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Feed him just slightly less than what it says on whatever package you have and see how he does. Adjust accordingly. Do you want a "straight answer" or a correct answer?
straigt answer.
i dont know how much he weighs A person moved and left the cat in the apt i rented to them and i recall when they got the cat.
[quote=SUPERCHIC;23135995 i dont know how much he weighs A person moved and left the cat in the apt i rented to them and i recall when they got the cat.[/QUOTE]
see, now if you told us that in the first place, we'd understand a whole lot more! If you're still here, you can always start with the guidelines on the packaging. a 2.5 year old cat is an adult, they don't need kitten food. Just know that the package guidelines usually overfeeds a bit, so you can cut it down a bit.
It's tough to say exactly, because we don't know what sort of food you are feeding him. A can of fancy feast is only 3oz, a can of LIttle Friskies is 5.5 oz, so obviously 'giving them a can a day' is going to be completely different. I have friends who feed their cats 1 can of Fancy Feast twice a day. I was feeding my office cats 1/2 can of FF mixed with 1/2 cup of weight management dry twice a day.
It's very kind of you to be concerned about the poor guy, it's horrible to be abandoned by people you had trusted! I'm sure he appreciates that you are trying. If you plan to keep him, you should be aware that canned food is better for cats than dry, although dry is much more convenient. Even with the canned foods, some are better quality than others: if you read the teeny print on the ingredients, if its starts off with 'meat byproduct' that means beaks, feet & feathers - there's no meat there (cats are obligate carnivores. they MUST have meat protein, they can't get nutrition from plant based protein), and if it's all corn meal, wheat gluten, rice and starchy things like that... it's junk food.
good brands cost a little more, but you can find a balance with things like Fancy Feast Classic (the mushy pate style. the nice looking ones that are chunky and look like meat, aren't). You don't necessarily have to go with the 'designer' foods that many of us use to have a healthy cat.
You had asked how long to leave out the canned food: well, some people leave it out until the next feeding. I think that's kinda gross. It depends on how much of which sized can you put out and how much the cat ate. If you are feeding by mealtimes (best) like 2x day, you can put it down, let them eat it until they walk away and then pick up their dishes. Hopefully you work out how much they ate and eventually only put down a serving size. it takes practice. And sometimes cats get finicky and they just snub their food regardless! We've all been through that.
I hope this helps some. Now that we know why you have a cat and no idea how to feed it, we can probably be a bit more helpful. Rescuing a cat, esp when you have no experience, is still a very good thing! you can always get more experience, and you're saving a life. Thank you.
For the same reason that we can't tell you how many cups of human food you can eat in a day without gaining weight. We don't know what kind of food it is. You could eat a lot bigger portions of carrots than cheese because the calories are a lot different. We also don't know how active the cat is, and that makes a difference. Got it now??
Hey, I'm confused too! I worry I'm not feeding Bobbles enough. She weighed just under 5 pounds when she was at the vets at 6 months old. She's not skin and bones like when we found her, but many other cats are bigger at her at 7.5 when they're 4 months old. I feed her 1/2 can of Fancy Feast at breakfast and dinner and a handful of dry at bedtime. She is active, happy, and content (she's sprawled out over my chest as I type this), except when she's attacking me in my sleep. I think I'm feeding her enough but I do worry. I keep reminding myself the vet told me the night we saved her when she was 6 weeks old that she would probably not weigh more than 10 pounds as an adult.
Hey, I'm confused too! I worry I'm not feeding Bobbles enough. She weighed just under 5 pounds when she was at the vets at 6 months old. She's not skin and bones like when we found her, but many other cats are bigger at her at 7.5 when they're 4 months old. I feed her 1/2 can of Fancy Feast at breakfast and dinner and a handful of dry at bedtime. She is active, happy, and content (she's sprawled out over my chest as I type this), except when she's attacking me in my sleep. I think I'm feeding her enough but I do worry. I keep reminding myself the vet told me the night we saved her when she was 6 weeks old that she would probably not weigh more than 10 pounds as an adult.
3 ounces of canned and handful of kibble doesn't sound like enough for a growing kitten, but I don't know how much a 'handful of kibble' is. I would eliminate the kibble and feed her at least another 2 cans of fancy feast, for a total of 9 ounces of canned all together. Minimum.
My youngest who is a small cat (6.5 pounds at 3 1/2 years old) ate 10-12 ounces a day when she was a growing kitten. As an adult she eats between 4 and 4.5 ounces daily (canned and raw) to maintain that 6.5 pounds. She is highly active.
10 pounds is a normal sized adult cat.
I have a 9 pound cat, moderately active, who eats 3.6 ounces daily and a 10 pound 5 ounce cat, more active, who eats 3.8 ounces daily (both eat canned and raw) Both are between 9 and 10 years old.
Most cats, as adults, need between 3.5 and 6 ounces of canned a day depending of body size, activity level, age, and the type of foods being fed.
Last edited by catsmom21; 12-20-2013 at 10:28 PM..
I have two 4 year old cats who weigh less than 7lbs. Now, some of that was loss in the shelter. I dug through the info I received and found that the larger one weighed 8 pounds in May. :-( At adoption I think it was 6.8. Now the 8 might have been overweight for all I know. But that's a big loss and it's been a challenge to feel like I'm getting enough calories in this one for gain. The smaller cat also had close to a pound loss, from 6.8 to 6 if I remember right, but she is the one who seems to eat better. I suspect she has already gained some. Might need a better scale for these guys, although they're so small I could probably rig my kitchen scale to work. ;-)
Anyway, so, some cats are naturally small. These two look in no way like they're supposed to weigh 9 or 10 pounds. I'll know more in a couple weeks from the vet perhaps.
But Hopes I agree that doesn't sound like near enough for kitten. They need even more calories. Pretty much whatever you can get into her should be fine for now. If she'll eat more cans of Fancy Feast that would be fine.
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