Just found out I'm feeding my cat wrong, some insight would be nice. :)

[sugarcatmom]

Things are going well, the only question I have is that I was wondering if there was a site I can trust to tell me how much I should be feeding my cats on a daily basis.

Thanks everyone for their input!

The National Research Council says the average healthy 10lb cat should get around 280 cal/day: http://dels-old.nas.edu/banr/briefs/cat_nutrition_final.pdf 

Or, somewhere between 20-30 calories per lb per day, depending on age and activity levels and stuff: http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm

 

[ldg]

The National Research Council says the average healthy 10lb cat should get around 280 cal/day: http://dels-old.nas.edu/banr/briefs/cat_nutrition_final.pdf 
Or, somewhere between 20-30 calories per lb per day, depending on age and activity levels and stuff: http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm

It is definitely very individual. My cats are older, but seem to need somewhere between 15 and 20 calories per pound. If I fed anything even close to the recommended amounts on the cans, they'd be bowling balls.

 

[helpmycat]

So I should be giving my 8lb cats about 3/4ish of a can a day each?  I was giving them a lot more than that in terms of dry food so hopefully they don't hate me for cutting it down a bit. (They were starting to get a belly! haha!)

Also from what I understand I should feed them three times a day vs two? (The more the better, but this is the best I can do)  so 1/4 can each 3x a day is what I'll give them.

 

[ldg]

Well, it does depend on the food. Canned foods vary in how many calories they provide. They tend to be anywhere from 180 - 220, though I have seen them lower (rabbit) and higher. But yes, figure out how much per whatever can you're feeding, and divide it into the three meals!

 

[redvelvetone]

I guess it depends on if they are still growing or not on how much to feed. I have an 8 month old and he is a voracious eater. He gets 5.5 oz of wet per day plus some raw food (I'm not sure how many ounces of raw though). Usually three (maybe four) piece of chicken (small strips). Also a small spoonful of sardines (in spring water) for his coat. He's still begging for more food though. He's still at that long and lean "teenager" looking phase though. Are your cats still pretty active? They don't need to eat as much when they stop growing, but if they are still growing it's OK to feed them a little more. 

I'd go with one 5.5 oz can each and then cut back or give a little bit more based on how their body weight is doing...... and yes, three meals is better than two if you can do it.

 

[nerdrock]

Deciding how much to feed can be really hard... what I do is take the average of the feeding recommendation (example: if the bag says 5-10 lb should get 1/4-3/4 c, I'd start with 1/2 c) and then adjust from there based on my pet's body condition and weight. 

I'll use my two dogs as an example because they're about as far apart in metabolism as you can get. Fynn holds a steady weight at 17lbs and is extremely lean, I would like to see him gain 3 lbs but he just won't unless I feed him upwards of 1.5lbs of raw a day (that's the recommended amount for a 90lb dog btw), as I feed him now he maintains his weight and doesn't loose so that's what we stick with. Sadie on the other hand is 9lbs and gains weight very easily. When she was on kibble I had to literally count how many kibbles she was getting because if she got even 5 pieces more than she needed, she'd gain fast. On raw, she gets the recommended amount for a 5lb dog. 

My cat, Leiki, holds her weight with one raw medallion and a little bit of kibble a day (sorry, I go by looks for hers, I don't have measurements), or half a can and the same amount of kibble.