Fat & Calories

[smithde83]

Hello Everyone,
Since orginally coming to this site 3 years ago, my 15 yr old Nebelung is still doing great. He has been diet controlled since 6 months after his diagnosis thanks to all the information I found here and it is refreshing to see some weight back on him. We are hoping to get a few more years out of our grumpy old man. Using the list on Blinky's page I choose wet food under 12 carbs per can. Sadly it looks like the kind of cat food I was using is going to be discontinued. I couldn't remember how to figure out the figures on the can myself so I am back to the list. What I was wondering is does anyone know how much fat or how many calories is considered a lot per can of food? I tend to stock a month's supply of food at least and all my cats partake of the same diet. With that said we originally chose lower calories or fat because my female tabby was packing on some pounds and we had a super hard time keeping them out of each other's food so the compromise was something they can all eat.

 

[Ann & Tess GA]

Have you read Dr. Lisa's articles? Here's a link to the one on http://catinfo.org/?link=cannedfoods Lots of good info and you can get to her other pages from there.

Here are a few things I've copied out for quick reference:

  Considering that the average 10 pound cat only needs about 200 calories per day to maintain their weight,

Required calories per day = [13.6 X optimal lean body weight in pounds] + 70
Most female cats should weigh a nice, lean 10 -11 pounds.  Most male cats should fall into the 11 -13 pound range.
Using an optimal body weight of 12 pounds as an example, we come up with 233 calories/day as a starting point.
[13.6 X 12 pounds] + 70 = 233
This formula provides a very generous starting point (usually far too generous)

Wellness 220kcal/ 5.5oz can = 40 kcal/oz.
(13.6 x 8.5 = 115.6) +70 = 185.6 = 4.64oz Wellness/ day
(13.6 x 9 = 122.4) +70 = 194.4 = 4.8oz Wellness/ day
(13.6 x 10= 136) +70 = 206 = 5.15oz Wellness/ day

Consider Calories and Composition, Not Just Ounces
An average canned food contains ~30 calories/ounce.  The plain chicken and plain turkey Wellness products contain ~40 calories/ounce.  Some of the lower quality canned foods only contain ~20 calories/ounce.  So you can see by this wide range that you need to pay attention to calories - not just ounces of food.
For high protein/low fat snacks you can offer small pieces of chicken but remember that you are feeding a small cat, not a human.  A little bit of food can be significant in terms of calories.
Chicken meat:
Raw, lean, skinned leg/thigh meat  =  ~34 calories/ounce.
Cooked, lean, skinned leg/thigh meat  =  ~50 calories/ounce.
This site is a good source for calorie/nutrient content of many foods.