Calories

[Furrywurrypurry]

Sorry if this has been asked elsewhere. Is there a standard formula for working out the number of calories a cat should consume?

I’m actually trying to figure out how many calories my kitten should be consuming and so I know they require more than an adult cat, but also to find a way to calculate as he goes forwards in life.

Hes currently 3.7kg and a week shy of being 8 months old. I’ve allowed him to kind of eat as much as he wants this far but I do feel now he’s getting older that I’d like to get more control so that his weight is never an issue. He is a russian blue and I’ve read that they can be very good orientated and so prone to weight problems.

I’ve googled a lot but tbh there seems to be vastly different suggestions and also the amounts vary wildly from one food manufacturer to the next. So I thought I’d ask the very knowledgable people here.

thanks for your time

 

[tabbytom]

Sorry if this has been asked elsewhere. Is there a standard formula for working out the number of calories a cat should consume?

I’m actually trying to figure out how many calories my kitten should be consuming and so I know they require more than an adult cat, but also to find a way to calculate as he goes forwards in life.

Hes currently 3.7kg and a week shy of being 8 months old. I’ve allowed him to kind of eat as much as he wants this far but I do feel now he’s getting older that I’d like to get more control so that his weight is never an issue. He is a russian blue and I’ve read that they can be very good orientated and so prone to weight problems.

A kitten should be eating food meant for kittens and wet food is the better way to go as wet food is full of proteins and minerals and wet food keeps them hydrated.
Kittens can be fed on a higher calorie count as they are very active and they are also growing. It is normal that a kitten, let's base on your 8 month old kitten, he should be consuming around 250 - 300 caries per day.

Having said this, it depends on how much food intake your cat is eating. If he is a small eater at one sitting, it means that the calorie spread will be throughout the day and not necessary that he finishes up his food at one sitting and so let's say he needs 250 calories per day, he could be eating like a few meals spread out through the day to make up the 250 calories requirement.

So for an adult cat who is normal active should be having 200 - 250 calories per day. If very active adult cat, 250 - 300 calories per day.

You can find the calorie count on the label and that will give you a rough guide and also this the amount of calories count per day is also a rough guide. Don't crack your brain over this.

Feeding wet food will be a safer choice as wet food helps maintains weight and as for dry food, it's full of carbohydrates.

So your kitten at 8 months is very much a kitten till he's one year old and that is around the time he'll mature in an adult cat. Feeding a kitten food meant for kitten is a must as these food are specially formulated to aid the growth of the kitten in his formation year and once he's an adult cat, you can slowly transit him over to adult's food or you can feed your kitten food labeled 'For All Life Stages' and you can feed him all the way into his adult age without transiting him over from kitten's food to adult's food.

Feed you kitten as much as he can eat at one sitting. He'll know when to stop when he's full and you can never overfeed a kitten. At 7 months old , they go through a phase called 'Growth Spurt' and at this time he tends to eat more than usual and this will last through till he's around a year + and his food intake will slowly taper off.

 

[Furrywurrypurry]

thank you for the reply. He’s on kitten food and he’s on solely wet food now, he was on a combination of both wet and dry when he came to us by I phased it out over the first few weeks.

I’ve kinda been doing what you have said. He tends to eat 4 meals per day, usually two feeds he will eat more and two feeds he will eat a bit less. Morning and nighttime tend to be the larger feeds and I do tend to just keep feeding him until he lets me know he’s done. I was just concerned I wasn’t setting him very good habits by doing that but good to hear that it’s a normal way of doing things. I mean he’s happy, healthy and very active, and although he is a good weight he’s a very slender, long build and so I’m assuming he has a good amount of muscle under there.

Thanks for the input, I’ll continue as I am until he gets a little older

 

[lisahe]

Yes, just keep feeding him! As tabbytom mentions, timed all-can-eat feedings would be preferred, though if the little guy (what's his name, by the way?) has food anxiety and tends to eat too much and regurgitate, you'd likely need to feed less at a time. (It doesn't sound like that's the case but we have a cat with food insecurity who needs to be fed lots of small meals!)