How do I figure out how much food for my cat?

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SandyS

SandyS

Member Since 2016
Do you know how to determine how much food to give your cat per day? I have a newly diagnosed diabetic cat and an IBD cat who have both always eaten only kibble. I am trying to transition them both to wet food before starting insulin on Macy [the diabetic]. I want to make sure that they are both getting enough calories per day so that they don't develop hepatic lipidosis and I can't seem to find a calculator to tell me how much to feed them. It seems like the volume of food would depend on what type of food you are feeding them but that the calories needed would stay the same? Thank you for your help.

Edited to add: Macy weighed 12 lbs 15 oz on 5/6.
 
I'm not good with computers but if you click on forums then Health Links ?FAQS about Felines Diabetes there is a lot of posts relating to FD
 
Thank you, @DebG ! Would you believe, I spent like an hour on catinfo.org earlier tonight and I never saw the part about how many calories. lol. I found somewhere else on her site how to calculate how much to feed them for weight loss but with both of them right now I'm just trying to make sure they don't get hepatic lipidosis. Thank you for the link! :)
 
How much to feed is very much an ECID thing (Every Cat is Different)

There's a general rule of [13.6 x weight in pounds] + 70 calories...so for a 13lb cat, that's about 247 calories per day but that's just a starting point

What we suggest is that you weigh once a week and either increase or decrease the amount of calories based on if they need to gain or lose weight.

As long as your cat is eating something, the risk of HL is pretty small....it's cats that don't eat anything at all for over 24 hours that we really start to worry about
 
Take the calorie count of what you were giving and determine the canned food amount with the same calorie amount. If that was maintaining their weights appropriately, it should work.
 
Thank you, @Chris & China! That's a big relief--for some reason I had the idea that not eating very much was a risk for a bigger kitty so I have been trying to decide between giving her some kibble or letting her be a bit peckish. I will buck up and wait to see how she does tomorrow morning. She has eaten a little bit today but not much.
 
Have you ever tried FortiFlora??

When China's not eating very well, a little sprinkle will almost always get her going

It's the same thing they spray on the outside of kibble to make it so irresistible....only in powder form
 
Thanks, @BJM ! It's kind of a crap shoot from before, because they were free feeding and ate the same type of food, so all I could really say is that Macy ate more than Pixie most days. :) I guess I am more worrying about whether or not I need to supplement with a little young again kibble or something, but it sounds like I should stay the course a little while longer. :)
 
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