Your Cat's Daily Calorie Intake   

Calories are the energy-providing food that helps your body digest, control the metabolism, and perform many other important functions. A cat’s metabolism is just like that of a human being. Like us, they also require calories but the intake should be managed carefully. The amount of calorie intake should be based on age, sex, and the general condition of your cat.

 To maintain your cat’s optimum health, you should feed your cat nutritious and complete wet or dry cat food. 

Follow the simple steps below to ensure that your cat receives the right amount of food:

Weigh Your Cat

Knowing your cat’s weight will allow you to determine the number of calories they should receive each day. You can weigh your cat at your local veterinary surgery, or you can also weigh your cat at home.

If you choose to weigh your cat at home follow this simple technique:

- Hold your cat and stand on the scales and record the weight

- Now stand on the scales and weigh yourself without your cat and record the weight

- Subtract the second weight from the first and this figure is how much your cat weighs.

For example, if your weight is 152 pounds and your weight is 164, then your cat weight is 12 pounds.  Normally, a well-conditioned cat weighs from 11 pounds to 12 pounds.

Know Your Cat’s Metabolism 

Veterinary guidelines suggest that 20 calories per pound is what an adult cat should typically receive. Every cat, however, has a different metabolism so this figure is just a rule of thumb.

You are the best judge of how your cat looks and in the best position to decide whether you need to increase or decrease their daily calory intake. For example, house cats or those who enjoy a sedentary lifestyle are likely to require fewer calories than a more active cat. If in doubt, always consult your veterinary surgeon for advice.

Understand Cat Food 

By law, every commercially produced food contains a list of vitamins and minerals present within that food. These days cat food tins and packets detail the calorific value.  Calories present in the food are expressed as ‘Kilocalories’.

It is always a good idea to understand the calories that are present within a particular food. This will enable you to manage the amount of food you feed your cat based on their age, general health and the amount of activity they undertake.

Maintaining Healthy Weight

An indoor cat burns around 20 calories per pound of body weight. Similarly, an outdoor cat requires around 35 calories per pound to maintain good health. That is the reason why an average of 25-30 calories per pound is deemed necessary to maintain good health in an average adult cat. You are best placed, however, to determine what your cat required based on their daily routine and their general physical appearance.

Commercially produced cat food is specially formulated to ensure the correct blend of vitamins, minerals and calories and is the preferred way to ensure optimum health. If in doubt, always consult your veterinary surgeon. 

Article by Get Cat Crazy

Email the team

Visit Get Cat Crazy