How should I feed my cat?

Step 1: Determine daily calorie count 

Cats, like humans, need a particular number of calories per day to maintain a healthy weight. With cats, a general rule of thumb is to aim for 20 calories per pound of body weight. So, for example, a cat that has an ideal body weight of 10 pounds should need around 200 calories per day to maintain their body weight.

One thing to note is that every cat, much like every human, is different. Their activity level may be high, or they may have a slow metabolism. If you realize your cat is losing weight or gaining weight despite you following this rule of thumb, refer to the article Helping your cat lose or gain weight.

Step 2: Determine how much food you should give your cat

There are many options for food brands that you can feed to your cat, and the decision of wet vs dry. If you're curious about how to know what the best options for type of food are, refer to the article Wet vs. Dry: Choosing the Best Diet for Your Cat. Once you have made that decision, though, knowing how much to feed your cat is relatively easy!

• For canned food, most cans will list a calorie count on the side or on the manufacturer's website. It will be listed as kcal, which (for our purposes) is equivalent to calories
• For dry food, the bag will often list the calories per cup on the side of the bag. Again, this will be listed as calories.

If you're feeding just wet or dry, the math is easy. Let's assume our wet food has 50 kcal/can and our dry food has 400kcal/cup. If our 10 pound friend from earlier needs to eat 200 calories per day, you can feed them two cans of wet food and 1/4 cup of dry food. You could also choose 4 cans of wet food, or 1/2 cup of dry food! Now, if your cat needs to eat a half a can of food, you can purchase pet food can covers from Amazon or Chewy so that you can refrigerate the unused portion

Step 3: Determine a Feeding schedule

So, let's say you've determined your cat needs to eat 200 calories in a day. Should you give them all 200 calories in the morning and let them eat throughout the day? The answer -- most definitely not! Cats in the wild eat many times per day, and your friend should too. For example, my cats eat 4 times a day -- 8am, 1pm, 6pm and 11 pm. In my case, they benefit greatly from a larger number of feedings through the day, and this prevents digestive issues. Some cats prefer 2 times a day, and others 3. A good general rule of thumb is to split it in a way that fits you and your schedule, and keep it as consistent as possible