Is my 7-year-old cat eating too much? How much should I feed him?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Lucy. The side of bag offer basic feeding recommendations that try to account for the cats with the highest metabolism in that age bracket. Each food differs in calories per cup so it is difficult to make an accurate recommendation for her without this information. As far as assessing her weight, she needs only a thin covering over her ribs. You should be able to feel them through her skin. She should have a defined waist from the top and side views. I hope this information helps!

The amount of food will vary depending on the particular food. Generally, a small can of Fancy Feast twice a day is all a cat will need. If you feed dry food, post a picture of the feeding guidelines and we can help you determine how much. This is also a great time to help your pet exercise. You can use a feather toy, a small ball or pom pom on a string, a laser pointer, etc.

Thank you for submitting your question Nala. The feeding recommendations on the side of the bag are total daily calories. You can divide this amount however you chose. It is important to note that the feeding recommendations on the bag are geared for the cats with the highest metabolism within each weight bracket. This is too much food for most cats. If your cat is overweight, then you will want to feed less. Cats should only have a thin covering over the ribs. You should be able to feel individual ribs. The cat should also have a defined waist from both the top and side views. I hope this information helps!

If she is maintaining a healthy waist line, then you are probably feeding her the correct amount. Just like humans, pet's weights are determine by how many calories they eat and how much exercise they get in a day. Here is a link to help monitor her waist line: https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-do-i-determine-if-my-cat-is-overweight/ I hope this helps!!

Your kitty indeed is quite chubby but looks very sweet! I suggest you do not free feed him during the day and reduce his dry food to a 1/4 cup in the morning. You can also feed him canned food only, 1/2 can in the morning and 1/2 can in the evening. Try this for a few weeks. If he does not lose weight you can buy special weight reduction food, however often cats do not take well to this kind of food. Playing a lot with him, throwing paper balls, etc. is also very important (exercise).

Hi! Feeding charts on bags of food provide a general estimate for how much an average active adult cat at an ideal body weight should eat. These charts are by no means set in stone! Individual animals' metabolisms can vary widely, just as they do in people. Since Roronoa Zoro is a bit overweight, you are doing the right thing by feeding him a bit less to achieve some weight loss. At this point, I would not make any adjustments simply based upon the feeding guide alone. There are calculations that can determine the number of calories per day that Roronoa Zoro should consume based upon his ideal body weight, body condition score, and overall activity level. Feel free to request a consultation if you would like to discuss this in more detail.

The exact amount of calories that a cat needs certainly depends on their weight and activity level, but will tend to decrease slightly when a cat reaches an adult age. So, that might be why Baluu is eating less canned food than he used to. If he did not used to eat the dry food along with the canned food, then that would also account for why he is eating less canned food. In general, we usually recommend about 5 ounces of canned food for each 10 pounds of body weight if they are not eating any dry food. Based on that, it sounds like Baluu is eating a sufficient amount since he is also eating some dry food. If it seems like Baluu is losing weight, then I would recommend having your veterinarian examine him to make sure there isn't something going on internally. Otherwise, I would suspect that his metabolism is just slowing down a little and he doesn't need as much food as he did when he was younger. Some cats really desire some variety in their food, and it sounds like Baluu is one of those cats. Good luck! I hope that answered your questions. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.