How much should I be feeding my cat?

[DavetheCat2001]

I posted last week about adopting our rescue cat. She arrived on Saturday and seems to be settling in well so far

She is a bit on the chunky side, my feeling being that as she had been unsuccessfully re-homed once already, she hasn't had the opportunity to get outside and exercise much.

I am intending to keep her in for a few weeks and then she can have access to the garden.

In the meantime, she seems to be mithering for food constantly. So how much is too much?

She has a pouch of Felix in the morning and usually a few dry biscuits mid morning, and another pouch of Felix in the evening. However she hangs about her bowl/my feet often asking for more. I did give in earlier and give her another pouch, but I don't want to overfeed her as I suspect she has been fed on demand previously hence the rotundness of her!

No one knows her age exactly, it's been estimated between 3-6 years, so she is fully grown.

Any advice?

(pic to illustrate chunk!)

Mine have a pouch each morning and evening, plus a few biscuits at night. I did find they were absolutely frantic for food in the first few weeks, the rescue where they came from said its normal and they actually underfeed them slightly as they don't get any exercise really in their little pens. After a couple of months they really calmed down around food, and now it is normal for them to leave some and return to it later.
I'd stick with the routine and try not to give into please for more, as she'll only get the idea in her head that she can be fed on demand! (Easier said than done I know!)
She's lovely by the way!

*pleas

Mine aren't 1 year yet but I give them half a pouch each 3 times a day and leave dry food down all the time

Thanks chaps.

I have buckled today and she's had 2 punches already and a few biscuits earlier. I'm hoping that once she can go outside she'll burn off a few more calories!

I'll try to stick to 2 pouches per day and some biscuits if she's desperate!

How much dry are you giving?

Just a small handful a couple of times a day

2 pouches, not 2 punches!

My Sheba Has a guide on the side with how much to give if feeding a mix of dry and wet. I'll see what it says. Maybe try weighing out what it suggests and see how much it is

Thanks..not sure how much she weighs might have to get on the bathroom scales with her!

That's how i weigh mine too after they got to big for the kitchen scales 😂

Too*

I think the rule is that however much you give them will be roughly 1/3 of their preferred daily intake.

Mine aren't bad at all and will leave food if they dont want it

Dry food is very variable in how much you need to feed. I fed 20g of a high quality dry in the morning and a pouch in the evening.

Well you dont really get much in those pouches do you? Have you thought about changing her food to something more solid? I use pouches as they are convienient but im not convinced they are good value. My year old has a pouch in the morning and evening and grainfree dry available all day.Thats because i work 12 hour shifts and they dont get fed until after 11pm.

The baby for the last two days has left her wet food untouched and gorges herself on biscuits instead.

Mine has a Country Hunter pouch for breakfast, a Hi Life tuna pouch for lunch and a Natures Menu pouch for dinner. If we get up in the night and he's eaten all his dinner and he wants something he gets 10g of biscuits.

I have 3 indoor cats so they don't get much exercise apart from chasing each other & playing. They get a pouch each in the morning and biscuits in their bowl each day, which they never finish.
They are still porky!

My cat will finish everything in her bowl! I've yet to see anything left.

She's constantly around my legs the kitchen meowing for more food.

Going to have to get tough, so at the moment it's a pouch in the morning and evening, and then some biscuits during the day.

My 4.5kg cat has a quarter of a pouch twice a day, so only half a pouch a day. There are dry biscuits down for her, approximately 30g a day. And she's still a bit podgy even though she's an outdoor girl.
She came from the rescue who told us to give her a third of a pouch twice a day plus biscuits but that proved to be too much. I'm always amazed that the guidelines say to give multiple pouches per day.

Mine (two of them) share a pouch of Felix twice a day so one pouch a day each and share about 40g of high quality dry food. Thry are outdoor cats in daylight hours but fairly sedentary. One is very slim and the other is a bit chunky but their weights do stay constant (get weighed at the vet every 6 months).

i've had rescue cats my whole life and my vet has always said that they will mither for food. it's a throwback to them feeling uncertain where the next meal is coming from. also a comfort thing.

mine would eat morning noon and night if she had her way!

i leave biscuits out overnight and she has a small tin of sheba morning and night.

I'm always amazed that the guidelines say to give multiple pouches per day.

A lot depends on the cat. Mine would be anorexic if he only had half a pouch a day!

girlandboy. My 3.9kg very greedy cat who also spends a lot of time outside eats about 3 pouches a day and dried food (I've no idea how much-she eats whatever she wants). Despite eating all that, she's actually quite slim. I'm quite amazed that different active cats can vary so much.

Pouches are mainly moisture so cats are more likely to get fat on the carbs from dry foods (if they do not have a high meat content and are full of grains).