If you are a pet owner, you know that cats love to eat. They are pretty insatiable at times. This means that you may be wondering how much raw food to feed cat.
There is no definitive answer. Instead, there are some guidelines that you can follow to ensure that your cat is getting the required nutrients.
You want to ensure that your furry friend gets the best possible care. That includes making sure they’re eating a nutritionally rich and healthy diet. But feeding a raw diet is not simple as it seems.
You need to take a few things into account when feeding your cat a raw diet. The first is the age of your cat. Kittens and senior cats have different nutritional needs than adult cats. So, it would help if you tailored the diet to meet their specific needs.
Weight is another thing to consider alongside the activity level of your cat. You’ll want to ensure that you feed her an appropriate amount based on these factors.
It can be hard to figure out just how much raw food to feed a cat, but it does not have to be! Using the information below, you can easily determine what is best for your feline friend.
Age: Kittens need about twice the amount of food as adult cats. They are growing and have high energy needs.
Senior cats need about 1/3 the amount of food as adult cats. This is because their metabolism has slowed down, and they don’t need as much energy.
Size: Smaller cats need smaller meals. You should be able to easily feel your cat’s ribs, and you should be able to see her waist, but it shouldn’t be too obvious.
More giant cats need larger meals. You should not feel her ribs easily, and the waist should not be visible. It takes some practice to learn what is “normal” for your cat.
Activity: Active cats need more food than inactive cats.
To keep your cat protected from any pancreatitis you can switch to the best cat food for pancreatitis which acts as a cure and also becomes prevention.
The Raw Food Quantity That You Can Feed to a Cat
Suppose your cat is two years old, healthy, and at its ideal weight of 4.5kg. You will start raw feeding with a daily ratio of 3% of its body weight: 4.5 kg x 3/100 = 135 g.
This is the most simple formula to calculate the amount of raw diet for an adult cat that most of us have while in else case you can follow as:
- Healthy Cat: 3% of total body weight
- Cat Gaining Weight: 2.7% of total body weight
- Overweight Cat: 2.5% of body weight
- Underweight Cat: 4% of body weight
- Sphynx Cats and Hairless Cats: 5 to 6% of body weight
- Kittens:
- Until 3 months old: 10% of body weight
- 4 month old: 8% of its body weight
- 5-6 month old: 7% of its body weight
- 7-8 month old: 6% of its body weight
- 9-10 month old: 5% of its body weight
- 11-12 month old: around 4% of its body weight
Tips to Raw Feed Your Cat
If possible, find a local feeder to buy meat daily. This is often much cheaper than buying the already ground meats that are sold in pet stores.
You can also save money by hunting for deals on raw chicken wings and necks at your local grocery store.
When you first transition your cat to eating a raw diet, you must do it gradually. Start by mixing a small amount of raw food with their regular diet. Then, slowly increase the percentage of raw food until they eat only raw food.
If your cat is picky or has a sensitive stomach, you may want to try feeding her a wet food diet in addition to the raw food. This will give her the added benefits of a raw diet while satisfying her taste buds.
We recommend you to learn how to give liquid medicine to your cat in food, while on the other side our experts also publish a detailed guide on when to switch from kitten food to cat food for a safe transition.
The Bottom Line
Figuring out how much raw food to feed a cat can be tricky, but it is vital to ensure that your cat gets the nutrients she needs. Using the guidelines above, you can quickly determine what is best for your feline friend.