Feeding to much, to little, or just right?

I know how many of these threads are on here and I've commented on a couple myself.  I just want to confirm how much I'm feeding and if it's to much, to little, or just right.

Shanoah has grown more by gaining a pound since I adopted her a month ago.  She's 2 years old, 9 pounds now, and pretty active around the house (running all over the place, climbing on everything, and the amount of time I use toys to get the energy out of her).  I definitely think she still has more growing to do.  Like I said before, some cats don't reach full size till 3-4 years old.

So I recently switched to Honest Kitchen Prowl (Chicken) as part of her main meals.  

I basically feed her a full 1/2 cup dehydrated per day, according to the box that's the amount for a 10 pound cat.  I know the servings are exaggerated by companies so that's why I chose a 1/2 cup.

I basically split it up into three meals a day:

Morning: 3/16 cup dehydrated + 3/16 cup water (1/8 cup + 1 tbsp)

Dinner: 3/16 cup dehydrated + 3/16 cup water(1/8 cup + 1 tbsp)

Midnight: 1/8 cup dehydrated + 1/8 cup water + 1.5 oz canned food (anything that's not chicken) - I like to add the canned in the last meal to add some variety meats like turkey or duck.

I also tend to give some Greenie's treats when I can between meals.  I might try some of the Honest Kitchen stuff though.

Also the only problem I have with Honest Kitchen is that their servings don't have ounces on them.  I'm guessing a 1/2 cup dehydrated + 1/2 cup water is about 6 ounces.  So I guess I'm giving her a total of 7.5 ounces of food a day.

Any feedback on this system?  To much, to little, or just right?

It's not a high calorie or carb food right? It looks pretty healthy from what I saw, and they state 1/4 to 1/2 cup per day for a 10 pound cat so I'd say you were on track. Remember half of what she's eating is the water that you're adding, so I don't know if you can go by the weight of it anyway.

Like people, it's not really the weight of the food, bu the number of calories IN the food that counts.  So, you need to determine how many calories she is eating in the 1/2 cup of Honest Kitchen, then add in however many calories are in whatever canned food you are feeding that day (and remember cans can vary immensely), then add in the amount of calories in whatever treats you give her.   Next (the hard part) is figuring out how many calories she actually needs.  You'll base this on her age, current weight,  and activity level.  AND whether or not she gains or loses based on how much you feed her   At her young age, being extremely active, she might need as many as 30 calories per pound, or 270 calories per day, or possibly a little more.

Maybe this article will help you out:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-much-food-should-i-feed-my-cat

I have 3 cats. One weighs 5 lbs, one weighs 9 lbs, and one weighs 14 lbs.  I'm lucky if I can get my tiny one to eat 100 cals per day, my 14 pounder eats 180 cals per day, and my 9 pounder eats 240 per day.  That's all based on their activity level and the fact that the big boy is on a diet.

pushylady said:

It's not a high calorie or carb food right? It looks pretty healthy from what I saw, and they state 1/4 to 1/2 cup per day for a 10 pound cat so I'd say you were on track. Remember half of what she's eating is the water that you're adding, so I don't know if you can go by the weight of it anyway.

Click to expand...

True, that's probably why they don't list ounces with their servings.

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
Like people, it's not really the weight of the food, bu the number of calories IN the food that counts.  So, you need to determine how many calories she is eating in the 1/2 cup of Honest Kitchen, then add in however many calories are in whatever canned food you are feeding that day (and remember cans can vary immensely), then add in the amount of calories in whatever treats you give her.   Next (the hard part) is figuring out how many calories she actually needs.  You'll base this on her age, current weight,  and activity level.  AND whether or not she gains or loses based on how much you feed her

  At her young age, being extremely active, she might need as many as 30 calories per pound, or 270 calories per day, or possibly a little more.

Maybe this article will help you out:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-much-food-should-i-feed-my-cat

I have 3 cats. One weighs 5 lbs, one weighs 9 lbs, and one weighs 14 lbs.  I'm lucky if I can get my tiny one to eat 100 cals per day, my 14 pounder eats 180 cals per day, and my 9 pounder eats 240 per day.  That's all based on their activity level and the fact that the big boy is on a diet.

Click to expand...

So assuming if she does need about 270 cals per day then the 1/2 cup of Honest Kitchen might be enough.  1 cup is 576 cals so half would be 288 cals.

So with whatever brand of 1.5 oz of canned I use, let's say Nutro Natural Choice Turkey - 3oz can, it'll factor in about 34.5 cals for 1.5 oz.  So I've been giving her about 322.5 cals per day.  I'll factor in the treats later when I get a chance, I wouldn't dare touch the bag right now, then she'll think I'm giving her some .  I think each treat is like 1.25 cals though and I only give her like 6-8 a day.  But I should probably cut back and see how she does.  I still do like the 3 meal a day system - that last midnight meal really factors in because if she doesn't get it then she'll wake everybody up early in the morning because she's hungry.

Edit: Actually around 322 might be just fine.  I went back into the article and noticed it said 35 calories per pound for active indoor cats so that's 315 calories.  So I'm probably feeding her about right.  But again, like you said, I should adjust to loss or gained weight.  I'll have to dive into this a little more and figure things out.

If I still want to feed her a more variety of meats, I can always cut back on the amount of Honest Kitchen and add in the canned amount or I could always try feeding both HK Turkey flavor along with the chicken flavor I already have for more variety.  

Thanks for the information!