Counting calories for meals instead of free feeding.

I'm in the process of transitioning my three kitties from free fed kibble to meals of canned, homemade, and hopefully raw later. I'm doing this mostly for my girl Peanut who has some digestive issues (covered in depth in other posts, but probably food related IBD). But after all my reading I think it will be better overall for all three of them too. I have two boys Tubby and Red, and my lil girl Peanut...they are siblings. Their names tell the story to some extent, Peanut has always been a little too small, Tubby a little too big, and Red is just right! All are neutered, indoor cats, and almost 2 years old.

I've read that the general guideline is 15-25 calories per lb per day. That is kind of a big range, but based on them being indoor and neutered I went with the 15 calories. For Tubby I am using his target weight for a little weight loss. He is now 16.25lbs, 15lb would be better for a start I think.

Peanut 9.5lb @ 15 cal = 142.5 cal
Red 12lb @ 15 cal = 180 cal
Tubby 15lb @ 15 cal = 225 cal

Total=547.5 round up to ~550 cal day

I'm now doing four meals a day. When I started measuring out their kibble I went by the recommendations on the bag and then tried replacing some meals with the wet. They weren't eating hardly any wet, even when they should be hungry. So then I looked at the calories per cup and kg of the kibble. Duh! Shouldn't trust the makers of the food to tell you how much to feed, they want to sell more. Their by weight recommendations I think were going by 25 calories a lb daily serving which came out to .6 cup a day... which they then rounded up to 3/4c! No wonder the kitties weren't hungry enough to give the wet food much of a try.

So now I am going by the calories per cup for kibble (~435) and giving 2/3c a day = 290 calories, and then trying to get the remaining 260 from wet and homemade. They are around 40 calories an ounce so it would take about 6.5 oz wet. That is for all three cats combined.

I am totally paranoid about the fatty liver thing, especially for my big boy Tubs. I am also concerned because Peanut is an agonizingly slow eater with the wet food, even when she should be really hungry. Her food usually gets finished by one of the boys. She never really acts hungry or very enthusiastic about food, but she hasn't lost weight either. I don't do many treats that add calories either.

Is the 15 cal/lb thing realistic, or am I starving my kits? How often should I be weighing them?

Ok I thought it was 20-25 calories per pound...
I'd weigh bi-weekly with mine when trying to obtain a goal weight.

I thought it was 20-30 calories, to maintain weight. If weight loss was an object, then of course aim for the 20 calories per pound. 15 might be a bit too low!

I think 30 would be way too much for an indoor neutered cat. 15 is good for the cat that needs to lose weight. 20 would probably be good for the normal one. 25 for the one who needs to gain. JMO

Thanks

If I go by the different calories per pound for each one I get

Peanut 9.5lb @ 25 = 237.5
Red 12lb @ 20 = 240
Tubby 15lb @ 15 = 225

(but maybe with only 15 cal/lb I should use his actual weight instead of goal weight for Tubs)
Tubby 16lb @ 15 = 240


Total for all three =720
That makes them all pretty much the same which should make things easier in that respect.

Problem is how do I get them to eat the extra 170 calories without giving more kibble?

The boys are ok about eating, but Peanut is so frustrating. I have to babysit her while she eats. I tried locking her in the bathroom with her food so she could take her time undisturbed. 15 minutes later she hadn't touched it. She is a grazer and only eats very tiny amounts at a time. Maybe to try and boost her calories I should just give her some freeze dried meat treats which she readily eats. Trying to use them as a topper to get her to eat other food doesn't work unfortunately. If I'm serious about controlling each ones calories I would have to feed them all in separate rooms with the door closed I think. They all browse each other's dishes and Red is always the last one to leave the table since he is the least fussy. So I really have no idea how many calories each one is usually eating. Putting them all in separate rooms and babysitting Peanut through a meal four times a day would be a challenge!

My dog is so much easier. I can give him anything anytime and he eats it all with the plate licked clean in under 30 seconds!