How Much to Feed Kitty?

Source

Tonight I was bedevilled by a cat begging for food.  We couldn't give her food since she was chubby already. How much food should a cat eat?

Calorie intake depends on activity but 25 calories per pound of body weight is often cited, or sometimes a range of 20-30 cal/lb.  This site has calorie content of different brands and flavors of cat food. Cat food flavors vary from by 20% so it is hard to be accurate unless you want to feed kitty only one flavor.

We have two cats who are both about ten pounds, so they should have 250 calories a day. Fancy Feast varies from 23.2 to 31.9 calories per ounce, and the cans are three ounces, so about 83 calories per can. 250/83 = 3.0 .   So unless I want my cats to lose weight, they should get three cans a day.

The variability per can is a problem, since it varies by 31%.  If I were to skip 31% of my calories in a day or about 730 calories -- I'd notice it.  If I decide to give one on the low end like Grilled Salmon flavor Fancy Feast instead of Classic Salmon flavor Fancy Feast, the cat gets many more calories and would lose weight.

The variability of canned food is a good reason to feed dry food.