Wet Food Serving Size

[Hannah531]

Maybe I just need someone to check my math, I'm not sure.

Kitty boy should be eating 240-250 calories per day, for his weight.

That means that he needs to eat 6-7 oz of the food we have him on. (36.84 cal/oz)

Right now we have his meals divided into 3 meals but he NEVER finishes a meal (maybe 80/90% of it though) and he's lost about a pound since we made the switch to wet food from dry.

I think it's just the sheer amount of food he's balking at, he loves it and doesn't 'scarf and barf', phew.

I've tried to find a higher calorie food for him but he has other dietary issues (needs low phosphorus and magnesium) and I'm not finding one that has higher calories so we can feed physically less. Help?

 

[Norachan]

Was he over weight before you made the switch?
Does he seem too thin now?
How long did it take him to lose that pound?

Cats on dry food only diets tend to be a little heavier than cats on wet food, so if he's lost a pound and then stabilised at the new weight it's nothing to worry about. Is he still losing weight with new canned food?

 

[Hannah531]

Was he over weight before you made the switch?
Does he seem too thin now?
How long did it take him to lose that pound?

Cats on dry food only diets tend to be a little heavier than cats on wet food, so if he's lost a pound and then stabilised at the new weight it's nothing to worry about. Is he still losing weight with new canned food?

He wasn’t overweight persay but probably could have stood to loose a half a pound or so. I also wouldn’t say TOO thin but just thinner than what we’ve come to expect.

he lost that pound over the course of about 3 weeks and he might still be, I weighed him on Thursday so it’s probably too soon to tell if he’s evened out at that weight or is going to keep loosing it.

 

[sivyaleah]

He lost a pound in 3 weeks? Goodness that is a lot. A cat should be lose weight slowly over the course of months, not weeks. I do not even think it's possible when you look at the math involved. There are 3500 calories in a pound. If you divide that by 21 days, that would mean his calorie deficit is 166 calories per day give or take.

Unless he was overeating prior to this by a large amount, or now undereating by a great amount, ill or overly active and burning up more calories than most might be, it's just doesn't seem possible.

I think you should start weighing the food each time you feed him, and then weigh it again afterwards. Get a small kitchen scale if you don't have one. I had to do this with a few cats; one underweight and the other overweight to make sure they were actually eating what they should. And also check with your vet anytime you're trying to get a cat to reduce or gain weight - they will be able to give you info to help out.

 

[Hannah531]

He lost a pound in 3 weeks? Goodness that is a lot. A cat should be lose weight slowly over the course of months, not weeks. I do not even think it's possible when you look at the math involved. There are 3500 calories in a pound. If you divide that by 21 days, that would mean his calorie deficit is 166 calories per day give or take.

Unless he was overeating prior to this by a large amount, or now undereating by a great amount, ill or overly active and burning up more calories than most might be, it's just doesn't seem possible.

I think you should start weighing the food each time you feed him, and then weigh it again afterwards. Get a small kitchen scale if you don't have one. I had to do this with a few cats; one underweight and the other overweight to make sure they were actually eating what they should. And also check with your vet anytime you're trying to get a cat to reduce or gain weight - they will be able to give you info to help out.

I just bought a kitchen scale yesterday for this!

He has been a LOT more active since we switched his food, which I took to be a good sign because the dry RX diet he was on he HAAAATED and it made him very lethargic - he was only on it for 2 months, not including transition times. Since switching to the wet food his urine pH has been perfect, no traces of crystals and his energy level is high, other than him nor eating the required amount, everything has been great.

We recently switched vets because of a few things (one of which being her insistence that RX dry food was the savior of all of our problems when it actually increased the number of crystals in his urine per the lab work and she didn't deem it pertinent to even tell me what kind of crystals he had) and the new vet just encouraged me to keep offering the same amount of food (the 6-7 oz/day over 3 meals).

I don't think either vet is as concerned as I am, but I'm also a HUGE over thinker.

 

[sivyaleah]

I'm a bit confused. Are you worried he's too heavy, or not eating enough?
If you are looking for food with higher calorie counts per ounce, one I can suggest is Stella & Chewy's Purrfect Pate line. It comes in little cardboard containers (looks like a small milk carton) and it has a LOT more calories per ounce because it also contains bone broth. Quality is great too. My girls like this quite a bit but I have to be cautious because one is a chonk, and the other a bit underweight for her breed. I try to only feed it to the younger one but the chubby girl is a poacher when I'm not looking LOL. It is on the higher price side though, but you get easily 2 servings per container. Maybe more if cautious.

 

[Hannah531]

I'm a bit confused. Are you worried he's too heavy, or not eating enough?
If you are looking for food with higher calorie counts per ounce, one I can suggest is Stella & Chewy's Purrfect Pate line. It comes in little cardboard containers (looks like a small milk carton) and it has a LOT more calories per ounce because it also contains bone broth. Quality is great too. My girls like this quite a bit but I have to be cautious because one is a chonk, and the other a bit underweight for her breed. I try to only feed it to the younger one but the chubby girl is a poacher when I'm not looking LOL. It is on the higher price side though, but you get easily 2 servings per container. Maybe more if cautious.

I'm worried he's not eating enough. He was maybe a smidge overweight (12.9, vet said he should be closer to 12.5) before the switch to wet food, nothing concerning, but in the course of 3 weeks (not including transition time) he's lost a whole pound (He's 11.8 last time we weighed him). He's been behaving find, normal output, but he should be eating 6-7 oz of the food he's on and he's just not. If I had to guess the oz he's ACTUALLY eating it's probably closer to 5oz/day (I just bought a scale so I'll be measuring this week to find out for sure)

I'll look into it! I need to make sure the phosphorus and magnesium levels are relatively low though.

 

[maggie101]

My cat is 6 yrs old. She eats half a 5.5 oz can in the morning, coming back 3x to finish her half can. Then eats the rest last 2 meals. It's only 117 cals but she is healthy active 9 pd cat. I guess I'm lucky that she eats what she needs then stops. I do add freeze dried raw, stella&chewy or nw naturals as a topper so a little more cals. Crush one and use as a topper. Not skinny not over weight

 

[Hannah531]

From what I understand I expected a little weight fluctuation in going from a dry food filled with fillers to a wet food that's filled with nothing but goodness I'm just thinking - similarly to babies - cat's stomachs can just physically only hold so much. Am I thinking down the right path on that?

 

[maggie101]

From what I understand I expected a little weight fluctuation in going from a dry food filled with fillers to a wet food that's filled with nothing but goodness I'm just thinking - similarly to babies - cat's stomachs can just physically only hold so much. Am I thinking down the right path on that?

My cat Maggie eats 1/2 of dr elseys chicken in the morning. If its dr elseys Turkey 3/4 can. Same cal, fat,protein, .So maybe the chicken is more filling. And probably is weight difference in wet and dry.

 

[She's a witch]

If your schedule allows, how about feeding him 4 times a day? This is what I do since my girl only eats little at a time and she doesn’t come back to her bowl, as for her the food that’s been out for more than 10 minutes is not edible... Pre-COVID they’ve been given food twice in the morning (7-8am and 9-10am) and twice in the evening, now we’re spreading meals more since WFH.

 

[Hannah531]

If your schedule allows, how about feeding him 4 times a day? This is what I do since my girl only eats little at a time and she doesn’t come back to her bowl, as for her the food that’s been out for more than 10 minutes is not edible... Pre-COVID they’ve been given food twice in the morning (7-8am and 9-10am) and twice in the evening, now we’re spreading meals more since WFH.

I wish, I'm not working from home anymore and when I am I'm running work related errands.

 

[LTS3]

Use a programmable timed feeder to give your cat meals when you are not home. Canned food is cooked right in the sealed can so it's fine to leave out for a day.

 

[Hannah531]

Use a programmable timed feeder to give your cat meals when you are not home. Canned food is cooked right in the sealed can so it's fine to leave out for a day.

I keep forgetting these exist!

 

[maggie101]

I remember reading that since the pouches are so small food should only be left out for a few hrs. Mine is timed for 5 hrs and it seems fine since my cat eats it without throwing up. Probably leave out no more than that,not all day

 

[daftcat75]

You might need to give him another meal. My Krista never ate more than 2 oz in a meal and often less than that--45 grams or a little more than 1.5 oz. So to get her to eat 7 oz, she would need at least 4 meals. These don't have to be evenly divided on the clock. You can do two breakfasts and two dinners. Or one breakfast, one lunch, one dinner, and a bedtime meal. Whatever works for you and gives him at least a few hours between meals to digest.

I recommend a baby scale over a bathroom scale and subtracting your weight. Bathroom scales are surprisingly inconsistent and inaccurate. I also recommend weighing him not more than once a week. Of if his weight is stable, once a month. Weighing too often is too stressful on both cat and guardian.

Lastly, there are a lot of diseases that have weight loss despite adequate or even excessive calories. If he continues to lose weight despite getting him up to his target calories, please bring him to the vet and get him screened.

 

[Hannah531]

You might need to give him another meal. My Krista never ate more than 2 oz in a meal and often less than that--45 grams or a little more than 1.5 oz. So to get her to eat 7 oz, she would need at least 4 meals. These don't have to be evenly divided on the clock. You can do two breakfasts and two dinners. Or one breakfast, one lunch, one dinner, and a bedtime meal. Whatever works for you and gives him at least a few hours between meals to digest.

I recommend a baby scale over a bathroom scale and subtracting your weight. Bathroom scales are surprisingly inconsistent and inaccurate. I also recommend weighing him not more than once a week. Of if his weight is stable, once a month. Weighing too often is too stressful on both cat and guardian.

Lastly, there are a lot of diseases that have weight loss despite adequate or even excessive calories. If he continues to lose weight despite getting him up to his target calories, please bring him to the vet and get him screened.

I honestly didn't think about splitting the meal sizes, I just did 7 divided by 3 even lol. He eats the most at dinner/before bed so that might work. I'm not home a huge chunk of the day though.

We do use a baby scale from when my son was born and he actually doesn't seem to mind being weighed? I'm definitely overthinking/stressed more than he is. I weigh him maybe every 5 days? It's not consistent but it's not like every day.

For sure! I'm not sure it's time to be THAT worried because he's not eating as many calories as he /should/ but that's why I'm weighing him at home to keep and eye on it.

I weighed him last on Thursday and he was 11.81 but he was 11.97 today. I tried the stella & chewy's topper last night and this morning (my husband fed him this afternoon when he got home and I forgot to tell him to use the topper) and he gobbled it up. So fingers crossed?

 

[Hannah531]

You may have seen me lamenting about my kitty boy not eating and not eating enough while I try to find a food he likes that I can get behind (ingredient and DMA wise) and I think we may have found it!!!

He's eaten the last 4 meals with so much excitement and he's in such a better mood (he never lost his drive to play or cuddle, just was seeming a little grumpier than normal) he's also started purring louder

I'm hesitant to call it now because it's literally been 48 hours but fingers crossed!!!

I've had a lot of anxiety about this issue and it feels so good and I don't have many other people to tell, and hubs is tired of hearing about it. This community has been an absolute god-send.

 

[Youcantseemegrrr]

What brand is he eating?

 

[Hannah531]

Vital essentials duck, the freeze dried patty version.