately how much food you should be feeding your cat.\n\nFor many people, this type of calculation is too complex, and they prefer to simply follow the manufacturer’s guide on the label, modifying this over time depending on how their pet’s body weight changes.\n\n## Cat Feeding Schedule\n![Petlibro automatic pet feeder dispensing](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Petlibro-Feeder-Dispensing.jpg)\n\nKate Barrington \/ Cats.com\n\n[Cats in the wild are hunting carnivores](https:\/\/cats.com\/cats-are-obligate-carnivores), consuming small meals frequently as they catch small prey throughout the day. Ideally, a feeding regime at home should follow the same pattern, with smaller meals being offered more frequently, e.g. four times daily.\n\n**Also Read: [The Complete Feeding Guide From Kittens To Seniors](https:\/\/cats.com\/cat-feeding-guide)**\n\nMany people, for reasons of convenience, feed their cats less often, but the frequency should never be less than twice daily e.g. morning and evening.\n\n## Conclusion\nThe exact quantity of food fed every day is an important variable to ensure long term feline health. It’s important to record how much food is fed every day, and to monitor your cat’s body condition every month. Weight gain, or weight loss, can then be monitored. If your cat starts to become overweight, you need to feed less food every day, and if they start to become underweight, you need to offer more food every day.\n\nIdeally, you should weigh your cat every month to monitor how their body weight changes: you can do this using electronic scales (e.g. at your local veterinarian’s office) or you can stand on your own bathroom scales holding your cat, then weigh yourself afterwards to work out the difference.\n\n## Frequently Asked Questions About How Much to Feed a Cat\n### How much should you feed your indoor cat?\nIndoor cats are generally less active than outdoor cats, so they burn up less energy, and require a lower number of kilocalories in their daily food. Indoor cats should be fed the lower level of recommended quantity on recommended levels on food packaging.\n\n### How much dry food should I feed my cat?\nYou should use the guidelines on the label on the food packaging as a starting point, offering your cat more or less over time, depending on their body weight. If your cat is becoming overweight, you should feed less, and if they seem underweight, you should offer more.\n\n### Why are my cats so hungry all the time?\nIf cats become used to being fed too much food, it can be difficult for them to get used to a restricted amount of feeding. Cats enjoy the act of eating, just like humans, and so you need to find ways to give them enjoyment in different forms, such as getting new toys to play with, or simply by engaging with them more as their carer.  \n   \n Over time, most cats learn to adapt to the new way of feeding, and they become less hungry. If your cat does continue to seem hungry all the time, you should take them to your DVM veterinarian for a health check in case there is an underlying health reason for this (such as hyperthyroidism). If it turns out that your cat is in full health, but simply very hungry despite being fed the correct amount of food, your veterinarian may be able to suggest a type of high quality cat food that is more likely to make your cat feed full (satiated).\n\nHelp us do better\\! Was this article helpful and relevant?\n\nYes\n\nNo\n\nWhat can you say about this article?\n\nI am completely satisfied, I found useful information and tips in this article\n\nArticle was somewhat helpful, but could be improved\n\nWant to share more?\n\nThank You for the feedback\\! We work to make the world a better place for cats, and we're getting better for you.\n\n💬\n\nChat\n\n✖\n\n**Hi 👋, how can we help?**\n\nSend\n\n![Avatar photo](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/pete-DVM-100x100.png)\n\n## About Dr. Pete Wedderburn, DVM\nDr Pete Wedderburn qualified as a vet from Edinburgh in 1985 and has run his own 4-veterinarian companion animal practice in County Wicklow, Ireland, since 1991. Pete is well known as a media veterinarian with regular national tv, radio and newspaper slots, including a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph since 2007. Pete is known as \"Pete the Vet\" on his busy Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, regularly posting information on topical subjects and real-life cases from his clinic. He also write a regular blog at www.petethevet.com. His latest book: “Pet Subjects”, was published by Aurum Press in 2017.\n\n[View all posts by Dr. Pete Wedderburn, DVM →](https:\/\/cats.com\/author\/petebrayvet-com)\n\nConnect with Dr. Pete Wedderburn, DVM:\n\n[![globe](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ribosome\/img\/social-icons\/globe.svg)](https:\/\/www.petethevet.com\/) [![facebook](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ribosome\/img\/social-icons\/facebook.svg)](https:\/\/business.facebook.com\/PeteTheVet) [![instagram](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ribosome\/img\/social-icons\/instagram.svg)](https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pete.wedderburn\/) [![linkedin](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ribosome\/img\/social-icons\/linkedin.svg)](https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/petethevet\/) [![soundcloud](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ribosome\/img\/social-icons\/soundcloud.svg)](https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/petethevet) [![twitter](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/themes\/ribosome\/img\/social-icons\/twitter.svg)](https:\/\/twitter.com\/PeteTheVet)\n\nGet more Cat Health articles - straight to your inbox\n\nSign up and we’ll send you Cats.com articles about the all aspects of cat health to help you keep your fluffy treasure healthy.\n\n## More From Cat Preventive Health Care\n[![Tortoiseshell cat looks at camera](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Tortoiseshell-cat-looks-at-camera-240x180.jpg)](https:\/\/cats.com\/diabetic-senior-cat-care-tips \"10 Essential Tips for Caring for a Diabetic Senior Cat at Home\")\n\n[Cat Health](https:\/\/cats.com\/cat-health)\n\n[10 Essential Tips for Caring for a Diabetic Senior Cat at Home](https:\/\/cats.com\/diabetic-senior-cat-care-tips \"10 Essential Tips for Caring for a Diabetic Senior Cat at Home\")\n\n[![black cat eating Weruva Truluxe Steak Frites Dinner](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/black-cat-eating-Weruva-Truluxe-Steak-Frites-Dinner-240x180.jpg)](https:\/\/cats.com\/bland-diet-for-cats \"How a Bland Diet Can Improve Your Cat’s Digestion\")\n\n[Cat Health](https:\/\/cats.com\/cat-health)\n\n[How a Bland Diet Can Improve Your Cat’s Digestion](https:\/\/cats.com\/bland-diet-for-cats \"How a Bland Diet Can Improve Your Cat’s Digestion\")\n\n[![orange cat eating Nulo Freestyle Grain Free Turkey & Chicken Recipe](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/orange-cat-eating-Nulo-Freestyle-Grain-Free-Turkey-Chicken-Recipe-240x180.jpg)](https:\/\/cats.com\/immune-support-supplements-for-cats \"Are Immune Support Supplements for Cats a Good Idea?\")\n\n[Cat Health](https:\/\/cats.com\/cat-health)\n\n[Are Immune Support Supplements for Cats a Good Idea?](https:\/\/cats.com\/immune-support-supplements-for-cats \"Are Immune Support Supplements for Cats a Good Idea?\")\n\n[![Brown White Siberian Cat Laying In Green Basket](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Brown-White-Siberian-Cat-Laying-In-Green-Basket-2-compressed-240x180.jpg)](https:\/\/cats.com\/homeopathy-for-cats \"Homeopathy For Cats: What You Need To Know\")\n\n[Cat Health](https:\/\/cats.com\/cat-health)\n\n[Homeopathy For Cats: What You Need To Know](https:\/\/cats.com\/homeopathy-for-cats \"Homeopathy For Cats: What You Need To Know\")\n\n## You Might Like\n[![cat bite](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/cat-bite-compressed-240x180.jpg)](https:\/\/cats.com\/why-does-my-cat-attack-my-feet \"Why Does My Cat Attack My Feet?\")\n\n[Behavioral Problems in Cats](https:\/\/cats.com\/cat-behavior\/cat-behavior-problems)\n\n[Why Does My Cat Attack My Feet?](https:\/\/cats.com\/why-does-my-cat-attack-my-feet \"Why Does My Cat Attack My Feet?\")\n\n[![kitten eating wet cat food in front of different cat food brands](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Kittens-46-compressed-240x180.jpg)](https:\/\/cats.com\/cat-feeding-guide \"The Complete Feeding Guide From Kittens to Seniors\")\n\n[Cat Health](https:\/\/cats.com\/cat-health)\n\n[The Complete Feeding Guide From Kittens to Seniors](https:\/\/cats.com\/cat-feeding-guide \"The Complete Feeding Guide From Kittens to Seniors\")\n\n[![](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/cat-arching-back-compressed-240x180.jpg)](https:\/\/cats.com\/why-do-cats-arch-their-backs \"Why Do Cats Arch Their Backs? 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I’ve read your complete Bio and I think you must have answer to my question.  \n    Please tell me which food I should feed to my cat, the age of the cat is 11 years.  \n    I’ve heard that dry cat food is not good for older cats.\n   \n   Please let me know the answer in details, as I’m planning to write a complete details about wet and dry cat food for different cat age groups.\n   \n   Thanks\n   \n   [Reply](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-41897) ↓\n   \n   Click to rate\n   \n   ▲ 0\n   \n   ▼ 0\n   1. ![small mallory photo](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cropped-Small-pfp-44x44.jpg)\n      \n      **[Mallory Crusta](https:\/\/cats.com\/author\/mcrustawildernesscat-com)**\n      \n      [Sep 4, 2020 at 7:35 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-41902)\n      \n      Hello Hamza, thank you for commenting\\!\n      \n      If you have any further questions specific to your situation, I’ll happily forward them to Dr. Pete Wedderburn.  \n       For now, however, I believe we already have a couple of articles that should give you the information you need. You can start with our article on [The Best Cat Food for Senior Cats](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-cat-food-for-senior-cats). Secondly, our veterinarian-reviewed [Cat Feeding Guide](https:\/\/cats.com\/cat-feeding-guide) breaks down how much to feed a cat at all life stages.  \n       Again, please let me know if you have further questions for Dr. Wedderburn and I’ll pass them on.  \n       Best,  \n       Mallory\n      \n      Click to rate\n      \n      ▲ 0\n      \n      ▼ 0\n2. ![](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d68126d5f81270571aa1e0577cdc08a4cf227e24c17b3969e0ad284fefa8071d?s=44&d=mm&r=g)\n   \n   **[Misha](https:\/\/cats.com\/author)**\n   \n   [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:32 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-55433)\n   \n   Hi, thank you so much for this article! I was wondering how I should measure my cats food if I feed them a mix of wet and dry food?\n   \n   [Reply](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-55433) ↓\n   \n   Click to rate\n   \n   ▲ 0\n   \n   ▼ 0\n   1. ![small mallory photo](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cropped-Small-pfp-44x44.jpg)\n      \n      **[Mallory Crusta](https:\/\/cats.com\/author\/mcrustawildernesscat-com)**\n      \n      [Jun 29, 2021 at 6:27 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-55663)\n      \n      Hi Misha, you don’t *have* to measure your cat’s food, but doing so is a great way to control their calorie intake and be sure that they’re getting the appropriate amount for their size. Remember that the calories in dry food add up very quickly, so you could easily go overboard with a combination of both. Hope this helps! – Mallory\n      \n      Click to rate\n      \n      ▲ 0\n      \n      ▼ 0\n3. ![](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e2c851753940b581cc2d37ab67894d5149e5ffda49a7f5a0e129e8a849ea4e33?s=44&d=mm&r=g)\n   \n   **[Erin](https:\/\/cats.com\/author)**\n   \n   [Feb 7, 2022 at 11:53 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-74593)\n   \n   Hi there, the formula for calculating RER \/ calorie intake is written ambiguously. Is it supposed to be:  \n    A. 70 x (weight in kg ^ 0.75)  \n    or  \n    B. (70 x weight in kg) ^ 0.75  \n    These result in pretty massively different numbers, and with no reference values to compare against, it’s impossible to tell which one is the intended result.\n   \n   Thanks\\!\n   \n   [Reply](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-74593) ↓\n   \n   Click to rate\n   \n   ▲ 0\n   \n   ▼ 0\n   1. ![](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f69eb93596457cb19227d5f36f4ae7ee534e4efa5149071edcbac60d9d190c4?s=44&d=mm&r=g)\n      \n      **[Dr. Pete Wedderburn, DVM](https:\/\/cats.com\/author\/petebrayvet-com)** Post author\n      \n      [Feb 8, 2022 at 7:51 am](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-74626)\n      \n      Sorry about any misunderstanding – it is meant to be 70 x (weight in kg ^ 0.75)\n      \n      Click to rate\n      \n      ▲ 0\n      \n      ▼ 0\n   2. ![](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86f67a1a2daffb1d075c2888bbaa4ca632f790de30ff6b5359044cd927f1add0?s=44&d=mm&r=g)\n      \n      **[Visit R obinson buc ler (gm a ilC om)](https:\/\/cats.com\/author)**\n      \n      [Jul 19, 2024 at 12:31 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-133829)\n      \n      Stay Free from Hsv-2..\n      \n      Click to rate\n      \n      ▲ 0\n      \n      ▼ 0\n4. ![](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3450beb9fb511e900fc9d1a139fd2941241dc917ff3b52fba23be3d1a2b7494?s=44&d=mm&r=g)\n   \n   **[Romane](https:\/\/cats.com\/author)**\n   \n   [Jul 11, 2022 at 11:43 am](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-84419)\n   \n   Hello Dr\\!  \n    I’ve been wanting to do this calculation for a while, my cat is 9kg and approaching 10 y-o (we’re not responsible for his weight he was from a multiple cat household and ate all the other cat’s food) I was just wondering if the cat’s size (lenght\/height) mattered? Thanks in advance 🙂\n   \n   [Reply](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-84419) ↓\n   \n   Click to rate\n   \n   ▲ 0\n   \n   ▼ 0\n   1. ![small mallory photo](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cropped-Small-pfp-44x44.jpg)\n      \n      **[Mallory Crusta](https:\/\/cats.com\/author\/mcrustawildernesscat-com)**\n      \n      [Jul 14, 2022 at 3:23 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-84593)\n      \n      Hi Romane, yes—an individual cat’s build does play a part in how much they need to eat and what constitutes a healthy weight for them. That’s why people will generally use a body composition chart when making this calculation. You might appreciate our [cat weight calculator](https:\/\/cats.com\/weight-calculator) (it also tells you how much your cat needs to eat to reach their goal weight).\n      \n      Click to rate\n      \n      ▲ 0\n      \n      ▼ 0\n5. ![](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a81413e3fb3d2250ae4df1d18dc787d34b9f7d0b2b5b5465d165f8ddcc63555?s=44&d=mm&r=g)\n   \n   **[Angela](https:\/\/cats.com\/author)**\n   \n   [Jan 1, 2023 at 5:23 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-95383)\n   \n   I have an 8-years old can who is a rescue. He is somewhat of a Jekal and Hyde animal, quite unpredictable. He will be nuzeling around my legs quite frequently and also sleeps quite a lot during the day. If I pet him when he is lying down after he has finished a sleep, he will ‘attack’ me and go away from me. He goes in and out quite frequently during the day obviously when I am at home (I prefer to leave him indoors with a bit of food if I am going out for the day). As soon as I am home, night or day, I let him go outside for a while. I love him but I don’t think he loves me. I have no idea what his previous home was like. He is definitely not a lap cat. I am wondering if a female cat would be a bit more agreeable. It would be a shame if I got rid of him and he became a ‘rescue’ once again, but as I live alone I would like a more affectionate animal. He doesn’t play with toys. I was brought up on a farm so I love all animals. However, in those days, back in the 1940’s, most of the animals had to earn their keep. Cats catching mice and rats – dogs attending to the sheep when necessary, etc.. I came to London in 1946 and had several loving cats over the following years. Any suggestions pm how to better manage Finch would be most appreciated.\n   \n   [Reply](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-95383) ↓\n   \n   Click to rate\n   \n   ▲ 0\n   \n   ▼ 0\n   1. ![small mallory photo](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cropped-Small-pfp-44x44.jpg)\n      \n      **[Mallory Crusta](https:\/\/cats.com\/author\/mcrustawildernesscat-com)**\n      \n      [Jan 10, 2023 at 7:11 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-95948)\n      \n      Hi Angela, apologies for the late reply! Hope all is well. Your new cat seems like a very independent kitty. Sensitivity around petting is normal for a lot of cats, especially those who weren’t well-socialized in their earlier life. It may take some more time for him to become more comfortable with you, and you may need to learn to understand the ways in which he *is* affectionate. Rubbing against your legs shows that your cat regards you as part of his home territory, which is a part of bonding. You may find that he doesn’t like to be petted after a nap, but does like to be rubbed on the face in the same places that he uses to nuzzle you. Perhaps you can develop a less physical bond, enjoying his personality and learning each other’s schedules. Adopting a second cat might be risky given that he’s an older cat and may be set in his ways, but you could consider adopting a kitten who you can socialize and “mold” a bit more. Caring for two cats at once shouldn’t be much more demanding than one, so I don’t think you need to “replace” him. Additionally, I wouldn’t assume that a female cat will be more friendly, but a kitten most likely would be more moldable. Hope this helps\\!\n      \n      Click to rate\n      \n      ▲ 0\n      \n      ▼ 0\n6. ![](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ef3ff6921862f055acc1161040763dad06c5e4e21da72861982d41770ca0e0d6?s=44&d=mm&r=g)\n   \n   **[Simm Gottesman](https:\/\/cats.com\/author)**\n   \n   [Dec 13, 2023 at 4:33 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-114873)\n   \n   Don’t really know how old our cat Ella Boop really is – but she is spayed & you only mention neutered – but assume you mean both – she is maybe part Bengal or full Bengal & seems very smart & I was inspired to ask you for advice – because of your kind answers above – to others who asked about their cats – I was told that because she looks like she is part Bengal or full Bengal – the lady who was fostering her – after she was found – told me ONLY feed her RAW MEAT – so I have been thinking that a small 6 1\/2 pound cat – that may have been a kitten when I first got her – as she did get a little bigger after I adopted her – tho, I was told by my sister, Niki who has helped thousands of homeless animals get homes – that because of the way her teeth looked she most likely was not a kitten when I got her & instead was any where from 2- 6 years old when I got her – so, I am still considering her about 3-5 years old – So, is she now considered an adult cat⁉️🙁 And have only been feeding her raw meat⁉️ as we have now had her for for about 3 years & here is the bigger question – i have been using colloidal silver on her eye as she was diagnosed as having Herpes conjunctivitis – in her right eye & an ear infection – when we first got her & she still has it from when I first got her & had used antibiotics & spent so much money – on so many different vets – that I just stopped as I was also told – it is NOT CURABLE⁉️ & So, now I just clean out the white gunk that shows up in her eye with an eye wash & after put some colloidal silver in her eye & use a small plug in ozone wand in her ear & her ear & eye are better for a while & she seems to do better – but then I need to do it again⁉️😢 wonder if you can suggest a better eye wash for her – or if I could send a photo of her ⁉️🙁\n   \n   [Reply](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-114873) ↓\n   \n   Click to rate\n   \n   ▲ 0\n   \n   ▼ 0\n   1. ![](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f69eb93596457cb19227d5f36f4ae7ee534e4efa5149071edcbac60d9d190c4?s=44&d=mm&r=g)\n      \n      **[Dr. Pete Wedderburn, DVM](https:\/\/cats.com\/author\/petebrayvet-com)** Post author\n      \n      [Dec 13, 2023 at 6:14 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-114879)\n      \n      Hi Simm and thanks for your query. Yes, I mean spayed OR neutered. In my opinion, there is no need for Bengal cats to be fed only raw meat – this is an untrue myth. Any complete cat food will suffice.  \n       As for herpes virus, if you read [our article on this here](https:\/\/cats.com\/feline-herpesvirus-ocular-disease) you should be able to learn everything you need to know about this condition. In general, my advice is to just bathe affected eyes using a wad of cotton wool soaked in mildly salty water (a teaspoonful of salt in a pint of boiled water, cooled down). Hope this helps.\n      \n      Click to rate\n      \n      ▲ 0\n      \n      ▼ 0\n7. ![](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ac97bd4406589c0b5434106df76c9c89787458b59806dc7e051727cdd588c4e?s=44&d=mm&r=g)\n   \n   **[Penelope Weber](https:\/\/cats.com\/author)**\n   \n   [Jan 13, 2024 at 9:03 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-117056)\n   \n   I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A BETTER CHART I HAVE A 4YO FEM CAT AND A 9 MO MALE CAT\n   \n   [Reply](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-117056) ↓\n   \n   Click to rate\n   \n   ▲ 0\n   \n   ▼ 0\n8. ![](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/02fcdabb836a08d9604190cd3103ac5352964f937048734ac462333d7da7ca75?s=44&d=mm&r=g)\n   \n   **[LLA](https:\/\/cats.com\/author)**\n   \n   [May 31, 2024 at 9:57 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-131207)\n   \n   Great article! If you have 1 or 2 cats…. I have 7 & it’s very difficult for me to control who eats what. 2 are 8yo. 2 are 7yo & 3 have just passed the kitten phase at 1yo. I have 2 different dry kibble out for free feeding – a chicken based one & a fish based one, because they don’t all like chicken or fish. I also split a can of wet food amongst them once a day, and again, they don’t all eat this either. I’ve considered allowing the bowls to go empty as a means of controlling how much they eat, but again, I’m worried the ‘eaters’ of the group will eat all of it & not leave my normal weight cats anything at all. The automatic feeders that are paired with the cat’s collar are a great idea, but for 7 cats would be too costly for me. Any other suggestions?\n   \n   [Reply](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-131207) ↓\n   \n   Click to rate\n   \n   ▲ 0\n   \n   ▼ 0\n   1. ![](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5f69eb93596457cb19227d5f36f4ae7ee534e4efa5149071edcbac60d9d190c4?s=44&d=mm&r=g)\n      \n      **[Dr. Pete Wedderburn, DVM](https:\/\/cats.com\/author\/petebrayvet-com)** Post author\n      \n      [Jun 11, 2024 at 4:59 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-131867)\n      \n      This is a tricky situation all right. You might consider an automatic feeder paired with a cat’s microchip – but just for the normal weight cats. You could then let the bowls go empty, in the knowledge that the “eaters” could not get any more than they need, while the normal weight cats could get extra food from their own feeders. It’s worth considering this\\!\n      \n      Click to rate\n      \n      ▲ 0\n      \n      ▼ 0\n9. ![](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09b5936d895e49d15f9f4d902e319296549430f7c6e2e4f922a99eb7e5dd7880?s=44&d=mm&r=g)\n   \n   **[Elizabeth Lehn](https:\/\/cats.com\/author)**\n   \n   [Nov 14, 2024 at 4:59 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-141828)\n   \n   I just adopted a 4yr old stray cat who has been on the street for awhile. he is very sweet, great personality but ways 12lbs and is very heavy. This helps to understand and know what to do for him.\n   \n   [Reply](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-141828) ↓\n   \n   Click to rate\n   \n   ▲ 0\n   \n   ▼ 0\n10. ![](https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a976f9d81ce5864c8fb2439b3a34719aed188ef2ec0e4bc966267b2554f95b82?s=44&d=mm&r=g)\n    \n    **[Haley](https:\/\/cats.com\/author)**\n    \n    [Apr 13, 2025 at 6:43 am](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-154638)\n    \n    I also would like to add for anyone hoping to help their baby lose weight (as I am in this same boat currently and I have eight cats, but two are separate from the rest) it is a fantastic idea to put their food at the top of a staircase if you live downstairs with them so they have to walk upstairs or on a high counter ETC it does help a bit 🙂 I do have one question though what can you do if you have multiple pets and you want to feed them each but say they have issues sticking to their food bowl or you don’t have a separate bowl for each of them basically what is the best thing to do when you have a lot of cats during meal time? Because typically we keep three bowls with food in them 24\/7 and we have one orange boy cat that has grown way too big and I am just not sure what to do to ensure he doesn’t over eat when my parents constantly have food in those three food bowls all the time?? Please get back to me I would really appreciate the help\\!\n    \n    [Reply](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-154638) ↓\n    \n    Click to rate\n    \n    ▲ 0\n    \n    ▼ 0\n    1. ![Avatar photo](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/catscom-author-44x44.png)\n       \n       **[Cats.com Editorial Team](https:\/\/cats.com\/author\/admin)**\n       \n       [Apr 14, 2025 at 8:51 pm](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-154799)\n       \n       Free-feeding multiple cats can make it hard to manage portions, especially if one tends to overeat, so switching to scheduled meal times with individual portions is usually the best approach. For help setting up a feeding routine that works for a multi-cat household, you can ask our behavior expert directly at <https:\/\/cats.com\/community\/behavior>\n       \n       Click to rate\n       \n       ▲ 0\n       \n       ▼ 0\n\n### Top Rated Cat Food\nCat Food By Diet Type\n\n- [Wet Cat Food](https:\/\/cats.com\/reviews\/best-canned-cat-food)\n- [Dry Cat Food](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-dry-cat-food)\n- [Kitten Food](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-kitten-food)\n- [Senior Cats](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-cat-food-for-senior-cats)\n- [Indoor Cats](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-cat-food-indoor-cats)\n- [Cheap Cat Food](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-cheap-cat-food)\n- [Weight Loss](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-cat-food-for-overweight-cats)\n- [Weight Gain](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-cat-food-weight-gain)\n- [Hypoallergenic](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-hypoallergenic-cat-food)\n- [Grain Free](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-grain-free-cat-food)\n- [High 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Each time you make a purchase through one of our independently-chosen links, we’ll receive a percentage of the proceeds. Read more [here.](https:\/\/cats.com\/affiliate-disclosure)\n\nThe educational cat health content on Cats.com is written by or reviewed by our team of veterinary experts to ensure that it’s in line with the latest evidence-based veterinary information and health guidelines. This educational content is not veterinary advice and does not replace consultation with a qualified veterinarian. Use of this site is subject to our [terms of use](https:\/\/cats.com\/terms-of-use) and [privacy policy](https:\/\/cats.com\/privacy-policy). ©2026 This website is owned and operated by Cliverse Media DAO LTD.\n\nBACK TO TOP","attrs_readable_markdown":"![how much to feed a cat](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/raw-1.jpg)\n\nKate Barrington \/ Cats.com\n\nAs with all carers of animals, one of the basic questions that we need to answer every day for our cats is: **“how much should I feed my cat?”**\n\nThis article will help you discover how much food you should be feeding, so that you can ensure that your cat stays at their [optimal body weight](https:\/\/cats.com\/weight-calculator).\n\nIn This Article\n\n- [What Type of Food Should Cats Eat?](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#firstly-what-type-of-food-should-cats-eat)\n- [Why Cats Become Obese](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#why-is-it-so-common-for-cats-to-become-overweight-or-obese)\n- [Methods for Calculating](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#what-sort-of-system-should-i-use-for-feeding-my-cat)\n- [How To Start](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#heres-how-to-start-to-work-out-how-much-to-feed)\n- [Calculate by Reading the Label](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#you-can-also-calculate-how-much-to-feed-your-cat-by-reading-the-label)\n- [How Much To Feed a Cat by Age](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#how-much-to-feed-a-cat-by-age)\n- [How Much To Feed a Cat by Weight](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#how-much-to-feed-a-cat-by-weight)\n- [How Much To Feed a Cat Chart](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#how-much-to-feed-a-cat-chart)\n- [Cat Feeding Schedule](https:\/\/cats.com\/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#cat-feeding-schedule)\n## Firstly, What Type of Food Should Cats Eat?\n![What to Feed a Cat](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Purina-One-Tender-Selects-Blend-17.jpg)\n\nIt’s critical to feed your cat a nutritionally complete and balanced diet that contains all of the nutrients your cat needs to thrive. **Kirsten McCarthy \/ cats.com**\n\nYou can meet a healthy cat’s nutritional needs met by feeding the right amount of the right type of food every day. This diet should give your cat the correct quantities of carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins and proteins\/ amino acids, including essential nutrients like taurine.\n\n**The easiest way to do this is to use a nutritionally balanced complete commercial pet food, whether wet cat food (canned cat food) or dry cat food (kibble) or a mixture of the two types.**\n\nGood quality food should be fed in the right quantities, with other aspects (like grain-free or specific ingredients) being far less important than many owners may believe.\n\n[Cat treats](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-cat-treats) can also be offered, in limited quantities. Fresh water, of course, is calorie-free and should always be available to cats. A cat’s litter box should be monitored by cat carers. Normal feces is an important guide to the suitability of a diet to an individual cat.\n\nThe daily food offered to a cat is an important contributor to their overall health.\n\n## Why Is It So Common for Cats To Become Overweight or Obese?\n![Overweight Cat How Much to Feed a Cat](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Overweight-Cat-How-Much-to-Feed-a-Cat.jpg)\n\nAn estimated 50% of cats over the age of five carry too much bodyweight, making them either overweight or obese. Too much food is the main contributor to excessive bodyweight, so it’s essential to make sure your cat is eating the right amount.\n\nIt has become increasingly common for pet cats to become [overweight or obese](https:\/\/cats.com\/feline-obesity), with estimates that around 50% of cats over the age of five years carry too much body weight. Cat carers are often not aware that their pets are overweight or obese, yet an overweight cat is more likely to suffer health issues such as [diabetes](https:\/\/cats.com\/feline-diabetes), heart disease, [arthritis](https:\/\/cats.com\/arthritis-in-cats), [kidney disease](https:\/\/cats.com\/kidney-failure-in-cats), and a shorter life span.\n\n**The most common reason for cats becoming overweight or obese is simply that cat carers offer their cat more food than their cat needs.**\n\nThat’s why it’s so important to know how much food you should offer your cat every day, so that your cat avoids preventable health problems later in life.\n\nCats, just like humans, enjoy eating: it’s one of the great pleasures of life, and a cat’s diet is one of the most important parts of their day. And because cat carers like to make their pets happy, it’s all too easy to want to give them extra food, to give them even more enjoyment in life.\n\n**Also Read: [The 10 Best Cat Foods](https:\/\/cats.com\/best-cat-food)**\n\nHowever, we all need to step back and recognise that while feeding a pet makes them happy in the immediate moment, if we give them too much food, the excessive food intake causes serious discomfort, poor health, and a shorter life in the long term.\n\nSo if we genuinely care about helping them achieve their best possible lives, we should be disciplined about how much food we feed them so that they stay at a healthy weight.\n\n## What Sort of System Should I Use for Feeding My Cat?\n![How to Choose a System for Feeding Your Cat](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/shutterstock_1285682953-1.jpg)\n\nThe way you feed your cat can be almost as important as how much you feed them.\n\nIn the past, many people have given their cats free choice , free-feeding, or ad libitum i.e. offering them as much in their food bowl as they wish to eat. In particular, a bowl of dry food (kibble) has often been continually topped up, allowing the cat to eat this whenever they wish to do so.\n\nIt is now recognised that feeding cats using this method is likely to lead to cats eating too much, leading them to be overweight or obese. Instead, cat carers should calculate the correct daily amount to feed, and either weigh this amount daily, or use a feeding container to give the measured amount every day as their cat’s food supply.\n\nWhichever method is used to calculate how much a cat should be fed, it is impossible to generalize for every individual cat, because of several variables that are not the same between different animals.\n\n**The first three variables can be factored into calculations:**\n\n- **Age**: growing animals need more food, and the precise quantity varies depending on how fast that cat is growing. Meanwhile, older cats (senior cats) tend to be less active, with reduced energy needs.\n- **Size**: larger animals have higher daily energy needs compared to smaller animals.\n- **Neutered status**: if a cat has been spayed or neutered, then they generally have lower energy needs than entire animals.\n\nOther significant variables between animals that are more difficult to specify include:\n\n- **Activity leve**l: outdoor cats spend more time moving than indoor cats, so they need more energy. As well as this broad difference, individual cats, whether indoor or outdoor, have different levels of activity that can be hard to monitor or calculate.\n- **Metabolic rate:** some individual cats have a faster resting metabolic rate than other cats, meaning that they need more food than others to supply their basic energy needs every day. Again, this is not something that can be easily calculated by owners.\n## Here’s How To Start To Work Out How Much To Feed.\n![How to Calculate How Much to Feed Your Cat](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/How-to-Calculate-How-Much-to-Feed-Your-Cat.jpg)\n\nSeveral factors go into determining how much your cat needs to eat.\n\n**The starting point is to establish five facts about your cat.**\n\n1. How old are they?\n2. How much do they weigh currently?\n3. Are they neutered or entire?\n4. Are they active (e.g. outdoor) or inactive (e.g. indoor)?\n5. Are they currently the correct weight, are they underweight, or overweight? Please read our article on [body condition score](https:\/\/cats.com\/weight-calculator) to discover this important fact about your own cat.\n\nThese five facts are used to help to work out how much to feed, using one of several different possible methods. You also need to note what type of food you are using, and get a notebook to record how much food you feed every day, recording the number of sachets of most food (or tins of canned food), and the weight, in grams, of dry cat food.\n\n## You Can Also Calculate How Much To Feed Your Cat by Reading the Label\n![A Devon Rex cat enjoying a meal.](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/devon-rex-eating-compressed.jpg)\n\nCats, just like humans, enjoy eating: it’s one of the great pleasures of life, and a cat’s diet is one of the most important parts of their day.\n\nMost commercial pet foods include a guide to feeding quantities on the label of the packaging. Typically there is a chart, with the cat’s weight in the left column, and the recommended amount of food in the right column e.g 8.8lbs (4kg) and 2.3 ounces (65g) for dry food, or 8.8lbs (4kg) and 2 sachets or pouches for wet food, or a mixture, such as 1 ounce (28g) dry food plus one sachet of wet food.\n\nSome people prefer to work with volumes (e.g. cups) rather than absolute weights, but the challenge is that dry food varies in density, so it’s better to work with weight on the first occasion, but place the volume of food in the container of your choice (e.g. a plastic cup) and draw a line with a permanent marker so that you can see how much volume this makes. Then on future occasions, you can simply use the plastic cup, up to your line, as a daily guide.\n\nSometimes there are different recommendations for active (outdoor) and inactive (indoor) cats, neutered or entire cats, and for cats that are obese, overweight, or at their correct body weight.\n\nThese recommended amounts represent the manufacturer’s calculation of the correct amount of daily food for an average cat.\n\nOften, a range of recommended quantities is given, rather than a single specified amount. This is recognition of the fact that it is impossible to say precisely how much any individual cat should be fed: there is always variation based on a number of factors.\n\nThere is an untrue myth that pet food manufacturers deliberately overstate the recommended feeding amounts on the label in an attempt to make people use more pet food. In fact, the recommended feeding amounts do represent a reasonable estimate that is useful for many cat owners who may not be able to calculate correct feeding quantities using other methods.\n\n![Cat looking and eating.](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/cat-looking-and-eating-compressed.jpg)\n\nThere is an untrue myth that pet food manufacturers deliberately overstate the recommended feeding amounts on the label in an attempt to make people use more pet food.\n\nGrowing kittens need comparatively more food than adult cats, because they need nutrients to allow their body to grow. This can be difficult to calculate precisely, and professional veterinary nutritionists have charts and guides that may be applied.\n\nFor most cat carers, it is simpler to recognise that kittens do have higher requirements, and that it is rare for kittens to become overweight or obese. Using the broad guidelines on the packaging, it is fairly safe to say that kittens can be fed almost as much food as they wish to eat at each mealtime, within reasonable limits.\n\n- If the kitten is still chasing the bowl, looking for more food when they have finished, they should be offered a little more.\n- If the kitten routinely does not finish the food that is offered in the bowl, they should be offered less the next time.\n## How Much To Feed a Cat by Weight?\nOnce a cat has passed kittenhood, and has stopped growing, it is possible to work out how much to feed based on their body weight. The recommended daily caloric intake can be calculated using a formula to work out the resting energy requirement (RER):\n\n**RER=70 x (body weight in kg\/lbs) to the power of 0.75 or 70 x (weight in kg\/lbs ^ 0.75)**\n\nTo work out the “to the power of 0.75” part of the equation, you can either use a calculator that allow you to use exponents, or you can multiply the weight in kilograms by itself 3 times (e.g. 4x4x4 for a 4kg\/8.8lbs cat), then work out the square root of that sum, twice.\n\nThis calculation will give you the resting energy requirement for your cat in kilocalories. You then need to multiply this by a different factor depending on your individual cat to estimate their total daily energy needs, with possible variables listed below.\n\n## How Much To Feed a Cat Chart\n|   |   |\n|---|---|\n| Neutered adult cat | 1\\.6 x RER |\n| Entire adult cat | 1\\.8 x RER |\n| Inactive adult cat | 1\\.2-1.4 x RER |\n| Cat aiming to lose weight | 1\\.0 x RER for ideal weight |\n| Cat trying to gain weight | 1\\.2-1.8 x RER for ideal weight |\n| Very active outdoor cat | 2\\.0-4.0 x RER |\n\nOnce the daily recommended number of kilocalories has been calculated, you then need to discover how many kilocalories are in the food that you are offering. This depends on the ingredients in the food. You can usually discover this, if not on the food label, by visiting the pet food manufacturer’s website, or by contacting them directly.\n\nThis method will allow you to calculate for yourself, from first principles, approximately how much food you should be feeding your cat.\n\nFor many people, this type of calculation is too complex, and they prefer to simply follow the manufacturer’s guide on the label, modifying this over time depending on how their pet’s body weight changes.\n\n## Cat Feeding Schedule\n![Petlibro automatic pet feeder dispensing](https:\/\/cats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Petlibro-Feeder-Dispensing.jpg)\n\nKate Barrington \/ Cats.com\n\n[Cats in the wild are hunting carnivores](https:\/\/cats.com\/cats-are-obligate-carnivores), consuming small meals frequently as they catch small prey throughout the day. Ideally, a feeding regime at home should follow the same pattern, with smaller meals being offered more frequently, e.g. four times daily.\n\n**Also Read: [The Complete Feeding Guide From Kittens To Seniors](https:\/\/cats.com\/cat-feeding-guide)**\n\nMany people, for reasons of convenience, feed their cats less often, but the frequency should never be less than twice daily e.g. morning and evening.\n\n## Conclusion\nThe exact quantity of food fed every day is an important variable to ensure long term feline health. It’s important to record how much food is fed every day, and to monitor your cat’s body condition every month. Weight gain, or weight loss, can then be monitored. If your cat starts to become overweight, you need to feed less food every day, and if they start to become underweight, you need to offer more food every day.\n\nIdeally, you should weigh your cat every month to monitor how their body weight changes: you can do this using electronic scales (e.g. at your local veterinarian’s office) or you can stand on your own bathroom scales holding your cat, then weigh yourself afterwards to work out the difference.\n\n## Frequently Asked Questions About How Much to Feed a Cat\n### How much should you feed your indoor cat?\nIndoor cats are generally less active than outdoor cats, so they burn up less energy, and require a lower number of kilocalories in their daily food. Indoor cats should be fed the lower level of recommended quantity on recommended levels on food packaging.\n\n### How much dry food should I feed my cat?\nYou should use the guidelines on the label on the food packaging as a starting point, offering your cat more or less over time, depending on their body weight. If your cat is becoming overweight, you should feed less, and if they seem underweight, you should offer more.\n\n### Why are my cats so hungry all the time?\nIf cats become used to being fed too much food, it can be difficult for them to get used to a restricted amount of feeding. Cats enjoy the act of eating, just like humans, and so you need to find ways to give them enjoyment in different forms, such as getting new toys to play with, or simply by engaging with them more as their carer.\n\nOver time, most cats learn to adapt to the new way of feeding, and they become less hungry. If your cat does continue to seem hungry all the time, you should take them to your DVM veterinarian for a health check in case there is an underlying health reason for this (such as hyperthyroidism). If it turns out that your cat is in full health, but simply very hungry despite being fed the correct amount of food, your veterinarian may be able to suggest a type of high quality cat food that is more likely to make your cat feed full (satiated).","meta_canonical":null}

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Boilerpipe Text	Kate Barrington / Cats.com As with all carers of animals, one of the basic questions that we need to answer every day for our cats is: “how much should I feed my cat?” Back STEP 1 of 4 QUESTION 1 Cat's weight (lb) Please enter cat's weight (lb) QUESTION 2 Cat's age Please enter cat's age QUESTION 3 Spay/neuter status Please enter spay/neuter status QUESTION 4 Carefully observe your cat’s silhouette and body composition, then compare it to the illustrations and descriptions in the chart below. Select the number that most closely describes your cat’s body condition. Swipe to see other conditions 1 Ribs, backbone, pelvic bones stick out. Loss of muscle mass present. Severe tummy tuck and dramatic waistline. 2 Ribs, pelvis, backbone easily palpated and somewhat visible. Severe waistline and tummy tuck. 3 Ribs, pelvis and backbone palpable with a thin layer of fat covering. Waistline and tummy tuck obvious but not severe with more gradual curves. 4 Ribs covered with heavy fat layer requiring finger pressure to feel. Difficult to feel backbone or pelvis. Waistline not apparent. Tummy tuck still slightly visible. 5 Ribs and backbone not palpable under thick fat layer. Abdominal distention projects downwardand outward . Fat deposits on legs, face and over tail head covering pelvis. This article will help you discover how much food you should be feeding, so that you can ensure that your cat stays at their optimal body weight . In This Article What Type of Food Should Cats Eat? Why Cats Become Obese Methods for Calculating How To Start Calculate by Reading the Label How Much To Feed a Cat by Age How Much To Feed a Cat by Weight How Much To Feed a Cat Chart Cat Feeding Schedule Firstly, What Type of Food Should Cats Eat? It’s critical to feed your cat a nutritionally complete and balanced diet that contains all of the nutrients your cat needs to thrive. Kirsten McCarthy / cats.com You can meet a healthy cat’s nutritional needs met by feeding the right amount of the right type of food every day. This diet should give your cat the correct quantities of carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins and proteins/ amino acids, including essential nutrients like taurine. The easiest way to do this is to use a nutritionally balanced complete commercial pet food, whether wet cat food (canned cat food) or dry cat food (kibble) or a mixture of the two types. Good quality food should be fed in the right quantities, with other aspects (like grain-free or specific ingredients) being far less important than many owners may believe. Cat treats can also be offered, in limited quantities. Fresh water, of course, is calorie-free and should always be available to cats. A cat’s litter box should be monitored by cat carers. Normal feces is an important guide to the suitability of a diet to an individual cat. The daily food offered to a cat is an important contributor to their overall health. Why Is It So Common for Cats To Become Overweight or Obese? An estimated 50% of cats over the age of five carry too much bodyweight, making them either overweight or obese. Too much food is the main contributor to excessive bodyweight, so it’s essential to make sure your cat is eating the right amount. It has become increasingly common for pet cats to become overweight or obese , with estimates that around 50% of cats over the age of five years carry too much body weight. Cat carers are often not aware that their pets are overweight or obese, yet an overweight cat is more likely to suffer health issues such as diabetes , heart disease, arthritis , kidney disease , and a shorter life span. The most common reason for cats becoming overweight or obese is simply that cat carers offer their cat more food than their cat needs. That’s why it’s so important to know how much food you should offer your cat every day, so that your cat avoids preventable health problems later in life. Cats, just like humans, enjoy eating: it’s one of the great pleasures of life, and a cat’s diet is one of the most important parts of their day. And because cat carers like to make their pets happy, it’s all too easy to want to give them extra food, to give them even more enjoyment in life. Also Read: The 10 Best Cat Foods However, we all need to step back and recognise that while feeding a pet makes them happy in the immediate moment, if we give them too much food, the excessive food intake causes serious discomfort, poor health, and a shorter life in the long term. So if we genuinely care about helping them achieve their best possible lives, we should be disciplined about how much food we feed them so that they stay at a healthy weight. What Sort of System Should I Use for Feeding My Cat? The way you feed your cat can be almost as important as how much you feed them. In the past, many people have given their cats free choice , free-feeding, or ad libitum i.e. offering them as much in their food bowl as they wish to eat. In particular, a bowl of dry food (kibble) has often been continually topped up, allowing the cat to eat this whenever they wish to do so. It is now recognised that feeding cats using this method is likely to lead to cats eating too much, leading them to be overweight or obese. Instead, cat carers should calculate the correct daily amount to feed, and either weigh this amount daily, or use a feeding container to give the measured amount every day as their cat’s food supply. Whichever method is used to calculate how much a cat should be fed, it is impossible to generalize for every individual cat, because of several variables that are not the same between different animals. The first three variables can be factored into calculations: Age : growing animals need more food, and the precise quantity varies depending on how fast that cat is growing. Meanwhile, older cats (senior cats) tend to be less active, with reduced energy needs. Size : larger animals have higher daily energy needs compared to smaller animals. Neutered status : if a cat has been spayed or neutered, then they generally have lower energy needs than entire animals. Other significant variables between animals that are more difficult to specify include: Activity leve l: outdoor cats spend more time moving than indoor cats, so they need more energy. As well as this broad difference, individual cats, whether indoor or outdoor, have different levels of activity that can be hard to monitor or calculate. Metabolic rate: some individual cats have a faster resting metabolic rate than other cats, meaning that they need more food than others to supply their basic energy needs every day. Again, this is not something that can be easily calculated by owners. Here’s How To Start To Work Out How Much To Feed. Several factors go into determining how much your cat needs to eat. The starting point is to establish five facts about your cat. How old are they? How much do they weigh currently? Are they neutered or entire? Are they active (e.g. outdoor) or inactive (e.g. indoor)? Are they currently the correct weight, are they underweight, or overweight? Please read our article on body condition score to discover this important fact about your own cat. These five facts are used to help to work out how much to feed, using one of several different possible methods. You also need to note what type of food you are using, and get a notebook to record how much food you feed every day, recording the number of sachets of most food (or tins of canned food), and the weight, in grams, of dry cat food. You Can Also Calculate How Much To Feed Your Cat by Reading the Label Cats, just like humans, enjoy eating: it’s one of the great pleasures of life, and a cat’s diet is one of the most important parts of their day. Most commercial pet foods include a guide to feeding quantities on the label of the packaging. Typically there is a chart, with the cat’s weight in the left column, and the recommended amount of food in the right column e.g 8.8lbs (4kg) and 2.3 ounces (65g) for dry food, or 8.8lbs (4kg) and 2 sachets or pouches for wet food, or a mixture, such as 1 ounce (28g) dry food plus one sachet of wet food. Some people prefer to work with volumes (e.g. cups) rather than absolute weights, but the challenge is that dry food varies in density, so it’s better to work with weight on the first occasion, but place the volume of food in the container of your choice (e.g. a plastic cup) and draw a line with a permanent marker so that you can see how much volume this makes. Then on future occasions, you can simply use the plastic cup, up to your line, as a daily guide. Sometimes there are different recommendations for active (outdoor) and inactive (indoor) cats, neutered or entire cats, and for cats that are obese, overweight, or at their correct body weight. These recommended amounts represent the manufacturer’s calculation of the correct amount of daily food for an average cat. Often, a range of recommended quantities is given, rather than a single specified amount. This is recognition of the fact that it is impossible to say precisely how much any individual cat should be fed: there is always variation based on a number of factors. There is an untrue myth that pet food manufacturers deliberately overstate the recommended feeding amounts on the label in an attempt to make people use more pet food. In fact, the recommended feeding amounts do represent a reasonable estimate that is useful for many cat owners who may not be able to calculate correct feeding quantities using other methods. There is an untrue myth that pet food manufacturers deliberately overstate the recommended feeding amounts on the label in an attempt to make people use more pet food. Growing kittens need comparatively more food than adult cats, because they need nutrients to allow their body to grow. This can be difficult to calculate precisely, and professional veterinary nutritionists have charts and guides that may be applied. For most cat carers, it is simpler to recognise that kittens do have higher requirements, and that it is rare for kittens to become overweight or obese. Using the broad guidelines on the packaging, it is fairly safe to say that kittens can be fed almost as much food as they wish to eat at each mealtime, within reasonable limits. If the kitten is still chasing the bowl, looking for more food when they have finished, they should be offered a little more. If the kitten routinely does not finish the food that is offered in the bowl, they should be offered less the next time. How Much To Feed a Cat by Weight? Once a cat has passed kittenhood, and has stopped growing, it is possible to work out how much to feed based on their body weight. The recommended daily caloric intake can be calculated using a formula to work out the resting energy requirement (RER): RER=70 x (body weight in kg/lbs) to the power of 0.75 or 70 x (weight in kg/lbs ^ 0.75) To work out the “to the power of 0.75” part of the equation, you can either use a calculator that allow you to use exponents, or you can multiply the weight in kilograms by itself 3 times (e.g. 4x4x4 for a 4kg/8.8lbs cat), then work out the square root of that sum, twice. This calculation will give you the resting energy requirement for your cat in kilocalories. You then need to multiply this by a different factor depending on your individual cat to estimate their total daily energy needs, with possible variables listed below. How Much To Feed a Cat Chart Neutered adult cat 1.6 x RER Entire adult cat 1.8 x RER Inactive adult cat 1.2-1.4 x RER Cat aiming to lose weight 1.0 x RER for ideal weight Cat trying to gain weight 1.2-1.8 x RER for ideal weight Very active outdoor cat 2.0-4.0 x RER Once the daily recommended number of kilocalories has been calculated, you then need to discover how many kilocalories are in the food that you are offering. This depends on the ingredients in the food. You can usually discover this, if not on the food label, by visiting the pet food manufacturer’s website, or by contacting them directly. This method will allow you to calculate for yourself, from first principles, approximately how much food you should be feeding your cat. For many people, this type of calculation is too complex, and they prefer to simply follow the manufacturer’s guide on the label, modifying this over time depending on how their pet’s body weight changes. Cat Feeding Schedule Kate Barrington / Cats.com Cats in the wild are hunting carnivores , consuming small meals frequently as they catch small prey throughout the day. Ideally, a feeding regime at home should follow the same pattern, with smaller meals being offered more frequently, e.g. four times daily. Also Read: The Complete Feeding Guide From Kittens To Seniors Many people, for reasons of convenience, feed their cats less often, but the frequency should never be less than twice daily e.g. morning and evening. Conclusion The exact quantity of food fed every day is an important variable to ensure long term feline health. It’s important to record how much food is fed every day, and to monitor your cat’s body condition every month. Weight gain, or weight loss, can then be monitored. If your cat starts to become overweight, you need to feed less food every day, and if they start to become underweight, you need to offer more food every day. Ideally, you should weigh your cat every month to monitor how their body weight changes: you can do this using electronic scales (e.g. at your local veterinarian’s office) or you can stand on your own bathroom scales holding your cat, then weigh yourself afterwards to work out the difference. Frequently Asked Questions About How Much to Feed a Cat How much should you feed your indoor cat? Indoor cats are generally less active than outdoor cats, so they burn up less energy, and require a lower number of kilocalories in their daily food. Indoor cats should be fed the lower level of recommended quantity on recommended levels on food packaging. How much dry food should I feed my cat? You should use the guidelines on the label on the food packaging as a starting point, offering your cat more or less over time, depending on their body weight. If your cat is becoming overweight, you should feed less, and if they seem underweight, you should offer more. Why are my cats so hungry all the time? If cats become used to being fed too much food, it can be difficult for them to get used to a restricted amount of feeding. Cats enjoy the act of eating, just like humans, and so you need to find ways to give them enjoyment in different forms, such as getting new toys to play with, or simply by engaging with them more as their carer. Over time, most cats learn to adapt to the new way of feeding, and they become less hungry. If your cat does continue to seem hungry all the time, you should take them to your DVM veterinarian for a health check in case there is an underlying health reason for this (such as hyperthyroidism). If it turns out that your cat is in full health, but simply very hungry despite being fed the correct amount of food, your veterinarian may be able to suggest a type of high quality cat food that is more likely to make your cat feed full (satiated).
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Pete is well known as a media veterinarian with regular national tv, radio and newspaper slots, including a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph since 2007. Pete is known as "Pete the Vet" on his busy Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, regularly posting information on topical subjects and real-life cases from his clinic. He also wr... [View more](https://cats.com/author/petebrayvet-com) Share [![Email](https://cats.com/wp-content/themes/ribosome/img/email.svg)](https://cats.com/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b68990c5c3d4dcd3d5c28bfed9c19dfbc3d5de9dc2d99df0d3d3d29dd79df5d7c290d4d9d2cf8bdec2c2c6c59385f79384f09384f0d5d7c2c598d5d9db9384f0ded9c19bdbc3d5de9bc2d99bd0d3d3d29bd79bd5d7c2) [![Pinterest](https://cats.com/wp-content/themes/ribosome/img/pinterest.svg)](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcats.com%2Fhow-much-to-feed-a-cat&media=https%3A%2F%2Fcats.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F04%2FPurina-One-Tender-Selects-Blend-17.jpg&description=How+Much+to+Feed+a+Cat) [![Linkedin](https://cats.com/wp-content/themes/ribosome/img/linkedin.svg)](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcats.com%2Fhow-much-to-feed-a-cat&title=How+Much+to+Feed+a+Cat) [![Twitter](https://cats.com/wp-content/themes/ribosome/img/twitter.svg)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcats.com%2Fhow-much-to-feed-a-cat&text=How+Much+to+Feed+a+Cat) [![Facebook](https://cats.com/wp-content/themes/ribosome/img/facebook.svg)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcats.com%2Fhow-much-to-feed-a-cat) ![how much to feed a cat](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/raw-1.jpg) Kate Barrington / Cats.com As with all carers of animals, one of the basic questions that we need to answer every day for our cats is: “how much should I feed my cat?” This article will help you discover how much food you should be feeding, so that you can ensure that your cat stays at their [optimal body weight](https://cats.com/weight-calculator). In This Article - [What Type of Food Should Cats Eat?](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#firstly-what-type-of-food-should-cats-eat) - [Why Cats Become Obese](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#why-is-it-so-common-for-cats-to-become-overweight-or-obese) - [Methods for Calculating](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#what-sort-of-system-should-i-use-for-feeding-my-cat) - [How To Start](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#heres-how-to-start-to-work-out-how-much-to-feed) - [Calculate by Reading the Label](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#you-can-also-calculate-how-much-to-feed-your-cat-by-reading-the-label) - [How Much To Feed a Cat by Age](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#how-much-to-feed-a-cat-by-age) - [How Much To Feed a Cat by Weight](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#how-much-to-feed-a-cat-by-weight) - [How Much To Feed a Cat Chart](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#how-much-to-feed-a-cat-chart) - [Cat Feeding Schedule](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#cat-feeding-schedule) Expand More ## Firstly, What Type of Food Should Cats Eat? ![What to Feed a Cat](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Purina-One-Tender-Selects-Blend-17.jpg) It’s critical to feed your cat a nutritionally complete and balanced diet that contains all of the nutrients your cat needs to thrive. Kirsten McCarthy / cats.com You can meet a healthy cat’s nutritional needs met by feeding the right amount of the right type of food every day. This diet should give your cat the correct quantities of carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins and proteins/ amino acids, including essential nutrients like taurine. The easiest way to do this is to use a nutritionally balanced complete commercial pet food, whether wet cat food (canned cat food) or dry cat food (kibble) or a mixture of the two types. Good quality food should be fed in the right quantities, with other aspects (like grain-free or specific ingredients) being far less important than many owners may believe. [Cat treats](https://cats.com/best-cat-treats) can also be offered, in limited quantities. Fresh water, of course, is calorie-free and should always be available to cats. A cat’s litter box should be monitored by cat carers. Normal feces is an important guide to the suitability of a diet to an individual cat. The daily food offered to a cat is an important contributor to their overall health. ## Why Is It So Common for Cats To Become Overweight or Obese? ![Overweight Cat How Much to Feed a Cat](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Overweight-Cat-How-Much-to-Feed-a-Cat.jpg) An estimated 50% of cats over the age of five carry too much bodyweight, making them either overweight or obese. Too much food is the main contributor to excessive bodyweight, so it’s essential to make sure your cat is eating the right amount. It has become increasingly common for pet cats to become [overweight or obese](https://cats.com/feline-obesity), with estimates that around 50% of cats over the age of five years carry too much body weight. Cat carers are often not aware that their pets are overweight or obese, yet an overweight cat is more likely to suffer health issues such as [diabetes](https://cats.com/feline-diabetes), heart disease, [arthritis](https://cats.com/arthritis-in-cats), [kidney disease](https://cats.com/kidney-failure-in-cats), and a shorter life span. The most common reason for cats becoming overweight or obese is simply that cat carers offer their cat more food than their cat needs. That’s why it’s so important to know how much food you should offer your cat every day, so that your cat avoids preventable health problems later in life. Cats, just like humans, enjoy eating: it’s one of the great pleasures of life, and a cat’s diet is one of the most important parts of their day. And because cat carers like to make their pets happy, it’s all too easy to want to give them extra food, to give them even more enjoyment in life. Also Read: [The 10 Best Cat Foods](https://cats.com/best-cat-food) However, we all need to step back and recognise that while feeding a pet makes them happy in the immediate moment, if we give them too much food, the excessive food intake causes serious discomfort, poor health, and a shorter life in the long term. So if we genuinely care about helping them achieve their best possible lives, we should be disciplined about how much food we feed them so that they stay at a healthy weight. ## What Sort of System Should I Use for Feeding My Cat? ![How to Choose a System for Feeding Your Cat](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/shutterstock_1285682953-1.jpg) The way you feed your cat can be almost as important as how much you feed them. In the past, many people have given their cats free choice , free-feeding, or ad libitum i.e. offering them as much in their food bowl as they wish to eat. In particular, a bowl of dry food (kibble) has often been continually topped up, allowing the cat to eat this whenever they wish to do so. It is now recognised that feeding cats using this method is likely to lead to cats eating too much, leading them to be overweight or obese. Instead, cat carers should calculate the correct daily amount to feed, and either weigh this amount daily, or use a feeding container to give the measured amount every day as their cat’s food supply. Whichever method is used to calculate how much a cat should be fed, it is impossible to generalize for every individual cat, because of several variables that are not the same between different animals. The first three variables can be factored into calculations: - Age: growing animals need more food, and the precise quantity varies depending on how fast that cat is growing. Meanwhile, older cats (senior cats) tend to be less active, with reduced energy needs. - Size: larger animals have higher daily energy needs compared to smaller animals. - Neutered status: if a cat has been spayed or neutered, then they generally have lower energy needs than entire animals. Other significant variables between animals that are more difficult to specify include: - Activity level: outdoor cats spend more time moving than indoor cats, so they need more energy. As well as this broad difference, individual cats, whether indoor or outdoor, have different levels of activity that can be hard to monitor or calculate. - Metabolic rate: some individual cats have a faster resting metabolic rate than other cats, meaning that they need more food than others to supply their basic energy needs every day. Again, this is not something that can be easily calculated by owners. ## Here’s How To Start To Work Out How Much To Feed. ![How to Calculate How Much to Feed Your Cat](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/How-to-Calculate-How-Much-to-Feed-Your-Cat.jpg) Several factors go into determining how much your cat needs to eat. The starting point is to establish five facts about your cat. 1. How old are they? 2. How much do they weigh currently? 3. Are they neutered or entire? 4. Are they active (e.g. outdoor) or inactive (e.g. indoor)? 5. Are they currently the correct weight, are they underweight, or overweight? Please read our article on [body condition score](https://cats.com/weight-calculator) to discover this important fact about your own cat. These five facts are used to help to work out how much to feed, using one of several different possible methods. You also need to note what type of food you are using, and get a notebook to record how much food you feed every day, recording the number of sachets of most food (or tins of canned food), and the weight, in grams, of dry cat food. ## You Can Also Calculate How Much To Feed Your Cat by Reading the Label ![A Devon Rex cat enjoying a meal.](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/devon-rex-eating-compressed.jpg) Cats, just like humans, enjoy eating: it’s one of the great pleasures of life, and a cat’s diet is one of the most important parts of their day. Most commercial pet foods include a guide to feeding quantities on the label of the packaging. Typically there is a chart, with the cat’s weight in the left column, and the recommended amount of food in the right column e.g 8.8lbs (4kg) and 2.3 ounces (65g) for dry food, or 8.8lbs (4kg) and 2 sachets or pouches for wet food, or a mixture, such as 1 ounce (28g) dry food plus one sachet of wet food. Some people prefer to work with volumes (e.g. cups) rather than absolute weights, but the challenge is that dry food varies in density, so it’s better to work with weight on the first occasion, but place the volume of food in the container of your choice (e.g. a plastic cup) and draw a line with a permanent marker so that you can see how much volume this makes. Then on future occasions, you can simply use the plastic cup, up to your line, as a daily guide. Sometimes there are different recommendations for active (outdoor) and inactive (indoor) cats, neutered or entire cats, and for cats that are obese, overweight, or at their correct body weight. These recommended amounts represent the manufacturer’s calculation of the correct amount of daily food for an average cat. Often, a range of recommended quantities is given, rather than a single specified amount. This is recognition of the fact that it is impossible to say precisely how much any individual cat should be fed: there is always variation based on a number of factors. There is an untrue myth that pet food manufacturers deliberately overstate the recommended feeding amounts on the label in an attempt to make people use more pet food. In fact, the recommended feeding amounts do represent a reasonable estimate that is useful for many cat owners who may not be able to calculate correct feeding quantities using other methods. ## How Much To Feed a Cat by Age? ![Cat looking and eating.](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cat-looking-and-eating-compressed.jpg) There is an untrue myth that pet food manufacturers deliberately overstate the recommended feeding amounts on the label in an attempt to make people use more pet food. Growing kittens need comparatively more food than adult cats, because they need nutrients to allow their body to grow. This can be difficult to calculate precisely, and professional veterinary nutritionists have charts and guides that may be applied. For most cat carers, it is simpler to recognise that kittens do have higher requirements, and that it is rare for kittens to become overweight or obese. Using the broad guidelines on the packaging, it is fairly safe to say that kittens can be fed almost as much food as they wish to eat at each mealtime, within reasonable limits. - If the kitten is still chasing the bowl, looking for more food when they have finished, they should be offered a little more. - If the kitten routinely does not finish the food that is offered in the bowl, they should be offered less the next time. ## How Much To Feed a Cat by Weight? Once a cat has passed kittenhood, and has stopped growing, it is possible to work out how much to feed based on their body weight. The recommended daily caloric intake can be calculated using a formula to work out the resting energy requirement (RER): RER=70 x (body weight in kg/lbs) to the power of 0.75 or 70 x (weight in kg/lbs ^ 0.75) To work out the “to the power of 0.75” part of the equation, you can either use a calculator that allow you to use exponents, or you can multiply the weight in kilograms by itself 3 times (e.g. 4x4x4 for a 4kg/8.8lbs cat), then work out the square root of that sum, twice. This calculation will give you the resting energy requirement for your cat in kilocalories. You then need to multiply this by a different factor depending on your individual cat to estimate their total daily energy needs, with possible variables listed below. ## How Much To Feed a Cat Chart \| \| \| \|---\|---\| \| Neutered adult cat \| 1\.6 x RER \| \| Entire adult cat \| 1\.8 x RER \| \| Inactive adult cat \| 1\.2-1.4 x RER \| \| Cat aiming to lose weight \| 1\.0 x RER for ideal weight \| \| Cat trying to gain weight \| 1\.2-1.8 x RER for ideal weight \| \| Very active outdoor cat \| 2\.0-4.0 x RER \| Once the daily recommended number of kilocalories has been calculated, you then need to discover how many kilocalories are in the food that you are offering. This depends on the ingredients in the food. You can usually discover this, if not on the food label, by visiting the pet food manufacturer’s website, or by contacting them directly. This method will allow you to calculate for yourself, from first principles, approximately how much food you should be feeding your cat. For many people, this type of calculation is too complex, and they prefer to simply follow the manufacturer’s guide on the label, modifying this over time depending on how their pet’s body weight changes. ## Cat Feeding Schedule ![Petlibro automatic pet feeder dispensing](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Petlibro-Feeder-Dispensing.jpg) Kate Barrington / Cats.com [Cats in the wild are hunting carnivores](https://cats.com/cats-are-obligate-carnivores), consuming small meals frequently as they catch small prey throughout the day. Ideally, a feeding regime at home should follow the same pattern, with smaller meals being offered more frequently, e.g. four times daily. Also Read: [The Complete Feeding Guide From Kittens To Seniors](https://cats.com/cat-feeding-guide) Many people, for reasons of convenience, feed their cats less often, but the frequency should never be less than twice daily e.g. morning and evening. ## Conclusion The exact quantity of food fed every day is an important variable to ensure long term feline health. It’s important to record how much food is fed every day, and to monitor your cat’s body condition every month. Weight gain, or weight loss, can then be monitored. If your cat starts to become overweight, you need to feed less food every day, and if they start to become underweight, you need to offer more food every day. Ideally, you should weigh your cat every month to monitor how their body weight changes: you can do this using electronic scales (e.g. at your local veterinarian’s office) or you can stand on your own bathroom scales holding your cat, then weigh yourself afterwards to work out the difference. ## Frequently Asked Questions About How Much to Feed a Cat ### How much should you feed your indoor cat? Indoor cats are generally less active than outdoor cats, so they burn up less energy, and require a lower number of kilocalories in their daily food. Indoor cats should be fed the lower level of recommended quantity on recommended levels on food packaging. ### How much dry food should I feed my cat? You should use the guidelines on the label on the food packaging as a starting point, offering your cat more or less over time, depending on their body weight. If your cat is becoming overweight, you should feed less, and if they seem underweight, you should offer more. ### Why are my cats so hungry all the time? If cats become used to being fed too much food, it can be difficult for them to get used to a restricted amount of feeding. Cats enjoy the act of eating, just like humans, and so you need to find ways to give them enjoyment in different forms, such as getting new toys to play with, or simply by engaging with them more as their carer. Over time, most cats learn to adapt to the new way of feeding, and they become less hungry. If your cat does continue to seem hungry all the time, you should take them to your DVM veterinarian for a health check in case there is an underlying health reason for this (such as hyperthyroidism). If it turns out that your cat is in full health, but simply very hungry despite being fed the correct amount of food, your veterinarian may be able to suggest a type of high quality cat food that is more likely to make your cat feed full (satiated). Help us do better\! Was this article helpful and relevant? Yes No What can you say about this article? I am completely satisfied, I found useful information and tips in this article Article was somewhat helpful, but could be improved Want to share more? Thank You for the feedback\! We work to make the world a better place for cats, and we're getting better for you. 💬 Chat ✖ Hi 👋, how can we help? Send ![Avatar photo](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/pete-DVM-100x100.png) ## About Dr. Pete Wedderburn, DVM Dr Pete Wedderburn qualified as a vet from Edinburgh in 1985 and has run his own 4-veterinarian companion animal practice in County Wicklow, Ireland, since 1991. Pete is well known as a media veterinarian with regular national tv, radio and newspaper slots, including a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph since 2007. Pete is known as "Pete the Vet" on his busy Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, regularly posting information on topical subjects and real-life cases from his clinic. He also write a regular blog at www.petethevet.com. His latest book: “Pet Subjects”, was published by Aurum Press in 2017. [View all posts by Dr. Pete Wedderburn, DVM →](https://cats.com/author/petebrayvet-com) Connect with Dr. Pete Wedderburn, DVM: [![globe](https://cats.com/wp-content/themes/ribosome/img/social-icons/globe.svg)](https://www.petethevet.com/) [![facebook](https://cats.com/wp-content/themes/ribosome/img/social-icons/facebook.svg)](https://business.facebook.com/PeteTheVet) [![instagram](https://cats.com/wp-content/themes/ribosome/img/social-icons/instagram.svg)](https://www.instagram.com/pete.wedderburn/) [![linkedin](https://cats.com/wp-content/themes/ribosome/img/social-icons/linkedin.svg)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/petethevet/) [![soundcloud](https://cats.com/wp-content/themes/ribosome/img/social-icons/soundcloud.svg)](https://soundcloud.com/petethevet) [![twitter](https://cats.com/wp-content/themes/ribosome/img/social-icons/twitter.svg)](https://twitter.com/PeteTheVet) Get more Cat Health articles - straight to your inbox Sign up and we’ll send you Cats.com articles about the all aspects of cat health to help you keep your fluffy treasure healthy. ## More From Cat Preventive Health Care [![Tortoiseshell cat looks at camera](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Tortoiseshell-cat-looks-at-camera-240x180.jpg)](https://cats.com/diabetic-senior-cat-care-tips "10 Essential Tips for Caring for a Diabetic Senior Cat at Home") [Cat Health](https://cats.com/cat-health) [10 Essential Tips for Caring for a Diabetic Senior Cat at Home](https://cats.com/diabetic-senior-cat-care-tips "10 Essential Tips for Caring for a Diabetic Senior Cat at Home") [![black cat eating Weruva Truluxe Steak Frites Dinner](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/black-cat-eating-Weruva-Truluxe-Steak-Frites-Dinner-240x180.jpg)](https://cats.com/bland-diet-for-cats "How a Bland Diet Can Improve Your Cat’s Digestion") [Cat Health](https://cats.com/cat-health) [How a Bland Diet Can Improve Your Cat’s Digestion](https://cats.com/bland-diet-for-cats "How a Bland Diet Can Improve Your Cat’s Digestion") [![orange cat eating Nulo Freestyle Grain Free Turkey & Chicken Recipe](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/orange-cat-eating-Nulo-Freestyle-Grain-Free-Turkey-Chicken-Recipe-240x180.jpg)](https://cats.com/immune-support-supplements-for-cats "Are Immune Support Supplements for Cats a Good Idea?") 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Please let me know the answer in details, as I’m planning to write a complete details about wet and dry cat food for different cat age groups. Thanks [Reply](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-41897) ↓ Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 1. ![small mallory photo](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Small-pfp-44x44.jpg) [Mallory Crusta](https://cats.com/author/mcrustawildernesscat-com) [Sep 4, 2020 at 7:35 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-41902) Hello Hamza, thank you for commenting\! If you have any further questions specific to your situation, I’ll happily forward them to Dr. Pete Wedderburn. For now, however, I believe we already have a couple of articles that should give you the information you need. You can start with our article on [The Best Cat Food for Senior Cats](https://cats.com/best-cat-food-for-senior-cats). Secondly, our veterinarian-reviewed [Cat Feeding Guide](https://cats.com/cat-feeding-guide) breaks down how much to feed a cat at all life stages. Again, please let me know if you have further questions for Dr. Wedderburn and I’ll pass them on. Best, Mallory Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 2. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d68126d5f81270571aa1e0577cdc08a4cf227e24c17b3969e0ad284fefa8071d?s=44&d=mm&r=g) [Misha](https://cats.com/author) [Jun 27, 2021 at 1:32 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-55433) Hi, thank you so much for this article! I was wondering how I should measure my cats food if I feed them a mix of wet and dry food? [Reply](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-55433) ↓ Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 1. ![small mallory photo](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Small-pfp-44x44.jpg) [Mallory Crusta](https://cats.com/author/mcrustawildernesscat-com) [Jun 29, 2021 at 6:27 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-55663) Hi Misha, you don’t have to measure your cat’s food, but doing so is a great way to control their calorie intake and be sure that they’re getting the appropriate amount for their size. Remember that the calories in dry food add up very quickly, so you could easily go overboard with a combination of both. Hope this helps! – Mallory Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 3. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e2c851753940b581cc2d37ab67894d5149e5ffda49a7f5a0e129e8a849ea4e33?s=44&d=mm&r=g) [Erin](https://cats.com/author) [Feb 7, 2022 at 11:53 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-74593) Hi there, the formula for calculating RER / calorie intake is written ambiguously. Is it supposed to be: A. 70 x (weight in kg ^ 0.75) or B. (70 x weight in kg) ^ 0.75 These result in pretty massively different numbers, and with no reference values to compare against, it’s impossible to tell which one is the intended result. Thanks\! [Reply](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-74593) ↓ Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 1. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/5f69eb93596457cb19227d5f36f4ae7ee534e4efa5149071edcbac60d9d190c4?s=44&d=mm&r=g) [Dr. Pete Wedderburn, DVM](https://cats.com/author/petebrayvet-com) Post author [Feb 8, 2022 at 7:51 am](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-74626) Sorry about any misunderstanding – it is meant to be 70 x (weight in kg ^ 0.75) Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 2. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/86f67a1a2daffb1d075c2888bbaa4ca632f790de30ff6b5359044cd927f1add0?s=44&d=mm&r=g) [Visit R obinson buc ler (gm a ilC om)](https://cats.com/author) [Jul 19, 2024 at 12:31 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-133829) Stay Free from Hsv-2.. Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 4. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a3450beb9fb511e900fc9d1a139fd2941241dc917ff3b52fba23be3d1a2b7494?s=44&d=mm&r=g) [Romane](https://cats.com/author) [Jul 11, 2022 at 11:43 am](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-84419) Hello Dr\! I’ve been wanting to do this calculation for a while, my cat is 9kg and approaching 10 y-o (we’re not responsible for his weight he was from a multiple cat household and ate all the other cat’s food) I was just wondering if the cat’s size (lenght/height) mattered? Thanks in advance 🙂 [Reply](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-84419) ↓ Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 1. ![small mallory photo](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Small-pfp-44x44.jpg) [Mallory Crusta](https://cats.com/author/mcrustawildernesscat-com) [Jul 14, 2022 at 3:23 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-84593) Hi Romane, yes—an individual cat’s build does play a part in how much they need to eat and what constitutes a healthy weight for them. That’s why people will generally use a body composition chart when making this calculation. You might appreciate our [cat weight calculator](https://cats.com/weight-calculator) (it also tells you how much your cat needs to eat to reach their goal weight). Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 5. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/7a81413e3fb3d2250ae4df1d18dc787d34b9f7d0b2b5b5465d165f8ddcc63555?s=44&d=mm&r=g) [Angela](https://cats.com/author) [Jan 1, 2023 at 5:23 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-95383) I have an 8-years old can who is a rescue. He is somewhat of a Jekal and Hyde animal, quite unpredictable. He will be nuzeling around my legs quite frequently and also sleeps quite a lot during the day. If I pet him when he is lying down after he has finished a sleep, he will ‘attack’ me and go away from me. He goes in and out quite frequently during the day obviously when I am at home (I prefer to leave him indoors with a bit of food if I am going out for the day). As soon as I am home, night or day, I let him go outside for a while. I love him but I don’t think he loves me. I have no idea what his previous home was like. He is definitely not a lap cat. I am wondering if a female cat would be a bit more agreeable. It would be a shame if I got rid of him and he became a ‘rescue’ once again, but as I live alone I would like a more affectionate animal. He doesn’t play with toys. I was brought up on a farm so I love all animals. However, in those days, back in the 1940’s, most of the animals had to earn their keep. Cats catching mice and rats – dogs attending to the sheep when necessary, etc.. I came to London in 1946 and had several loving cats over the following years. Any suggestions pm how to better manage Finch would be most appreciated. [Reply](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-95383) ↓ Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 1. ![small mallory photo](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Small-pfp-44x44.jpg) [Mallory Crusta](https://cats.com/author/mcrustawildernesscat-com) [Jan 10, 2023 at 7:11 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-95948) Hi Angela, apologies for the late reply! Hope all is well. Your new cat seems like a very independent kitty. Sensitivity around petting is normal for a lot of cats, especially those who weren’t well-socialized in their earlier life. It may take some more time for him to become more comfortable with you, and you may need to learn to understand the ways in which he is affectionate. Rubbing against your legs shows that your cat regards you as part of his home territory, which is a part of bonding. You may find that he doesn’t like to be petted after a nap, but does like to be rubbed on the face in the same places that he uses to nuzzle you. Perhaps you can develop a less physical bond, enjoying his personality and learning each other’s schedules. Adopting a second cat might be risky given that he’s an older cat and may be set in his ways, but you could consider adopting a kitten who you can socialize and “mold” a bit more. Caring for two cats at once shouldn’t be much more demanding than one, so I don’t think you need to “replace” him. Additionally, I wouldn’t assume that a female cat will be more friendly, but a kitten most likely would be more moldable. Hope this helps\! Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 6. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ef3ff6921862f055acc1161040763dad06c5e4e21da72861982d41770ca0e0d6?s=44&d=mm&r=g) [Simm Gottesman](https://cats.com/author) [Dec 13, 2023 at 4:33 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-114873) Don’t really know how old our cat Ella Boop really is – but she is spayed & you only mention neutered – but assume you mean both – she is maybe part Bengal or full Bengal & seems very smart & I was inspired to ask you for advice – because of your kind answers above – to others who asked about their cats – I was told that because she looks like she is part Bengal or full Bengal – the lady who was fostering her – after she was found – told me ONLY feed her RAW MEAT – so I have been thinking that a small 6 1/2 pound cat – that may have been a kitten when I first got her – as she did get a little bigger after I adopted her – tho, I was told by my sister, Niki who has helped thousands of homeless animals get homes – that because of the way her teeth looked she most likely was not a kitten when I got her & instead was any where from 2- 6 years old when I got her – so, I am still considering her about 3-5 years old – So, is she now considered an adult cat⁉️🙁 And have only been feeding her raw meat⁉️ as we have now had her for for about 3 years & here is the bigger question – i have been using colloidal silver on her eye as she was diagnosed as having Herpes conjunctivitis – in her right eye & an ear infection – when we first got her & she still has it from when I first got her & had used antibiotics & spent so much money – on so many different vets – that I just stopped as I was also told – it is NOT CURABLE⁉️ & So, now I just clean out the white gunk that shows up in her eye with an eye wash & after put some colloidal silver in her eye & use a small plug in ozone wand in her ear & her ear & eye are better for a while & she seems to do better – but then I need to do it again⁉️😢 wonder if you can suggest a better eye wash for her – or if I could send a photo of her ⁉️🙁 [Reply](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-114873) ↓ Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 1. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/5f69eb93596457cb19227d5f36f4ae7ee534e4efa5149071edcbac60d9d190c4?s=44&d=mm&r=g) [Dr. Pete Wedderburn, DVM](https://cats.com/author/petebrayvet-com) Post author [Dec 13, 2023 at 6:14 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-114879) Hi Simm and thanks for your query. Yes, I mean spayed OR neutered. In my opinion, there is no need for Bengal cats to be fed only raw meat – this is an untrue myth. Any complete cat food will suffice. As for herpes virus, if you read [our article on this here](https://cats.com/feline-herpesvirus-ocular-disease) you should be able to learn everything you need to know about this condition. In general, my advice is to just bathe affected eyes using a wad of cotton wool soaked in mildly salty water (a teaspoonful of salt in a pint of boiled water, cooled down). Hope this helps. Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 7. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/7ac97bd4406589c0b5434106df76c9c89787458b59806dc7e051727cdd588c4e?s=44&d=mm&r=g) [Penelope Weber](https://cats.com/author) [Jan 13, 2024 at 9:03 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-117056) I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A BETTER CHART I HAVE A 4YO FEM CAT AND A 9 MO MALE CAT [Reply](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-117056) ↓ Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 8. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/02fcdabb836a08d9604190cd3103ac5352964f937048734ac462333d7da7ca75?s=44&d=mm&r=g) [LLA](https://cats.com/author) [May 31, 2024 at 9:57 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-131207) Great article! If you have 1 or 2 cats…. I have 7 & it’s very difficult for me to control who eats what. 2 are 8yo. 2 are 7yo & 3 have just passed the kitten phase at 1yo. I have 2 different dry kibble out for free feeding – a chicken based one & a fish based one, because they don’t all like chicken or fish. I also split a can of wet food amongst them once a day, and again, they don’t all eat this either. I’ve considered allowing the bowls to go empty as a means of controlling how much they eat, but again, I’m worried the ‘eaters’ of the group will eat all of it & not leave my normal weight cats anything at all. The automatic feeders that are paired with the cat’s collar are a great idea, but for 7 cats would be too costly for me. Any other suggestions? [Reply](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-131207) ↓ Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 1. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/5f69eb93596457cb19227d5f36f4ae7ee534e4efa5149071edcbac60d9d190c4?s=44&d=mm&r=g) [Dr. Pete Wedderburn, DVM](https://cats.com/author/petebrayvet-com) Post author [Jun 11, 2024 at 4:59 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-131867) This is a tricky situation all right. You might consider an automatic feeder paired with a cat’s microchip – but just for the normal weight cats. You could then let the bowls go empty, in the knowledge that the “eaters” could not get any more than they need, while the normal weight cats could get extra food from their own feeders. It’s worth considering this\! Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 9. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/09b5936d895e49d15f9f4d902e319296549430f7c6e2e4f922a99eb7e5dd7880?s=44&d=mm&r=g) [Elizabeth Lehn](https://cats.com/author) [Nov 14, 2024 at 4:59 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-141828) I just adopted a 4yr old stray cat who has been on the street for awhile. he is very sweet, great personality but ways 12lbs and is very heavy. This helps to understand and know what to do for him. [Reply](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-141828) ↓ Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 10. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a976f9d81ce5864c8fb2439b3a34719aed188ef2ec0e4bc966267b2554f95b82?s=44&d=mm&r=g) [Haley](https://cats.com/author) [Apr 13, 2025 at 6:43 am](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-154638) I also would like to add for anyone hoping to help their baby lose weight (as I am in this same boat currently and I have eight cats, but two are separate from the rest) it is a fantastic idea to put their food at the top of a staircase if you live downstairs with them so they have to walk upstairs or on a high counter ETC it does help a bit 🙂 I do have one question though what can you do if you have multiple pets and you want to feed them each but say they have issues sticking to their food bowl or you don’t have a separate bowl for each of them basically what is the best thing to do when you have a lot of cats during meal time? Because typically we keep three bowls with food in them 24/7 and we have one orange boy cat that has grown way too big and I am just not sure what to do to ensure he doesn’t over eat when my parents constantly have food in those three food bowls all the time?? Please get back to me I would really appreciate the help\! [Reply](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-154638) ↓ Click to rate ▲ 0 ▼ 0 1. ![Avatar photo](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/catscom-author-44x44.png) [Cats.com Editorial Team](https://cats.com/author/admin) [Apr 14, 2025 at 8:51 pm](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#comment-154799) Free-feeding multiple cats can make it hard to manage portions, especially if one tends to overeat, so switching to scheduled meal times with individual portions is usually the best approach. 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Readable Markdown	![how much to feed a cat](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/raw-1.jpg) Kate Barrington / Cats.com As with all carers of animals, one of the basic questions that we need to answer every day for our cats is: “how much should I feed my cat?” This article will help you discover how much food you should be feeding, so that you can ensure that your cat stays at their [optimal body weight](https://cats.com/weight-calculator). In This Article - [What Type of Food Should Cats Eat?](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#firstly-what-type-of-food-should-cats-eat) - [Why Cats Become Obese](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#why-is-it-so-common-for-cats-to-become-overweight-or-obese) - [Methods for Calculating](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#what-sort-of-system-should-i-use-for-feeding-my-cat) - [How To Start](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#heres-how-to-start-to-work-out-how-much-to-feed) - [Calculate by Reading the Label](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#you-can-also-calculate-how-much-to-feed-your-cat-by-reading-the-label) - [How Much To Feed a Cat by Age](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#how-much-to-feed-a-cat-by-age) - [How Much To Feed a Cat by Weight](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#how-much-to-feed-a-cat-by-weight) - [How Much To Feed a Cat Chart](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#how-much-to-feed-a-cat-chart) - [Cat Feeding Schedule](https://cats.com/how-much-to-feed-a-cat#cat-feeding-schedule) ## Firstly, What Type of Food Should Cats Eat? ![What to Feed a Cat](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Purina-One-Tender-Selects-Blend-17.jpg) It’s critical to feed your cat a nutritionally complete and balanced diet that contains all of the nutrients your cat needs to thrive. Kirsten McCarthy / cats.com You can meet a healthy cat’s nutritional needs met by feeding the right amount of the right type of food every day. This diet should give your cat the correct quantities of carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins and proteins/ amino acids, including essential nutrients like taurine. The easiest way to do this is to use a nutritionally balanced complete commercial pet food, whether wet cat food (canned cat food) or dry cat food (kibble) or a mixture of the two types. Good quality food should be fed in the right quantities, with other aspects (like grain-free or specific ingredients) being far less important than many owners may believe. [Cat treats](https://cats.com/best-cat-treats) can also be offered, in limited quantities. Fresh water, of course, is calorie-free and should always be available to cats. A cat’s litter box should be monitored by cat carers. Normal feces is an important guide to the suitability of a diet to an individual cat. The daily food offered to a cat is an important contributor to their overall health. ## Why Is It So Common for Cats To Become Overweight or Obese? ![Overweight Cat How Much to Feed a Cat](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Overweight-Cat-How-Much-to-Feed-a-Cat.jpg) An estimated 50% of cats over the age of five carry too much bodyweight, making them either overweight or obese. Too much food is the main contributor to excessive bodyweight, so it’s essential to make sure your cat is eating the right amount. It has become increasingly common for pet cats to become [overweight or obese](https://cats.com/feline-obesity), with estimates that around 50% of cats over the age of five years carry too much body weight. Cat carers are often not aware that their pets are overweight or obese, yet an overweight cat is more likely to suffer health issues such as [diabetes](https://cats.com/feline-diabetes), heart disease, [arthritis](https://cats.com/arthritis-in-cats), [kidney disease](https://cats.com/kidney-failure-in-cats), and a shorter life span. The most common reason for cats becoming overweight or obese is simply that cat carers offer their cat more food than their cat needs. That’s why it’s so important to know how much food you should offer your cat every day, so that your cat avoids preventable health problems later in life. Cats, just like humans, enjoy eating: it’s one of the great pleasures of life, and a cat’s diet is one of the most important parts of their day. And because cat carers like to make their pets happy, it’s all too easy to want to give them extra food, to give them even more enjoyment in life. Also Read: [The 10 Best Cat Foods](https://cats.com/best-cat-food) However, we all need to step back and recognise that while feeding a pet makes them happy in the immediate moment, if we give them too much food, the excessive food intake causes serious discomfort, poor health, and a shorter life in the long term. So if we genuinely care about helping them achieve their best possible lives, we should be disciplined about how much food we feed them so that they stay at a healthy weight. ## What Sort of System Should I Use for Feeding My Cat? ![How to Choose a System for Feeding Your Cat](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/shutterstock_1285682953-1.jpg) The way you feed your cat can be almost as important as how much you feed them. In the past, many people have given their cats free choice , free-feeding, or ad libitum i.e. offering them as much in their food bowl as they wish to eat. In particular, a bowl of dry food (kibble) has often been continually topped up, allowing the cat to eat this whenever they wish to do so. It is now recognised that feeding cats using this method is likely to lead to cats eating too much, leading them to be overweight or obese. Instead, cat carers should calculate the correct daily amount to feed, and either weigh this amount daily, or use a feeding container to give the measured amount every day as their cat’s food supply. Whichever method is used to calculate how much a cat should be fed, it is impossible to generalize for every individual cat, because of several variables that are not the same between different animals. The first three variables can be factored into calculations: - Age: growing animals need more food, and the precise quantity varies depending on how fast that cat is growing. Meanwhile, older cats (senior cats) tend to be less active, with reduced energy needs. - Size: larger animals have higher daily energy needs compared to smaller animals. - Neutered status: if a cat has been spayed or neutered, then they generally have lower energy needs than entire animals. Other significant variables between animals that are more difficult to specify include: - Activity level: outdoor cats spend more time moving than indoor cats, so they need more energy. As well as this broad difference, individual cats, whether indoor or outdoor, have different levels of activity that can be hard to monitor or calculate. - Metabolic rate: some individual cats have a faster resting metabolic rate than other cats, meaning that they need more food than others to supply their basic energy needs every day. Again, this is not something that can be easily calculated by owners. ## Here’s How To Start To Work Out How Much To Feed. ![How to Calculate How Much to Feed Your Cat](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/How-to-Calculate-How-Much-to-Feed-Your-Cat.jpg) Several factors go into determining how much your cat needs to eat. The starting point is to establish five facts about your cat. 1. How old are they? 2. How much do they weigh currently? 3. Are they neutered or entire? 4. Are they active (e.g. outdoor) or inactive (e.g. indoor)? 5. Are they currently the correct weight, are they underweight, or overweight? Please read our article on [body condition score](https://cats.com/weight-calculator) to discover this important fact about your own cat. These five facts are used to help to work out how much to feed, using one of several different possible methods. You also need to note what type of food you are using, and get a notebook to record how much food you feed every day, recording the number of sachets of most food (or tins of canned food), and the weight, in grams, of dry cat food. ## You Can Also Calculate How Much To Feed Your Cat by Reading the Label ![A Devon Rex cat enjoying a meal.](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/devon-rex-eating-compressed.jpg) Cats, just like humans, enjoy eating: it’s one of the great pleasures of life, and a cat’s diet is one of the most important parts of their day. Most commercial pet foods include a guide to feeding quantities on the label of the packaging. Typically there is a chart, with the cat’s weight in the left column, and the recommended amount of food in the right column e.g 8.8lbs (4kg) and 2.3 ounces (65g) for dry food, or 8.8lbs (4kg) and 2 sachets or pouches for wet food, or a mixture, such as 1 ounce (28g) dry food plus one sachet of wet food. Some people prefer to work with volumes (e.g. cups) rather than absolute weights, but the challenge is that dry food varies in density, so it’s better to work with weight on the first occasion, but place the volume of food in the container of your choice (e.g. a plastic cup) and draw a line with a permanent marker so that you can see how much volume this makes. Then on future occasions, you can simply use the plastic cup, up to your line, as a daily guide. Sometimes there are different recommendations for active (outdoor) and inactive (indoor) cats, neutered or entire cats, and for cats that are obese, overweight, or at their correct body weight. These recommended amounts represent the manufacturer’s calculation of the correct amount of daily food for an average cat. Often, a range of recommended quantities is given, rather than a single specified amount. This is recognition of the fact that it is impossible to say precisely how much any individual cat should be fed: there is always variation based on a number of factors. There is an untrue myth that pet food manufacturers deliberately overstate the recommended feeding amounts on the label in an attempt to make people use more pet food. In fact, the recommended feeding amounts do represent a reasonable estimate that is useful for many cat owners who may not be able to calculate correct feeding quantities using other methods. ![Cat looking and eating.](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cat-looking-and-eating-compressed.jpg) There is an untrue myth that pet food manufacturers deliberately overstate the recommended feeding amounts on the label in an attempt to make people use more pet food. Growing kittens need comparatively more food than adult cats, because they need nutrients to allow their body to grow. This can be difficult to calculate precisely, and professional veterinary nutritionists have charts and guides that may be applied. For most cat carers, it is simpler to recognise that kittens do have higher requirements, and that it is rare for kittens to become overweight or obese. Using the broad guidelines on the packaging, it is fairly safe to say that kittens can be fed almost as much food as they wish to eat at each mealtime, within reasonable limits. - If the kitten is still chasing the bowl, looking for more food when they have finished, they should be offered a little more. - If the kitten routinely does not finish the food that is offered in the bowl, they should be offered less the next time. ## How Much To Feed a Cat by Weight? Once a cat has passed kittenhood, and has stopped growing, it is possible to work out how much to feed based on their body weight. The recommended daily caloric intake can be calculated using a formula to work out the resting energy requirement (RER): RER=70 x (body weight in kg/lbs) to the power of 0.75 or 70 x (weight in kg/lbs ^ 0.75) To work out the “to the power of 0.75” part of the equation, you can either use a calculator that allow you to use exponents, or you can multiply the weight in kilograms by itself 3 times (e.g. 4x4x4 for a 4kg/8.8lbs cat), then work out the square root of that sum, twice. This calculation will give you the resting energy requirement for your cat in kilocalories. You then need to multiply this by a different factor depending on your individual cat to estimate their total daily energy needs, with possible variables listed below. ## How Much To Feed a Cat Chart \| \| \| \|---\|---\| \| Neutered adult cat \| 1\.6 x RER \| \| Entire adult cat \| 1\.8 x RER \| \| Inactive adult cat \| 1\.2-1.4 x RER \| \| Cat aiming to lose weight \| 1\.0 x RER for ideal weight \| \| Cat trying to gain weight \| 1\.2-1.8 x RER for ideal weight \| \| Very active outdoor cat \| 2\.0-4.0 x RER \| Once the daily recommended number of kilocalories has been calculated, you then need to discover how many kilocalories are in the food that you are offering. This depends on the ingredients in the food. You can usually discover this, if not on the food label, by visiting the pet food manufacturer’s website, or by contacting them directly. This method will allow you to calculate for yourself, from first principles, approximately how much food you should be feeding your cat. For many people, this type of calculation is too complex, and they prefer to simply follow the manufacturer’s guide on the label, modifying this over time depending on how their pet’s body weight changes. ## Cat Feeding Schedule ![Petlibro automatic pet feeder dispensing](https://cats.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Petlibro-Feeder-Dispensing.jpg) Kate Barrington / Cats.com [Cats in the wild are hunting carnivores](https://cats.com/cats-are-obligate-carnivores), consuming small meals frequently as they catch small prey throughout the day. Ideally, a feeding regime at home should follow the same pattern, with smaller meals being offered more frequently, e.g. four times daily. Also Read: [The Complete Feeding Guide From Kittens To Seniors](https://cats.com/cat-feeding-guide) Many people, for reasons of convenience, feed their cats less often, but the frequency should never be less than twice daily e.g. morning and evening. ## Conclusion The exact quantity of food fed every day is an important variable to ensure long term feline health. It’s important to record how much food is fed every day, and to monitor your cat’s body condition every month. Weight gain, or weight loss, can then be monitored. If your cat starts to become overweight, you need to feed less food every day, and if they start to become underweight, you need to offer more food every day. Ideally, you should weigh your cat every month to monitor how their body weight changes: you can do this using electronic scales (e.g. at your local veterinarian’s office) or you can stand on your own bathroom scales holding your cat, then weigh yourself afterwards to work out the difference. ## Frequently Asked Questions About How Much to Feed a Cat ### How much should you feed your indoor cat? Indoor cats are generally less active than outdoor cats, so they burn up less energy, and require a lower number of kilocalories in their daily food. Indoor cats should be fed the lower level of recommended quantity on recommended levels on food packaging. ### How much dry food should I feed my cat? You should use the guidelines on the label on the food packaging as a starting point, offering your cat more or less over time, depending on their body weight. If your cat is becoming overweight, you should feed less, and if they seem underweight, you should offer more. ### Why are my cats so hungry all the time? If cats become used to being fed too much food, it can be difficult for them to get used to a restricted amount of feeding. Cats enjoy the act of eating, just like humans, and so you need to find ways to give them enjoyment in different forms, such as getting new toys to play with, or simply by engaging with them more as their carer. Over time, most cats learn to adapt to the new way of feeding, and they become less hungry. If your cat does continue to seem hungry all the time, you should take them to your DVM veterinarian for a health check in case there is an underlying health reason for this (such as hyperthyroidism). If it turns out that your cat is in full health, but simply very hungry despite being fed the correct amount of food, your veterinarian may be able to suggest a type of high quality cat food that is more likely to make your cat feed full (satiated).
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