How many kcal/lb to feed?

Hi,

Can anyone give me a general starting range for how many kcal/lb to feed adult indoor cats for weight maintenance (not trying to lose or gain)?

Thanks!

According to the Merck Veterinary Manual:

For cats, energy requirements are ~70 kcal/kg for lean adults, ~200 kcal/kg for growing kittens, and ~150 kcal/kg for lactating queens.

1 kg = 2.20 pounds

So...approximately 154 kcal/lb for lean adults, 440 kcal/lb for growing kittens and 330 kcal/lb for lactating queens.

Here's a link to the MVM nutrition page:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/in...2crequirements

Hope this helps!

That's just what I needed - thank you!

Oops, I think the kilogram numbers need to be divided by 2.2 to get the pound numbers, rather than multiplied.

That would bring it to 31.8 kcal/lb for lean adults, 90.9 for kittens, and 68.2 for lactating queens. That gives me a rough idea to help calculate the amount to feed, as well as a food budget if I switch from canned + dry to all canned.

What a great link, btw! Thanks again.

YUP ya have to divide to get lbs from a kilogram

It seems that is a book I should look at getting thank you for the great link

Originally Posted by tuxedokitties

Oops, I think the kilogram numbers need to be divided by 2.2 to get the pound numbers, rather than multiplied.

That would bring it to 31.8 kcal/lb for lean adults, 90.9 for kittens, and 68.2 for lactating queens. That gives me a rough idea to help calculate the amount to feed, as well as a food budget if I switch from canned + dry to all canned.

What a great link, btw! Thanks again.

Click to expand...

Are you sure about your calc? so for a 4lb kitten, you would need more than 360kcal? A can of Felidae chicken & rice is only 188kcal. One can is suggested for about 8lb of an adult cat with kitten permitted to eat up to twice as much. So this mean that one can should be enough for a kittie, again with only 188 kcal. Your calc would mean that a kitten should be eating 2 can of food per day. Please confirm? I would feel awful if my cat is only eating 1/2 of what he needs!

that is right actually! I give mine Nutro nat. choice and then I give them NaturalLife canned food... I have two and between the two of them they get 3 cans wet, (little Eek is a pig!!) and then they get 1/3 cup dry food a day in there dish! But I am a sucker, and if they give me the look its over from there....LOL

They're talking about a day too, not in just one serving!

I think it's about 30 calories per day per lb for adult cats, so a 9 lb cat would need 270 calories per day.


(I found 30 just by a google search, it seems to be a common average number for adult cats).

I hope I am feeding enough. I give Matilda 1/2 of the daily recommended amount of dry food listed on the bag, and then she gets 1/2 of the daily recommended wet food listed on the can at night. Hmmm....

Keep in mind, the Merck value for "lean adults" doesn't seem to take activity level into account. They make distinctions for dogs, but not cats (?). I feed my indoor cat much less than 30 calories per lb., probably closer to 15.

Originally Posted by tuxedokitties

Oops, I think the kilogram numbers need to be divided by 2.2 to get the pound numbers, rather than multiplied.

That would bring it to 31.8 kcal/lb for lean adults, 90.9 for kittens, and 68.2 for lactating queens. That gives me a rough idea to help calculate the amount to feed, as well as a food budget if I switch from canned + dry to all canned.

What a great link, btw! Thanks again.

Click to expand...

Sorry! I'm an idiot when it comes to math! Pretty scary for a nurse, huh? Thank God Pharmacy does all of our calculations for us in the O.R.!!!

Originally Posted by sharky

YUP ya have to divide to get lbs from a kilogram

It seems that is a book I should look at getting

thank you for the great link

Click to expand...

Sorry about my horrible math skills!!! I tried to go in to edit it, but it's been too long.

The entire Merck Veterinary Manual is on-line, and searchable. I have the
book version, eighth edition (1998), but rarely use it. I also have several editions of the Merck Manual (for human medicine, which I use ALL the time!) You can usually find them on e-Bay, or Amazon.com. The current Merck Veterinary Manual is the 9th edition (2005) and the current Merck Manual is the 18th edition (2006).

Here's a link to the MVM home page:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp

and the Merck Manual home page:
http://www.merck.com/mmpe/index.html