Is my cat eating enough?

[SaucySoy]

My female cat is a rescue and about 10 years old.
she kind of found us, we took her to vet and they contacted details on microchip and they said they didn’t want her anymore and wanted to rehome her. (Basically she kept running away because they got a dog).
at first she was so hungry and ate loads but now, at about 3 months in I’m not sure she eats enough.
we put out 1 pouch of wet food in morning and 1 in evening and sometimes she doesn’t even touch it.
we also put out dry food which she does munch on at various times of the day.
she won’t drink from water bowl so worried about hydration although vet said it’s quite common and we think she likes to drink from puddles outside at the moment.
any advice pls? Would be very welcome as we’ve never had a cat before.

Is she losing weight? Does she feel bony? If not then she's probably fine.

She doesn’t appear to be underweight, if anything I think she’s got a bit bigger since we had her

I'd not be too worried then. My cat is quite small, so has always been on just one pouch a day and a few biscuits - and she is tubby with that!

Do you have your water bowl away from her food? A lot of cats won't drink near where they eat. My cat also doesn't like her water bowl in a corner. She likes plenty space round it, otherwise she won't drink 🙄 They don't generally need to drink a huge amount though, especially on wet food.

Make a note of her body condition and if it changes to an unhealthy condition get her checked out.
www.petcare.com.au/healthy-cat-weight/

Does she go outdoors and roam freely? She’s probably being fed by other households as well.

You an check body condition score for cats with a google, to see what to look for to determine if a cat is underweight, normal or fat.

What are you feeding her and have you tried other brands/types? If it's the usual cheaper supermarket brands like Felix etc, maybe tyry something higher in protein (70% & above) or a different meat type she hasn't had before e.g. rabbit or lamb. There are some probiotics (like fortiflora) and appetite stimulation supplements that might be worth trying too.

Also read the feeding guides on the food packets (or google it). If weight is ok for body type then aim for a maintenance amount of calories per day. After all that if cat still is under-eating when on food that she seems to like then it might be a sign of a medical condition and worth asking vet for some blood tests and a check.

FWIW I think some cats do just have different appetite levels. My boy prefers dry food and for wet is very picky, only likes mousse textures and one particular brand (he liked another more but that got discontinued). He's a large framed 7kg cat but put put most of his weight on as a kitten/young cat when he used to gobble up his food. Now he's an adult, in terms of amount of food he has quite a small appetite, which I'm OK with as I don't want him to get any heavier.

She does go out but literally just in our garden and since it’s turned cold, she hardly goes out for long, she is spending more time inside since we got her but I think she spent a lot of her time before this outside so maybe she likes it in the warm now she’s a bit older