Zoological world

5 years ago

Categories: Cat

10 Best Methods – How much to feed a cat?

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How much to feed a cat

A question that is frequently asked by new cat owners or even if they are having cats from years whenever someone will buy a new cat he will wonder:” how much to feed a cat?”. Though it may seem simple to answer this question. But it is not that simple. Cat fees are determined on various factors like it’s breed, age, weight, medical condition and many more. Therefore, a better practice is to ask your vet about the food you should choose to feed your new member. Because he can give you a customized schedule depending on your cat condition.

Mistakes people make when feeding their kittens:

Overfeeding:

Overfeeding your cat is one of the major issues. When you feed your cat too much it will lead to several diseases like obesity, arthritis, and urinary tract infections, etc. The thing is when we make cats our pets, their nutritional need become much lower than when they were street cats. So how much to feed a cat? The normal range of feeding a cat is 24 -35 calories a day per pound.

Dry food only:

As cats are derived from their desert ancestors they naturally have an excretory system that naturally produces concentrated urine. Therefore if we only give them dry foods they will develop urinary tract infections and several other harmful diseases. So “how much to feed a cat?” Normally a mouse which is the normal food for the cat contains about 70% of water whereas canned food (rich in moisture) contains about 78% of water. Therefore, it is much better to put your cats on a canned food diet as a preventive measure from the very beginning.

Giving very less water :

Cat’s natural instinct of drinking water is much less as compared to dogs. Therefore, they usually mask their thirst and produce concentrated urine. And if they are already low in their water content and we too are reducing their water intake then it would be a problem. Wet foods can serve the purpose of water deficiency but some freshwater should also be present at home. Place the water at the place where your cat likes to be.

Using garlic for tapeworms and other parasites:

You may seem white segments on your cat’s canal area. These are the segments of a tapeworm that may have infected your cat’s intestine. There are some misconceptions about it that using garlic will resolve the situation. In fact, garlic can destroy your cat’s red blood cells.

How often we should feed cats?

The question of “how often we should feed cats?” is related to many factors. Some of these factors are mentioned below:

Age:

How much to feed a cat? It is very much dependent on the cat’s age. A cat’s food requirement is much more than her per pound weight. A cat of six months requires a meal 3 times a day once it gets seven years two meals per day is enough. And when it reaches adulthood one meal per day is enough said by most vets.

The health of your cat matters:

If your cat has diabetes you have to schedule its food whenever it takes its insulin depending upon the type. Similarly, some cat s may develop hyperthyroidism in which they frequently want to eat something. Therefore you have to treat it first so that you can feed your cat normally.

Some cats also have the plague in their gums so they will face difficulty in chewing food. For them, the best food is canned food which a form of wet food that can be easily digested. If you cannot afford it break the dry food into the size of a nugget so that it can be easily chewed.

Scheduling is important:

You have to maintain a schedule if you want to determine: “how much to feed a cat?” If your morning is too busy setting a routine that works for you in the evening and vice versa. You just have to develop a plan and then just stick to it so that you won’t feed your cat either less or more than his requirements.

Feeding an adult cat:

As some cat owners usually don’t like to pet very young kittens. Most people buy adult cats or by the time kittens also develop to adults. So can we give the same amount of feed to an adult cat as we were giving to a kitten? If not, then how much to feed a cat which is adult now?

Senior cat feed:

Usually, a meal per day is enough for an adult cat as it is fully grown up and does not have many nutritional requirements. But some cats eat a lot and become fussier and as they get fussier they will get old and will develop diseases. Therefore, we have to balance their diet to fulfill the nutrients they actually need in their adult age. For example switching to food which contains taurine, which is essential for your cat’s vision and heart. Similarly, zinc and linoleic are needed for shinier skin and fur. Read the complete article related to How long is a cat pregnant.

How much-wet food should be given to a cat?

Basically vets prefer wet food because they are high in water content as compared to dry foods. Moreover, as cats naturally produce concentrated urine wet food is therefore preferred more. But it’s not as easy to determine which wet we should give to our cat and in which amount as compared to dry foods. Below are some suggestions:

For young kittens:

They usually require 200 calories per day per five pounds of body weight.

For slim cats:

A 15-pound cat needs 360 calories per day.

Obese cats:

Cats with weight up to 20 pounds need 310 calories per day.

Nursing cats / pregnant cats:

A 15-pound nursing cat needs 851 calories per day. Whereas, A 20-pound nursing cat will need 1091 calories per day.

How much should I feed my cat?

Before you rush to up any market to buy your cat food you first have to analyze your cat then you can only determine how much should I feed my cat?

Analyze your cat:

Physical assessment can be easily don’t by looking at your cat that either he or she is slim and trim or its tummy wipes the floor while he walks. An obvious point is their calorie requirements will be different from each other. Kittens can need extra food during the first 12 months for their development.

Finally, you have to analyze the energy level of your cat. Is she a couch potato? Or just uses the couch for its adventures? Similarly, an outdoor cat will need more food than an indoor cat.

Balance the calories:

Now when you have decided what food to give you will have to check the calorie per bowl that would be given to your cat. You can always adjust the food with the calories maintained. The fact is most cats like to be fed multiple times with small meals. You can do that to do until or unless the calorie count is maintained.

How much-wet food should I feed my cat?

Canned foods are also known as wet foods are easy to give yet they are expensive as well for some owners. Therefore, mostly prefer to give dry foods to cats. But remember wet foods are essential to maintain the water levels in your cat’s body and also prevent developing urinary tract infections.

Why wet food?

Most cats are not a huge fan of drinking water. Therefore, to maintain a safe level of water in the body wet food is highly recommended.

How much-wet food?

Your cat’s weight and age determine the: “how much should I feed a cat?” and particularly the weight. If your cat is weighing 15 pounds at is at its ideal weight she will need more food so that he can maintain that actual weight.

If your cat weight is not at its ideal then you have to balance his diet according to his ideal weight, not by his actual weight.

5 cat feeding methods

There are several ways you can feed your cat some are:

Meal feeding:

Food is provided at multiple intervals but is not easily available all the time. Its advantages are that you can easily monitor your cat feed and can determine if he or she is losing her appetite.

Free choice feeding:

Only dry foods can be fed in this way in this food is always available. But it often leads to overeating and obesity.

Combination feeding:

Canned food is given two times a day whereas dry food is readily available.it allows you to monitor the amount of canned food.

Free feeding:

In it, a bowl of food is left all day and your cat eats from it whenever she feels hungry.

Scheduled feeding:

In scheduled feeding, the owner customizes the amount of feed as well as the type of the food and give it on scheduled timings.

How much should I feed my cat?

Many of the cat owners ask this question how much should I feed my cat? If you are a new cat owner or you, don’t know about how to and how much to feed a cat then read our article.

Answer to this question lies in these few things, what is the age of your cat. And what is the weight of your cat? Brand of which food you are giving to your cat matters a lot. Either you are giving dry food or wet, it should contain all the vital nutrients to complete the cat’s diet. Usually, a portion of high-quality dry food is much better than low-quality food. Meat is a significant portion of the cat’s diet as they are carnivores.

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