How much food should I feed a 8lb cat?

I'm feeding my kitty Science Diet for adult kitties, but I've noticed she's been gaining a bit of weight lately. She's also being fed about 1/4 a can of science diet canned foods a night, but I don't want her to gain anymore as she weighed in at 9.3 last vet visit and the vet said she shouldn't gain any more weight.

I'm always a bit confused as to how much to feed a kitty, especially since she's so tiny! So how much food should I feed her? Should I not feed her wet food every night? How much in cups should my pretty girl be eating?

Any help from an experienced cat owner would be lovely.

you may want a lower carb food ... preferabley one without lots corn and by products ....

1/4 can of a 3 oz can or 5.5 or 12 ???

1/4 of a 5.5oz can, sorry.

No need to be sorry...

can you increase the wet to half a can a day??

also can you measure out what the bowl hold s and tell me how much dry she gets a day??

also what is current wt and what is ideal wt??

Maybe just eliminate the dry and go with the canned only - split 1/2 can into 2 meals. How old is she? And is she spayed?

My kitty is unknown in age. I found her as an abandoned/stray and the vet guestimates she's about 4-6 years old due to her teeth and she is spayed.

I've been feeding her Science Diet dry for adult and Science Diet canned (variety of flavors, she loves the salmon) and occasionally Friskies (wet), but reading on the forums has made me think Science Diet isn't the best thing due to all the corn in it! I always thought it was good for her since the vets sell it in their cinic and the PetSmart adoption center gives those out with the adoption of cats.

Today at lunch, I went to PetCo and picked up a bag of Castor's Organix cat food for adults (original flavor) to try with my cat when I get home. I read on the forums that besides the soy in it, it's a good idea since it's organic and the ingredient list looks awesome compared to the Science Diet version!

My guess is I feed her about 1/2 a cup of dry in the morning then 1/4 a can of wet at night and I mix the wet with whatever she hasn't eaten for dry (she usually eats about half the dry through the day). I leave whatever she doesn't finish at night out for her since she's active when I'm asleep playing with toys and she normally nibbles on it through the night and sometimes finishes it up by morning.

When I found her she weighted 7.7lbs and as of her vet visit a month later, she weighted 9.3lbs. The vet said she isn't overweight but she doesn't want my kitty to gain any more, so I'm trying to be careful with her and get her back to 7.7.

give 1/4 cup dry and increase wet to half a can...

IMHO the organix is a waste for the $$$ ... but mix it with the SD as it is IMHO better than ... next time you need food

at petco
nutro
blue spa
natural balence
royal canin
and you may want indoor to keep the wt in check ... the above three out of four have an indoor version

Hm ok I'll try to reduce to 1/4 + more wet and see how that goes. Is Science Diet wet food overly bad for my kitty?

I'll let you guys know what happens over the next week or two.

I feed Ally about 1/3-2/3 a cup of food a day. It depends on how much she ate from the bowl the night before.
She eats Flint River Ranch dry cat food.

She was 6 lbs when we adopted her 3 years ago and has been holding steady at 8.5 lbs for the past year and a half.

Originally Posted by Coronet

Hm ok I'll try to reduce to 1/4 + more wet and see how that goes.

Is Science Diet wet food overly bad for my kitty?

I'll let you guys know what happens over the next week or two.

Click to expand...

with wet food I am a bit more easy on ingrediants ...... SD still is not on my decent list... but if you want I can link in a few links I have posted

Sure please do. I want her to be a healthy kitty and not be a chubby house cat. She recently had a 3 month old kitten sister added to her life, so she's getting a bunch more exercise playing with the kitten now!

I also have another concern regarding my roommate's 3 month old kitten. It always seems to be ravenously hungry, no matter how much she's fed. They feed her kitten food (Purina) and more than I feed my adult cat, but the kitten still attacks anything that's food no matter what and drinks tons of water, so we're worried we're underfeeding her. She probably gets about 1/2 dry food a day + some amount of wet food a night (I don't watch in particular how my roommate feeds her) and now she's leaving out dry food 24/7 for the kitten. I'm not sure that's the best thing for the kitten? It weighs 5.5lbs and the vet said she's large, but not necessarily overweight.

Plus her leaving out dry kitten food at all hours of the day might prompt my adult kitty to go in and gorge on it too so I'm kind of worried about it.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ight=wet+foods

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ight=wet+foods

Originally Posted by sharky

give 1/4 cup dry and increase wet to half a can...

IMHO the organix is a waste for the $$$ ... but mix it with the SD as it is IMHO better than ... next time you need food

at petco
nutro
blue spa
natural balence
royal canin
and you may want indoor to keep the wt in check ... the above three out of four have an indoor version

Click to expand...

You think Nutro is better than Organix? Can you analyze the ingredients for me compared to Nutro? (I was thinking of switching to Organix because it had chicken as the first ingredient, not chicken meal). It's only a few dollars more than Nutro where I live.

Castor & Pollux Indoor Feline Dry Ingredients:
Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Ground Whole Grain Barley, Rice Protein Concentrate, Brewers Rice, Cellulose, Ground Flaxseed, Fruit and Vegetable Mix (Dried Carrots, Dried Bananas, Dried Papaya, Dried Apples, Dried Blueberries), Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Chicken Fat preserved with Mixed Tocopherols (form of vitamin E), Brewers Dried Yeast, Dried Beet Pulp, Fish Meal, Salmon Meal, Potassium Chloride, Salt , L-Lysine, Choline Chloride, Taurine, DL Methionine, L-Carnitine. Ascorbyl-2 Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C). Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Maganese Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Niacin, Vitamin A Supplement. Calcium Pantothenate, Manganous Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1). Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin K1 Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Cobalt Carbonate, Yeast Culture (Saccharomyes Cerevisiae). Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacilus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergilus Niger Fermentaion Extract, Dried Trichoderma Longibrachiatum Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract and Fermentation Solubles.

Nutro Natural Indoor Dry Ingredients:
Chicken meal, ground rice, corn gluten meal, rice flour, poultry fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of natural vitamin E), sunflower oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of vitamin E), flaxseed meal, tomato pomace, brewers dried yeast, natural flavors, mixed vegetable fiber (carrots, celery, beets, parsley, lettuce, watercress, and spinach), potassium chloride, menhaden fish oil, oat fiber, soy protein concentrate, cranberry powder, choline chloride, taurine, dl-methionine, vitamin E supplement, dried egg product, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, ascorbic acid (source of vitamin C), l-carnitine, inositol, dried bacillus licheniformis fermentation extract, dried bacillus subtilis fermentation extract, lutein, dried chicory root, yucca schidigera extract, niacin, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, vitamin A supplement, garlic flavor, biotin, riboflavin supplement (source of vitamin B2), beta carotene, calcium iodate, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), lycopene, vitamin D3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), folic acid, sodium selenite.

To the original poster, sorry for slightly hijacking your thread

Originally Posted by Coronet

I'm feeding my kitty Science Diet for adult kitties, but I've noticed she's been gaining a bit of weight lately. She's also being fed about 1/4 a can of science diet canned foods a night, but I don't want her to gain anymore as she weighed in at 9.3 last vet visit and the vet said she shouldn't gain any more weight.

I'm always a bit confused as to how much to feed a kitty, especially since she's so tiny! So how much food should I feed her? Should I not feed her wet food every night? How much in cups should my pretty girl be eating?

Any help from an experienced cat owner would be lovely.

Click to expand...

I am feeding my two adults what you are feeding yours but for indoor cats. Science Diet has so many different formulas it is amazing but I can tell you that the indoor cat formula has less calories than the regular does. I also free feed my adult cats and their weight is very stable.

sorry puter was being very very slow
Castor & Pollux Indoor Feline Dry Ingredients:
Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Mealit really is chn meal and turkey after cooking.. Remember chicken by wt after cooking is likely the 6th ingrediant, Ground Whole Grain Barleywhole grain = harder to digest ... plus barley glutenie it protein is IDENTICAL to wheat thus not one i use for any allergie, Rice Protein ConcentrateI just worry about this , it takes a nice thing of extra GRAIN protein( ie kittys dont need grain proteins) and alters it and NOT like meal takes the fat and water out, Brewers RiceLOW LOw quality rice, Cellulose this can be sawdust ,Ground Flaxseedfine ingrediant but oil can be digested a bit better, Fruit and Vegetable Mix (Dried Carrots, Dried Bananas, Dried Papaya, Dried Apples, Dried Blueberries)bluberries I understand the others???, Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Chicken Fat preserved with Mixed Tocopherols (form of vitamin E), Brewers Dried Yeast, Dried Beet Pulp, Fish Mealwhose??, Salmon Meal, Potassium Chloride, Salt too high for me, L-Lysine, Choline Chloride, Taurine, DL Methionine, L-Carnitine. Ascorbyl-2 Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C). Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Maganese Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Niacin, Vitamin A Supplement. Calcium Pantothenate, Manganous Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1). Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin K1 Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Cobalt Carbonate, Yeast Culture (Saccharomyes Cerevisiae). Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacilus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergilus Niger Fermentaion Extract, Dried Trichoderma Longibrachiatum Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract and Fermentation Solubles.

Mostly natural food derived vitamins

Nutro Natural Indoor Dry Ingredients:
Chicken meal, ground rice, corn gluten meal, rice flour,rice is the HIGHEST in diegestablity, corn gluten is for UTI health and balences the chn .. poultry fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of natural vitamin E), sunflower oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of vitamin E)Great for skin and coat , flaxseed mealagain oil would be better, tomato pomace, brewers dried yeast, natural flavors, mixed vegetable fiber (carrots, celery, beets, parsley, lettuce, watercress, and spinach) at this level it is acting as fiber IE hairball help and the Natural 3-5% veggie matter, potassium chloride, menhaden fish oil, oat fiber, soy protein concentrate HIGH allergen, cranberry powder for UTI health, choline chloride, taurine, dl-methionine, vitamin E supplement, dried egg product, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, ascorbic acid (source of vitamin C), l-carnitine, inositol, dried bacillus licheniformis fermentation extract, dried bacillus subtilis fermentation extract, lutein, dried chicory root, yucca schidigera extract, PRE and PRo bitics plus a fat metaboliser and antioxident,niacin, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, vitamin A supplement, garlic flavor, biotin, riboflavin supplement (source of vitamin B2), beta carotene, calcium iodate, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), lycopene, vitamin D3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), folic acid, sodium selenite.

To the original poster, sorry for slightly hijacking your thread [/quote]

I will color code for you... you make the call

Lol, no problem, more discussion is better in my opinion. I want to make sure I bought the right things for my kitty.

Tonight when I got home I fed her 1/2 a 5.5oz can of Science Diet food (I want to finish off the canned foods I bought for her instead of wasting them) and tomorrow I'll start her with a morning feeding of 1/4 a cup of the Organix (1/4 a cup looks so tiny compared to what I've been feeding her, man I must be overfeeding her horribly ;_; ).

Thanks for all the tips guys, keep 'em coming!

Bixby, the younger cat, will eat what we put in front of him, whether it's a raw food nugget, some wet food, or he'll munch on some kibble that we leave out, but he never eats very much. Either he's got a small tummy, or he likes to snack, but he's still scrawny/growing at a little over 4 months old.

Juniper, on the other hand, is over 6 months old and will wait until he gets his fancy foods, rather than having kibble as a meal. If he's really hungry he'll have a bite or two of kibble but then he'll stop.

A lot of it, I think, has to come down to quality and taste. Juniper loves the wet food so much that he'll eat it until he's very full, leaving a little bit, then scratches at the floor and walks away. 15 minutes later he's back for more. He's still a kitten so he gets fed twice a day, but he's definitely not overweight -- he appears to be solid muscle

If you feed your adult cat wet food twice a day as a full meal, making sure she's full (you can have it go further by mixing in some water), she'll likely have no interest in the available kibble because it's not "feeding time" and she'll probably prefer the taste of the wet anyway. As long as the kibble isn't kitty junk food, of course.

I gave Micaiah her 1/4 a cup of the Organix dry this morning and she sniffed it, but didn't seem overly interested. Probably because she's used to the Science Diet, but she did nibble at it a bit, so it's not like she outright hated it. Hopefully tonight she'll eat more.

I also went out and bought some Natural Choice (Nutro?) wet cat food cans for her so I'll try some of that tonight.