Cat Chat Feline Forum

When my cat Tiger was neutered, the vets advised me to put him on low calorie food as neutered and indoor cats can be prone to gaining weight. I did this, but he kept gaining weight anyway, so I kept reducing his portions until he was a healthier weight. He is now a healthy weight of 3.9 kilos, sometimes going up or down .1 kilos or so.

However, I’ve just checked the calories on his pet food, and worked out that he is eating 80 calories a day. This seems terribly low!! I thought cats should have 40 calories per kg? That means he should be eating twice as much! But as he is a healthy weight, if I doubled his food now, surely he would become overweight?

Any help appreciated! I want to make sure I’m not starving my cat!!!

weight alone is not a guarantee a cat is at the right weight - my cat is 3.9k and is definitely skinny

what food do you give him, and how much each day? and is he always lookihg for more?

Like with humans, every cat is different when it comes to how much they need to eat to maintain a healthy weight. How much exercise Tiger gets plays a big part in how much he needs to eat, if he is very sedentary then he won't need a lot, if he is out all the time or chasing toys around the house he will need more. If you run your hand over his sides you should just be able to feel his rib cage and there should be a slight waist in front of the hip bones but no bones should be protruding and he shouldn't appear sunken around the shoulders or flanks. If in doubt ask the vet for an opinion, although some vets, like some doctors, do seem to err on the side of skinny.

If he is the right weight and is always hunting for food you might want to invest in some of the special feeding toys and bowls which are designed to slow down how quickly he can eat or give him exercise while he eats.

My Tiger also says hi to your Tiger, my avatar cat is officially called Tiger, she was when we got her, but she is always known as Tiggy.

I adopted 2 sister black cats aged 6+ on 24/4/19. I never read the info fully and referred to them as 6 year olds. I just reread their info and they'll be 8 next month. One is larger than the other who had flea dermatitis with quite a lot of bold areas. These are nearly back to normal. We are trying to get the thin one Susie back to a normal weight and Millie to lose a little. Susie is sick of she eats dry food and it comes out whole. Millie eats both so we are now reducing the amount of dry food she has a day. But how do we increase Susies weight? She is on Felix as good as it looks 2 pouches a day and Millie on Sheba encore ( we have tried many kinds and these are preferred). They get treats as well, the same amount each. They have settled in well and are very friendly indoor cats. Any advice would be most appreciated.

If she can't tolerate dry, I'd give her 3 pouches a day