Anyone know if this is true?

I read something today that said you should feed your cat one ounce of food for every pound they weigh. That means I should be feeding Sam 15 ounces of food a day?? As much as he would enjoy that, I think he's getting a bit pudgy for his age as it is, but he always is nagging and complaining he is hungry.

I recently heard that cats should drink one ounce of water for every lb. he/she is. If that's true, my cat should be drinking 11oz of water everyday. I'm know she's not, that's alot of water, isn't it? I wonder if that includes water from canned food.

That means Sam would have to eat 3 cans of food a day. It does seem like too much, but is it if he doesn't eat any dry food? And isn't canned mostly water? I don't know how fattening canned food is.

Just more things to confuse us. I'm sorry, I wish I could help.

Jill and Candy

He gets a can in the morning and another at nite with dry food out all the time and Sally gets the same. He thinks every time I go in the kitchen I should open him another can to eat and he would eat it if I gave him more. Maybe I'm just feeding them the wrong kind?

That is alot of water a day. Mine don't drink a full bowl between the 2 of them per day. They drink out of the shower alot though.

Since many brands and types of foods vary widely in calorie content I would'nt use the 1oz. per lb. as a rule of thumb. I would start with the feeding guidelines on the back of the bag or can and take it from there...increasing or decreasing the amount your feeding as needed for your cat to maintain weight.

Between my two adult cats and two kittens, they go through 2-3 bowls of dry food per day. I fill my fresh flow, and by mid-day, 3/4 of it is gone! If the ounce per pound thing is true, I should be feeding Peppurr 18 ounces of food a day! That's over a pound of food. On the Natural Balance bag, it says I should be feeding a 15-20 pound cat 1-1 3/4 cups a day, that's 8-14 ounces.

Cat's don't know when to stop eating, so when they go into the kitchen, they want food! My cats get wet food as a treat, it's not an everyday thing here.

Originally Posted by nern

Since many brands and types of foods vary widely in calorie content I would'nt use the 1oz. per lb. as a rule of thumb. I would start with the feeding guidelines on the back of the bag or can and take it from there...increasing or decreasing the amount your feeding as needed for your cat to maintain weight.

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I agree with Vanessa - how much you feed depends on the food. JC is 6 kg. (almost 14 lbs.), but gets 30 grams of dried food and 85 grams (3 ounces) of canned food a day, going by the feeding guidelines. When I give him "Prairie", he needs 11 ounces of canned food. It would probably be a lot more if it were Whiskas.

Quality brand kibble without fillers will be more concentrated. Max's old brand needed four times as much in volume than Evolution brand. Just adjust according to how your cat handles it.

Canned is better than kibbled in terms of hydration and avoiding excess weight. Compare it to eating something freezedried or in a soup...

Originally Posted by Weatherlight

Quality brand kibble without fillers will be more concentrated. Max's old brand needed four times as much in volume than Evolution brand. Just adjust according to how your cat handles it.

Canned is better than kibbled in terms of hydration and avoiding excess weight. Compare it to eating something freezedried or in a soup...

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What did you feed Max before you changed to Evolution? I always thought that canned food was more fattening than dry.

I think canned food is thought to be more fattening because people tend to overfeed it and because its also more palatable than dry to many cats so, when given the opportunity, many cats tend to overeat it.

That makes since.

Originally Posted by Ellen54

That makes since.

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I meant that makes sense.

It's not me that fed Max (he's not our cat); it was some cheap meat-based dry food. He now eats Evolution dry.

That canned is more fattening is a myth. Most canned foods have very high water content, making them less fattening.

Thanks all. I was afraid I wasnt feeding my Sam enough--not that anyone could look at him and think he was starving!

I feed my cats 1 cup a day. Angus is about 12 pounds, and Ripper is probably about 15. Ripper would eat and entire bag of dry cat food a day if I let him...