Healthy Adult Cat without Special Dietary Needs
Cats require 20-30 calories per body weight to maintain a healthy weight.
Example: if your cat’s ideal weight is 10lbs, then the daily caloric intake should be between 200 and 300 calories.
How many calories also depends on your cat’s activity level, so based on the example above a 10lb cat with
Low activity would need 200 – 243 calories
Moderate activity would need 254 – 256 calories
High activity would need 257 – 300 calories
When choosing a food for your cat, consider the following:
- Cats are strict carnivores – they get their nutrition from muscle meat, fat and by-products and very little carbohydrates.
- Wet or Dry
- Wet food (highly recommended)
- Has meat
- More moisture
- Low carbs
- Low in calories
- Dry food (not recommended for primary food source)
- Usually no meat and just filler
- Less moisture
- High in carbs
- High in calories
- Equals junk food
- Wet food (highly recommended)
- Stay away from “holistic” foods, and foods with vegetables, fruits or greens. These are humanized cat food products and marketed for human’s idea of what is healthy and not what is actually healthy for cats.
Keep in mind any treats given to your cat adds to the daily caloric intake and could cause weight gain. Adjust accordingly.
Changing food: When switching food, mix increasing amounts of the new food with decreasing amounts of the old food over a 7-day period.
