Am I feeding to much?

My cat Ghost is eating the Nature's Variety Instinct limited ingredient turkey dry food, he was doing canned but has since lost complete interest in it. He had put on a lot of weight last year so I've been trying to feed him better and get him to be active, though being a senior he doesn't play much.

The food he's eating now is to see if he has a food allergy because he has scabs and hair loss that has been getting worse. The food bag says there are 436 calories per 8 oz. and I'm giving him half a cup which is 218 calories split into two meals a day. I'm wondering if this is enough or to much for him being older and inactive? He drinks plenty of water and I still attempt wet food but he just doesn't want it anymore and it goes bad. I even tried giving him 4 smaller meals of the canned but he just prefers the dry. I don't give treats either.

His weight is almost 12 pounds but like I said, he's on the chunkier side now. I'm getting some blood tests on him in a few weeks to see if he has any other issues.

Thanks to any advice!

Generally an adult cat needs about 20 calories per pound of their ideal weight per day.  It doesn't sound like you are feeding too much.  I would keep trying to get him back on wet food.   Generally the wet food has fewer carbs and fewer carbs has the same good effect on a cat's weight that it does on a human's weight.

I have actually heard the opposite about senior cats and calories--you may have to give them more because their digestive system becomes less efficient and more of the food turns into waste. But only worry about that if he's losing weight.

I wonder about this food you're giving him. It's dry, and dry typically has carbs in it that can cause allergic reactions.

Raintyger said:

 
I have actually heard the opposite about senior cats and calories--you may have to give them more because their digestive system becomes less efficient and more of the food turns into waste. But only worry about that if he's losing weight.

I wonder about this food you're giving him. It's dry, and dry typically has carbs in it that can cause allergic reactions.

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He's actually getting fat and is very inactive. This food is specifically formulated for food allergies, we had him on canned limited ingredient but he wasn't having it, it was going bad because he refused to eat it even if I gave him 4 small meals a day. I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow for blood work and a check over, I'm hoping we figure this out.

I'm planning on scaling back on the dry food again in a little while and going to attempt canned again. I'm thinking the only way it's going to work is if I give him both which would be better than none in the long run.

I think weight-loss starting point for caloric intake is 15 kcal per pound, so that would be 180 for him. So the 1/2 cup would be a bit too much. Knocking about 40 calories off. . .maybe 3/8 cup a day? No, that's only 163-ish calories. Well, something between 3/8 and 1/2 :tongue2:.

My vet wants me to put him on a raw diet to see if it's going to help his skin condition along with some other things. So off to the raw pet food forum on here I go lol.

Raw diets also help with weight management since there's less carbs. Good luck!

MY CAT IS TOO FAT !!!!T! Way way too fat! And it's my fault! I am overweight, well, but to please her and make her happy, I keep giving her treats more than she should have. That's probably it.if I don't do it once in a while, she meows like crazy bothers me like heck, and look through everything to see where the treats are. It's like she's obsessed with them!

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okay, now how fat is too faT?she has gotten very very heavy I can barely pick her up. She last weighed in at the vet, 13 pounds! And I think she has gained more. However, since it's very hard for me to go on a diet and make it work, how the heck do I put a persnickety, sensitive, difficult personality Burmese on a diet? And not have her freak out totally meow meow meow meow 24 hours a day?

Don't tell me," just cut out the treats completely." I have tried that it didn't work. Is there anything that would make her happy, (she likes little bits of yogurt, ricotta, little pieces of meat from my meal, and stuff like that. She also likes olive oil.) .I don't think you're going to get her to eat vegetables and fruit, ha ha ha.believe me I do try.to get her to play all the time. But if you're overweight yourself, you know how much harder it is to move around. It's twice as hard for my fat cat.

Okay so how do you get your cat onto a diet she can put up with and not drive you crazy? Especially if you've been giving her too many treats?anybody else having to do this? Thanks very much. I really appreciate this cat site ....