Answer: Most adult cats will require between 6 and 9 oz (170 to 250 g) of home cooked ‘wet’ food or of a canned (’wet’) diet per day depending on their size. The minimum amount of protein needed each day is reckoned at 5 grams for each kilogram of body weight. Since most ‘wet’ diet have about 10% protein this is equivalent to 50 gram of diet per kilogram. In other words, feed one twentieth of the cat’s body weight of diet each day for protein. Then another 2 to 4 0z (50 to 100 g) of food is required for energy. This means feeding altogether 6 to 9 oz (170 to 250g) of a canned diet, or for a home prepared diet, 5 to 7 oz (140 to 190 g) of cooked meats, liver, chicken or fish with some fat, plus 1 to 2 oz (30 to 60 g) of cooked carbohydrate foods. If the food is not particularly fatty, then add a little animal fat. Alternatively, about 2 to 4 oz (50 to 100 g) of a semi-moist diet will be needed each day, or 2 to 3 oz (50 to 85 g) of a dry diet.
The amounts required by the lactating females and young kittens are considerably higher. A cat feeding four kittens needed around I8 oz ( 510g) of meat per day; indeed, if is difficult to overfeed a lactating queen. Weaned kittens initially required about 3 ½ oz (90 g) of ‘wet’ diet per day, rising to 7 oz (190g) per day at ten weeks’ old. The food requirements are also slightly increased for cats in the last month of the pregnancy. Also cats with higher energy requirements owing to cold or increased exertion, will need more food.
Any food remaining in a can after feeding should be stored in the refrigerator and used as soon as possible as it will dry out on the surface. Partly full pouches of semi-moist food should be re-sealed and used in the near future.
