How much hypoallergenic food should my 8lb allergic cat eat?

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!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! What exactly is in the hypoallergenic diet is somewhat dependent on which one you get. However, generally the idea is using a smaller protein that it is easier to digest. There is usually a good amount of antioxidants and vitamins as well. All in all these types of diets can help tremendously in patients with food allergies. There are many of them out there. My favorite is Royal canin's ultamino diet. Good luck and have a great day!

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!

Hi and thanks for posting! For Easel who is a spayed adult cat, she'll need about 220-250 calories a day to maintain her current weight and between 180-200 if she needs to lose weight. Every food can and product bag contain the calories per cup or calories per can on the label which you can use to adjust her cups per day accordingly. I hope this helps!

If Maze was previously diagnosed with food allergies and they don't seem to be better yet, then they were not adequately diagnosed. First, it can take several weeks for the allergy to go away after a diet change. So, if it's been less than six weeks after the diet was switched, then you'll need to wait a little longer before you know if it worked. Food allergies are due to certain proteins and they are usually animal proteins (beef, pork, dairy, etc.). To find the actual protein Maze was allergic to, you must have done an elimination trial. If there was not an elimination trial done, then you would be only guessing at the source of the allergies. One way I often bypass the elimination trial is by recommending a hydrolysed protein diet such as Hill's i/d. In these diets, the proteins are broken down, so there is minimal chance of them causing an allergy. This would have to be prescribed by a veterinarian though. In the meantime, you may consider starting a diet trial to see if that helps to relieve the problems Maze is having. Here is a link to a good article that explains how to do the diet: http://communityvet.net/2010/03/diy-elimination-diet-for-the-dog-an-cat/ Keep in mind that your diet trial will cease to work if she is getting any treats or table scraps. Make sure that there is no possibility of this happening - especially if there are kids in the house. As always, it's recommended to do these things in consultation with your vet.

The best food for a cat with food allergies would be a prescription diet specifically designed for this purpose, such as Hills z/d or Purina HA. You can purchase these through your vet's office, or order online with a prescription from your veterinarian.

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 :-)