Am I feeding my healthy, active cat the right amount of food?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Lucy. The side of bag offer basic feeding recommendations that try to account for the cats with the highest metabolism in that age bracket. Each food differs in calories per cup so it is difficult to make an accurate recommendation for her without this information. As far as assessing her weight, she needs only a thin covering over her ribs. You should be able to feel them through her skin. She should have a defined waist from the top and side views. I hope this information helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If Luna really is 7.5 pounds as it says in her profile, she should be eating about 1/2 cup of that specific diet per day. That is an appropriate and good diet. Best of luck!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Luna. First off, is she at a healthy weight and fairly active? Or do you feel she is sedentary and may be prone to weight gain? If she is lean, you can feed up to 3/4 cup per day. I would sprinkle small amounts of this pre-measured amount into her dish throughout the day to encourage her graze and not finish it all at once. You can also take kibble from this pre-measured amount and hide pieces around the house. This encourages a cat's normal hunting behavior. If you place kibble on high surfaces she will have to jump. This gives her extra exercise. Change up the hiding places to keep her engaged. If she is overweight, then I would only feed 1/2 cup per day. I hope this information helps!

The amount listed on the cat food bags are just a guideline. If Teddy is not too thin or fat you are feeding correctly. I feed based on the cats body condition rather than a set amount per animal as the activity level of each animal is different. At 6 lbs Teddy is a small cat so feeding that much is fine. As she becomes an adult and is spayed her metabolism will slow down and she may gain weight so you may need to decrease to 2 pouches a day. Indoor cats need less food as they get less exercise than outdoor cats, and young animals need more calories than older ones. Adjust the food amount as you monitor if she is normal weight, thin or overweight. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to gets answers to your veterinary questions.

These are good questions, and I will try to help you as best as I can. The problem with judging how much a cat show weight depends not only on their breed, but their bone structure as well. Some cats are naturally bigger than others, and what is a healthy weight is individual per cat. American shorthair females can range in weight from 6-12 pounds, so it can be normal for some females to be at Luna's weight or even higher. That being said, however, she may be smaller in frame, and needs to be closer to the middle or lower end of the weight range. I certainly wouldn't want to say she needs to lose a certain number of pounds, and have her be too skinny. It's great that she has lost 1.4 pounds, and if she hasn't been seen by a vet since the summer, it may be that she has reached a better weight (sometimes cats only need to lose a few pounds to reach a healthy weight). I would recommend taking Luna back into the vet for an exam to see if she has reached a healthy weight according to them. Another way to tell is to look at her body condition score. This will help give you an idea of how she is doing weight wise, and the vet can confirm how much more she needs to lose. I will put a link to a body condition chart for cats: http://www.wsava.org/sites/default/files/Body%20condition%20score%20chart%20cats.pdf As for how much to feed her, what you've been doing has clearly helped her lose weight, and I would continue to do that if the vet feels she needs to lose more weight. If she doesn't, then you can discuss with a vet a healthy diet for her. It's normal she will be hungry, dieting is not easy for either humans or cats :-)

If she is maintaining a healthy waist line, then you are probably feeding her the correct amount. Just like humans, pet's weights are determine by how many calories they eat and how much exercise they get in a day. Here is a link to help monitor her waist line: https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-do-i-determine-if-my-cat-is-overweight/ I hope this helps!!

Thanks for more information! Wet food has fewer calories that dry food due to the higher moisture content, so I'd recommend wet food for Snowball. Do not free feed, give him food twice a day at set times, and feed him according to the instructions on the can of food. No treats at all and no human food. I see he's an older boy, so he may not be into playing, but you can look at trying to get him more active with some toys. I hope this helps!