How Many Calories Should Your Cat Eat

Taking care of a pet is great but not always as easy. Making sure that our cat eats both well and healthy can be challenging at times. We have to put limitations on some food because of health, and we should try not to make our cat eat more than necessary. The main issue is that our pets can’t actually communicate with us. Well, they can, but we don’t understand meowing, so it can be problematic to understand how to feed them.

Besides that, all cats are different, and they have something unique about themselves, but there are also some basic rules when it comes to their diet. How much food our beloved pets eat depends on several factors, like their age, activity, weight, and health. So if you want to order some food for your cat, just check out mainecoonhawaii.com, but if you are interested in learning how many calories your cat should eat, along with other dietary tips, simply continue reading.

Diet needs to suit their age

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The first and maybe the most relevant factor is age, so when it comes to kittens, they still need all that energy just to grow big. So in the first year, they need around twenty calories per pound of weight. Wet food is the best choice when they are small because they need that fat. As they are getting bigger, we need to be vigilant and change their diet accordingly. The faster they grow, the more food we should give them.

With that said, it doesn’t mean you should make them overweight, don’t satiate them but give them that much food they should have to grow into the perfect little cat they are meant to be. After they have grown up a bit and are not kittens anymore, they should reach their adult size after a year. Ideally, they should eat between twenty and thirty-five calories for every pound they weigh. Of course, this is the basic suggestion, only based on their weight and age, not considering their activity level. Generally speaking, twenty calories per pound is for indoor cats, and thirty-five for outdoor ones.

Lastly, let us contemplate senior cats, and no, you can’t put them in a nursing home for seniors. After about ten years, we consider them senior, but they should still eat around twenty-five calories per pound. Again this needs to acknowledge their activity level, which may go down, and their health problems, which might be developed. Since they might start losing weight after ten years, think about giving them wet food again to counter that. It is like with humans. They do a full circle and go back to their beginnings.

A good combination of meat, (good) fats, and fiber

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Now let’s talk about the food we are giving them in a bit more detail. As we mentioned, cats are all different and unique, so tastes in food are like that too. Perhaps you notice that they really enjoy some food, but it never fully satisfies their hunger. Our goal is to find some food that will meet their needs and their pallet. One of the mistakes people make is not feeding them enough meat. They will not be satisfied with a grain-based diet. Look for a food that has meat as its ingredients as well. The next thing to consider is fats, and without them, our pets will always be hungry.

That is actually similar to us, along with the effect lack of good fat has on our bellies. There are a lot of foods that don’t have enough fat, perhaps because of the bad reputation fat haves. Since having fat in our pet’s diet is vital, be sure to read the label and understand what we are feeding our cats. Another similarity is how crucial fiber is. Like in humans, fiber can boost our metabolism and make our cat use the calories we are giving it in a better way. It is not always easy to find cat food with enough fiber in it so consider supplements, like canned pumpkin.

Exercise is important

Now, we have taken into consideration their age and the food they eat, but what about exercise. Exercising is the key to our pet’s activity, and although some might think that they are generally inactive animals, when they exercise, that counts, and we need to add that to the equation. For instance, if there are stairs in the home and our pet is going up and down, consider that as a form of exercise.

Then there are so many toys you might have bought, from lasers to many other things. Furthermore, you might try to take your cat for a walk. We know what you are thinking, “Cats can’t go on a leash,” but the truth is that they can get adjusted to it. And once they do a short walk around the neighborhood is a great exercise, and they will enjoy it greatly. After all, they are curious and love exploring. Now, the other question many people have is how to calculate how many calories should my cat intake with all these exercises?

The answer is somewhere between twenty and thirty-five calories per pound. But where exactly in between is a problem. The truth is there is no clear answer. You need to observe your pet closely and pay attention to its weight, and if it starts changing, you know what kind of dietary modification is necessary. If their weight remains the same, but you want it to lose or gain weight, the rules are also the same. Just increase or decrease their caloric intake, and the rest will come in itself.

Conclusion

As we have seen, there are several important factors to remember, and the most crucial are age, weight, and activities. But even more than that is constant vigilance on your behalf. You need to think about your cat’s interests and pay attention to changes in their weight. As long as you understand how many calories your cats need, you can follow those rules and have a perfect little beautiful cat.