Is our cat eating too much?

[NotTheCatsMother]

Our 1 year old cat is eating loads - 4-5 sachets of wet food a day. This feels like a lot, should I be concerned (other than it costing a fortune!)? She has been dewormed and she does spend most of the day outside. I've just weighed her and she's 3.5kg.

There is a feeding guide on the box that says how many pouches they should eat depending on if they have biscuits too.

My cat has 2 pouches a day and a couple of spoons of biscuits.

It says 2 sachets over 2 meals - that's for a moderately active 3kg cat. I guess being heavier and more active maybe double that is ok.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that because they are outside all day they are actually active. They will be spending most of their time sitting watching the world go by or sleeping.
They may be heavier because they eat too much? - are they due their annual vaccs anytime soon? You could ask the vet if they seem heavy for their frame to be sure. If they are larger framed then then their weight might be fine.

@NotTheCatsMother

It says 2 sachets over 2 meals - that's for a moderately active 3kg cat. I guess being heavier and more active maybe double that is ok.

Is that for a cat only having having wet food or one that also has dry food?

The stuff I have says 3 pouches for an average 4kg cat

Although the other box says 3½ pouches for 4kg and 4 for 5kg in the absence of dry food

@NotTheCatsMother

It says 2 sachets over 2 meals - that's for a moderately active 3kg cat. I guess being heavier and more active maybe double that is ok.

I just re-read after pixie quoted you and see yours is 3.5kg

Double is way too much. I mean if yours was a larger breed & a 6kg cat then double would make sense but 5 pouches (or even 4) when only 1/2kg above the 3kg feeding guide is too much. I still think vet weighing & checking their build /weight is the best idea.

She's eating it because you're giving her it

Our vet told us years ago that wet food isn't particularly great for cats. I wouldn't take any notice of what it says on the box, the manufacturers want you to use as much as possible!

I've also noticed different brands state different amounts

I free feed so mine eats similar. If you can afford it, and they're an ok weight then it's fine
Depends what you're feeding but usually a higher meat content can be a bit more filling. I swap between grain free pouches and raw and mine definitely eats less raw although his mate also loves it

We have a rescue. She's dinky. She has X2 pouches in the morning and the same in the evening and access to dry in the day. The rescue centre (reputable and registered charity) told us her feeding pattern (shes 2). I queried at the time when I saw the independent vet the following week and he said that this is normal for a young healthy and active cat.

Should add mine is 3.4kg but always needs more weight on him! He does nothing but eat

Mine eats 4-5 pouches a day and is 3 kilos. No dry food just wet. I think that's correct if you read the feeding guide.

I only ever had one cat that was a fatso. She scrounged food off everyone, all the old ladies in the neighbourhood gave her food.
The vet said she'd die young if I didn't put a stop to it, she died this year aged 20.
Even if I'd starved her she would have gone out for dinner.
That sounds like a lot of food, I give my medium sized cat one sachet a day plus she can top up on biscuits during the day.
She gets bad breath if she eats too much wet food.

Strongly recommend Aldi cat food, it's really good and unbelievably cheap compared to supermarket prices!

Sorry got distracted but I'm back! Thanks for the responses. She's slowed down a bit today food wise, 3 pouches, so it's possible she didn't have enough over the weekend when she was being cat-sat.
She is dinky and slim, but solid (she's a Burmese) and definitely not overweight.
She only eats wet food currently (good quality meet/fish) as she went off her dry food and other dry food brands made her fart for England. Currently trying to find an alternative dry food that agrees with her so that we don't get gassed out of the house