Should I weigh my cat's food to help him lose weight?

catlover100

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I am trying to learn as much as I can to give my 11 yr old cat at probably 18 lbs (at least) the right amount of food. I thought 3  3 oz cans would be the right amount but after looking up the calories of the Fancy Feast and the Friskies I am feeding him I need to cut back.

I am mixing about 1/2 can of FF in the Friskies each day. I can't afford better food for him and I will have to supplement some dry so this will complicate matters but I am concerned about how much canned food at the moment.

I have been re using the empty FF cans and filling them up each night for the next day but feel this is probably not accurate. Am I going to have to get a kitchen scale? Do any of you measure your food like that or what would you suggest. Since I buy the larger cans of Friskies it is hard to estimate how much to give him. 
 

Columbine

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I don't bother weighing my cats' food as I go for smaller size cans. I get giant cans of dog food though, and always weigh that out. My lab isn't overweight, but could easily become so as she's so greedy :rolleyes:

If weight is a concern, scales are always safest. I feed a variety of dog foods, and keep a chart in the kitchen saying what a portion of each weighs - that way, I know the calories are going to work out right. Very useful when feeding foods of varying energy levels ;)
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Of course the kitchen scales will give you the most accurate reading, but the 3 oz FF can should be fairly accurate.

I have a little porker, who is consistently on a diet, and all the food I buy is in 3 oz cans.  I go by the amount of calories in the can and then eyeball the portion based on the calories.  I try to feed him about  60 calories per meal (3 meals per day), so if he's eating Nutro Natural Choice at around 90 cals per can, I feed him 2/3 of a can.  If I'm feeding something where the entire can is only around 60 or 70 cals, then I just give him the entire can.  But that's where you really have to know how many calories are in each food.

WHY do you need to supplement with kibble.  That's where the problems lie when trying to get a cat to lose weight, IMHO.  Darko didn't lose anything until we pulled up all the kibble.  The only way he started losing was when we started monitoring every drop of feed he ate.  We also have to make sure he doesn't push his way into his siblings bowls


As far as feeding Friskies and FF, as long as your are feeding the pates, those are ok foods, because they don't contain too many carbs, so he should feel satiated.  Plus low carb food is much better, in general, but really much better for an overweight cat. 
 
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catlover100

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The reason why I am feeding him some kibble is to cut down on the cost of so much canned food each day. One of my 3 cats had a urinary blockage in December and he is on Royal Canin SO food so I have to keep him on that. That alone gets really costly.

But I can recalculate and see how much it will be since I was feeding my overweight cat too much canned food each day. 

He has been losing much faster since I put him on canned after my cat had the blockage. 
 
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