How many calories should my cat eat daily?

Most cats need around 40–45 calories per kilogram, but this varies based on activity and age.

Do indoor cats need fewer calories?

Yes, indoor cats are less active and require fewer calories.

How do I calculate my cat’s calorie intake?

You can use a calorie calculator or estimate based on weight and activity level.

Can I feed my cat the same amount every day?

Not always. Adjust based on weight changes and activity.

Are treats included in daily calories?

Yes, treats should be counted and kept under 10% of total intake.

What happens if I overfeed my cat?

Overfeeding can lead to obesity and health problems.

How often should I check my cat’s weight?

At least once a month to monitor changes.

How Many Calories Does My Cat Need Per Day?

The answer most cat food bags give you is wrong for your cat. Not slightly off — potentially 20–40% off in either direction, depending on your cat's size, activity level, and whether it's neutered or intact.

Bag guidelines are calculated for a hypothetical average cat. Your cat is a specific animal with a specific metabolism. The number that matters is the one calculated for your cat — and the formula to get there is straightforward.

The Formula Vets Use

The starting point is the Resting Energy Requirement (RER) — the calories your cat needs just to exist: breathing, circulating blood, maintaining body temperature, without any physical activity.

RER (kcal/day) = 70 × (body weight in kg)^0.75

From there, a multiplier adjusts for your cat's life stage and situation:

Cat status	Multiplier	Daily calories (4.5 kg/10 lb cat)
Intact adult, moderate activity	1.4	328 kcal
Neutered adult, moderate activity	1.2	281 kcal
Indoor, low activity, neutered	1.0–1.1	234–258 kcal
Weight loss target	0.8 (at ideal weight)	187 kcal
Senior, low activity	1.1–1.2	258–281 kcal
Kitten (4–6 months)	2.5	585 kcal
Kitten (6–12 months)	2.0	469 kcal

The neutering multiplier is one of the most commonly neglected adjustments. Neutered cats have measurably lower resting energy expenditure than intact cats — somewhere around 20–30% lower. A cat fed on pre-neuter quantities after neutering gains weight steadily over months to years. This is one of the most common causes of feline obesity, and it's entirely preventable with a portion adjustment at the time of neutering.

Using the Formula: A Worked Example

A 4 kg (8.8 lb) neutered female indoor cat, low activity level.

Step 1: RER = 70 × (4)^0.75 = 70 × 2.83 = 198 kcal

Step 2: Apply neutered indoor multiplier (1.0): 198 × 1.0 = 198 kcal/day

Step 3: Convert to food portions. Check the caloric density on your food packaging — expressed as kcal/cup for dry food or kcal/can for wet food.

If feeding a dry food at 360 kcal/cup: 198 ÷ 360 = 0.55 cups/day (approximately just over half a cup)

If feeding a 3 oz wet food can at 85 kcal/can: 198 ÷ 85 = 2.3 cans/day

These numbers shock most owners who have been filling a dry food bowl to "about half" — a standard cat bowl holds 1–1.5 cups when filled to a typical level. That's 360–540 kcal for a cat whose actual need is 198 kcal. Almost double.

Use the PawCalculator Cat Calorie Calculator to run this automatically for your cat's specific weight, age, and lifestyle — it produces a daily calorie target and approximate portion in cups and grams.

Why Indoor Cats Have Lower Calorie Needs

The difference between indoor and outdoor cats isn't trivial. An outdoor cat with territory to patrol, prey to hunt (even unsuccessful hunts), environmental stimulation, and vertical territory to navigate burns meaningfully more energy than an indoor cat sleeping 16–18 hours on a couch.

Studies on indoor vs outdoor cat energy expenditure suggest indoor cats may have 20–30% lower actual daily energy expenditure than outdoor cats of equivalent size and age. The formula multipliers above account for this — the 1.0 multiplier for indoor/sedentary cats vs 1.4 for active intact cats reflects real physiological difference, not a rough estimate.

The implication: if your cat moved from outdoor to indoor (following a move, injury, or owner decision), its caloric needs dropped — and if you didn't adjust feeding, it gained weight. This is a common pattern in middle-aged indoor cats that owners describe as "always been chubby."

The Numbers That Are Often Ignored

Calories from treats

A single Temptations-style treat is approximately 2 kcal. Giving 10 treats during the day adds 20 kcal — on a cat whose total daily allowance is 198 kcal, that's a 10% surplus before meals. Owners who give 20–30 treats daily are adding 15–25% to their cat's caloric intake without accounting for it.

The rule: treats should not exceed 10% of daily calories. For a 198 kcal/day cat, that's 20 kcal maximum in treats — about 10 standard commercial treats. Reduce meal portions proportionally when giving treats, don't add them on top.

Lower-calorie treat options: small pieces of plain cooked chicken breast (about 3 kcal per small piece), freeze-dried meat treats, or commercial treats specifically formulated as low-calorie training treats (often 1–2 kcal each).

Wet vs dry: the volume confusion

The same daily calorie target looks very different depending on food format:

Dry food at 380 kcal/cup: A 200 kcal/day cat gets approximately half a cup per day. This is a small-looking amount that many owners assume can't be adequate.
Wet food at 100 kcal per 3 oz can: The same 200 kcal/day cat gets two full cans per day. This looks like substantially more food because it is — by weight and volume.

Cats eating wet food often appear to be eating more than cats eating dry food at the same calorie intake. This is the moisture effect — wet food is 75–85% water, which contributes volume without calories. Dry food is 8–10% water and calorically dense.

Neither format is automatically better for calorie management, but the visual difference causes owners to underestimate dry food calories and sometimes overestimate wet food calories.

When the Calculation Needs Adjusting

If your cat is overweight

Use the cat's ideal weight in the RER calculation, not its current weight. A cat that weighs 6 kg but should weigh 4.5 kg should have its calories calculated at 4.5 kg, then fed at 80% of that RER for weight loss. Calculating based on current weight maintains the overweight state.

For safe feline weight loss: no more than 0.5–1% of body weight per week (roughly 1–1.4 oz per week for a 10 lb cat). Faster than this risks hepatic lipidosis. See the cat weight loss guide for the full protocol.

If your cat is underweight

Calculate at current weight, use the standard multiplier, and feed the full calculated amount. If the cat isn't gaining weight at that intake, investigate with a vet — the issue may be absorption (intestinal disease), metabolic (hyperthyroidism), or simply inaccurate food measurement.

Kittens under 12 months

Kittens are growing rapidly and require 2–2.5× the RER of an adult cat. They should be fed a food specifically formulated for kittens or "all life stages" (which must meet kitten standards). Adult maintenance food is inadequate for a growing kitten's protein and calorie needs.

Kitten calorie needs decrease as they approach adult size — reassess at 6 months and again at 10–12 months as the transition to adult feeding approaches.

Senior cats

Seniors (typically from age 10–12 in small breeds, 7–9 in larger cats) have lower activity levels and often lower metabolic rates. The calculation using current body weight and a lower multiplier (1.0–1.1) accounts for this. However, some senior cats lose weight due to metabolic conditions (hyperthyroidism, CKD) even when eating adequately — if a senior cat is losing weight on an apparently appropriate intake, blood work to rule out underlying disease is the next step.

What Daily Weighing and Monthly Monitoring Tells You

The formula gives you a starting point. Whether it's working is confirmed by body weight trending over time.

Monthly weigh-ins on the same scale are more informative than daily weighing (which reflects normal fluctuation). A cat at the right calorie intake should maintain stable weight month to month when at target BCS.

Body condition score monthly alongside the scale. A cat losing weight while appearing to have adequate muscle mass is losing fat (appropriate). A cat losing weight but feeling "bony" at the spine and hips is losing muscle, which indicates the calorie restriction is too aggressive or protein intake is too low.

If weight trends up on the calculated amount: reduce by 5–10% and recheck in 4 weeks. If weight trends down and BCS is still appropriate: the cat is settling toward ideal weight as expected. Continue. If weight trends down below BCS 4/9: increase calories and assess with a vet if the loss continues.

Use the Cat Calorie Calculator to generate a personalised daily target for your cat, and the Cat Weight Loss Calculator for a specific weight loss protocol.