Cat Feeding Calculator

Work out your cat's daily calories from weight, life stage and whether they are neutered, then convert that into cups or cans using the numbers on your own bag. If your cat needs to lose weight, the ration is calculated from the target weight rather than the current one, which is the part most feeding advice skips.

Free · No signup · Adjustable for any food
Author: LocalPetFinder Team

The short answer

A cat's daily calories come from its resting requirement multiplied by a factor for life stage and neuter status. A neutered adult at a healthy weight sits near the bottom of that range, an intact cat noticeably higher, and a kitten far above both. Convert calories to portions using the figure printed on your own food, because products vary too much for a single cups-per-day answer to be meaningful. Then let body condition settle it: if the ribs are getting harder to feel, the portion is too big whatever the arithmetic says.

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Cat Feeding Calculator

How much should I feed my cat?

3 lbs25 lbs

This changes the daily requirement by roughly 15 percent, which is why so many neutered indoor cats gain slowly.

261 kcal/day
≈ 0.69 cups of dry food
split into 2 to 3 meals a day
💧Cats have a weak thirst drive, so wet food is a meaningful part of their water intake. A cat fed only dry food often runs mildly under-hydrated, which matters for urinary health.
⚖️Weigh portions rather than scooping, and count treats. Free-feeding dry food is the most common reason an indoor cat gains weight without anyone noticing.

Estimate using the standard resting-energy formula (70 × kg^0.75) and published feline maintenance factors. It is a starting point for a healthy cat, not a prescription. Your vet sets the right amount, especially for weight loss, kidney disease, diabetes or any prescription diet.

The neutering step almost every feeding guide skips

Spaying or neutering lowers a cat's daily energy requirement by roughly 15 percent. The standard veterinary maintenance factors put a neutered adult around 1.2 times its resting requirement against about 1.4 for an intact one, and nothing on a food bag tells you to make that adjustment.

Fifteen percent sounds small, and that is exactly why it works. Nobody notices a cat gaining a few ounces a season. They notice two years later, when the ribs have disappeared. If your cat has been neutered and you never changed the portion, that is the most likely explanation for a slow drift upward, and it is the easiest one to correct.

Why wet food is not just a preference

Cats descend from desert animals and have a notably weak thirst drive. They do not reliably drink enough water to compensate for a completely dry diet, which is why wet food matters more for cats than for dogs. The moisture that comes with it supports urinary tract health, and urinary problems are both common and expensive.

None of that makes dry food wrong. It is cheaper, easier to measure, and it works in the puzzle feeders that slow a fast eater down. Plenty of cats do well on a mix. The calculator handles either, since what actually governs weight is the daily calorie total rather than the format.

Feeding for weight loss, safely

Cats cannot be dieted the way dogs can. A cat that loses weight too quickly, or that stops eating, can develop hepatic lipidosis, a serious liver condition, and overweight cats are the most vulnerable. Get a target weight and a measured ration from your vet, go slowly, and never fast a cat. An overweight cat that refuses food for more than a day or two needs to be seen rather than waited out.

To check where your cat currently sits, the body condition check walks through what a vet feels for, including the belly flap most owners mistake for fat. For what a cat costs to keep beyond food, try the cat cost calculator. If you are still choosing, the cat breed fit quiz covers size and care needs, and you can browse adoptable rescue cats whenever you are ready. The dog version of this tool is the dog feeding calculator.

Frequently asked questions

Tap a question to expand

How much should I feed my cat per day?▼
It depends on weight, age and whether your cat is neutered, which is why the calculator above asks for all three. As a sense of scale, a neutered 10 lb adult at a healthy weight works out near 260 calories a day, which is roughly two thirds of a cup of a typical dry food. The same cat left intact needs closer to 300, and a growing kitten needs far more per pound than any adult. Translate the calorie figure into portions using the number printed on your own food rather than a generic cups-per-day answer, because products vary enormously.
Why does spaying or neutering change how much I feed?▼
Because it lowers the daily energy requirement by roughly 15 percent, and most feeding guidance ignores this entirely. Standard veterinary maintenance factors put a neutered adult cat around 1.2 times its resting requirement against about 1.4 for an intact one. If you keep feeding the pre-surgery amount, the cat gains slowly and invisibly over months. This is one of the main reasons neutered indoor cats drift into being overweight, and it is easily avoided by re-measuring the portion after the operation rather than carrying on as before.
Should I feed wet food, dry food, or both?▼
Either can be complete and balanced, but wet food has one real advantage: water. Cats descend from desert animals and have a weak thirst drive, so they do not reliably drink enough to make up for a completely dry diet. Wet food carries substantial moisture with it, which supports urinary tract health. Dry food is cheaper, easier to portion and better for puzzle feeders. Many owners land on a mix, and that is a perfectly reasonable answer. What matters more than the format is the total daily calories and whether your cat stays lean.
How many times a day should a cat eat?▼
Two to three meals a day suits most adult cats, and kittens need three to four because they cannot hold enough in one sitting to fuel their growth. Cats naturally eat many small meals, so splitting the ration more finely is closer to how they are built and helps with the cat that yowls for food at 5am. What to avoid is leaving dry food out all day. Free-feeding makes the daily total impossible to track and is the single most common reason an indoor cat gains weight without anyone noticing.
How do I feed a cat that needs to lose weight?▼
Calculate the ration from the target weight, not the current weight, and get that target from your vet rather than guessing. This is the step owner-run diets usually miss: feeding a reduction amount based on a cat’s current, too-high weight barely reduces anything. Just as important is the pace. Cats that lose weight too quickly, or that stop eating, can develop hepatic lipidosis, a serious liver condition, and overweight cats are the most at risk. Weight loss should be slow, measured and supervised, and a cat refusing food for more than a day or two needs to be seen.
How much should I feed a kitten?▼
Far more per pound than an adult, and on a schedule rather than a diet. Under about four months a kitten needs roughly two and a half times its resting energy requirement, easing toward twice it between four months and a year. Feed a food labelled for growth or for all life stages, split across three to four meals a day, and do not ration a growing kitten to keep it slim. Kittens are meant to eat a lot. Recalculate once growth slows toward the first birthday, and again after spaying or neutering, because both change the number.
Why do the bag guidelines seem so much higher than this?▼
Bag guidelines are broad ranges built around an average cat at maintenance, and they generally do not distinguish between neutered and intact animals or account for a cat that needs to lose weight. They are also written by a company whose interests are not perfectly aligned with feeding less. Treat the label as a starting bracket, use a calculated figure as your reference, and let your cat’s body condition settle the argument. If the ribs are getting harder to feel, the portion is too big regardless of what either number says.
Do cats need meat, or can they be vegetarian?▼
Cats are obligate carnivores and cannot be safely fed a vegetarian or vegan diet without expert formulation, and most vets advise against attempting it. They require nutrients that are found reliably only in animal tissue, including taurine, which cats cannot make in adequate amounts themselves. A deficiency causes serious heart and eye disease. This is a genuine species difference rather than a preference: dogs are far more flexible omnivores, cats are not. Feed a complete cat food formulated to a recognised nutritional standard, and talk to your vet before any unconventional diet.