I am confused at number of calories needed

I was skimming  over the story of 'Mickey the 27 lb cat" and his weight lose journey. At 18 lbs she was alternating his calories between 165 and 180.

I was upset last night because on another post someone had scared me about fatty liver disease because I was having trouble getting my 16 lb cat to eat more than 1 can of his new urinary SO food at 142 calories. I am trying ways and he is starting to eat more. 

So I am confused at how she was following such an aggressive weight loss plan with this cat. My goal is not primarily weight loss although he does need to lose I just need him to not have urinary problems again.

You can read about Mickey here and the number of calories she was giving him:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245236/...-and-his-journey-back-to-a-healthy-weight/390

This article talks a lot about how many calories to feed your cat and help them lose weight slowly. 

I don't really think you can compare your cats situation to Micky's, considering he was dangerously overweight, and your cat is overweight, not on the danger territory. 

No, I do have another cat besides the one with the urinary problems that would be considered dangerously overweight. But he has lost probably 4 pounds over a years time. Which I guess in 'human's" terms is not too bad as I understand that would be about 60 pounds.

I am upset about it because he weighs about 24 pounds. I don't have any scales. But I do want to try to find also a cheaper urinary food  than Royal Canin as a preventative to feed him. I bought Purina and Hill's small cans at Petsmart today for him to try to see if he gets loose stools from them a problem I have had with cheaper canned food.  But at 1 oz per lb of body weight would he really need at least 6 cans???

No I guess that wouldn't make sense to think I would need to feed him 6 cans according to that article. At 25.1 cal per oz each can would be 75.3 oz. So I think he would be fine on 3 cans. I am just thinking out loud here. Don't know if anyone is going to read this. So that article says 233 calories a day is a good starting point so that would be about 3 cans. 

Thanks for the article. It is very easy to understand and well written. He got overweight for several reasons. One of which he was on kibble. You live and learn. 

catlover100 said:

 
No, I do have another cat besides the one with the urinary problems that would be considered dangerously overweight. But he has lost probably 4 pounds over a years time. Which I guess in 'human's" terms is not too bad as I understand that would be about 60 pounds.

I am upset about it because he weighs about 24 pounds. I don't have any scales. But I do want to try to find also a cheaper urinary food  than Royal Canin as a preventative to feed him. I bought Purina and Hill's small cans at Petsmart today for him to try to see if he gets loose stools from them a problem I have had with cheaper canned food.  But at 1 oz per lb of body weight would he really need at least 6 cans???

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I'd steer clear of any low quality foods, and that would include anything like Purina. All you have to do is look at the ingredients to see that it's not great stuff. The best thing you can do for a cat with urinary issues is get them on an all wet food diet. I like Tikicat, Weruva, Merrick LID (but the Purrfect Bistro is ok to), Nutro Natural Choice, Ziwipeak, Soulistic by Petco. You really want to look for foods that are grain free and low carbs. Kibble is basically the culprit when it comes to cats being overweight, you didn't say what you were feeding before but I'm guessing it was at least some kibble. Some cats do better eating multiple small meals per day rather than two larger meals, so you could try that. If price is a big issue you could mix higher quality foods with lower quality foods. The best lower quality foods are FF Classic line (IMO). 

Start with dividing up his meals into small portions and see how he does. Maybe he'll just eat less than what you assume. Especially if you're switching him from all or some kibble, he may eat less in canned food than kibble. 

Here's a thread that has some other food suggestions for high protein low carbs. The thing is you want your cats to get full off protein that their bodies can use, not fillers like corn that just makes them chubby. 

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/306865/...astes-good-and-has-high-quality-protein-in-it

catlover100 said:

 
No I guess that wouldn't make sense to think I would need to feed him 6 cans according to that article. At 25.1 cal per oz each can would be 75.3 oz. So I think he would be fine on 3 cans. I am just thinking out loud here. Don't know if anyone is going to read this. So that article says 233 calories a day is a good starting point so that would be about 3 cans. 

Thanks for the article. It is very easy to understand and well written. He got overweight for several reasons. One of which he was on kibble. You live and learn. 

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Don't beat yourself up it's all a process, most of us fed kibble at some point (I still do in moderation!). I'm sure some other users will chime in with suggestions. Catinfo is a great resources she's very knowledgable. I don't agree with everything on her site but I use it as a reference point. Good luck!