How much-canned food to feed a cat? Canned foods, commonly known as wet cat food are so important for your pet. They provide it with the crucial nutrients that make them healthy. However, not all cats should be fed with canned foods; rather one should consider the health condition of your cat.
Another factor to consider before feeding the cat with canned food is if the cat is an indoor one or an outdoor one. Indoor cats should be given more wet food as compared to outdoor cats for the simple reason that it provides them with nutrients that they miss for not being active.
How much canned food should I give my cat, in a given day?
One of the hardest tasks is to determine the kind of canned food and the actual amount of this food to give your cat. Rather, you will need to determine how much your cat eats in a given day to keep it healthy, happy and satisfied.
The nutritional needs of your cat plays a critical role of determining the quantity of wet food required. For instance, if your cat needs a lot of calories. Then it has to consume a lot of canned food and when it doesn’t require a lot of it. Then it will better consume less of canned food and more of dry food.
The cat’s weight can also help in determining the amount of canned food that you should give to your cat. Weight alone, however, may not provide an important pointer. Rather, you will also have to determine your cat’s body’s condition.
Apart from weight, another factor that determines the amount of canned food to give to a cat is its age. Older cats, due to their digestive challenges and probably dental problems will need a lot of canned foods. Canned foods are easy to digest for old cats. It may, therefore, consume 100% canned food.
The activity level of your cat also plays a critical role in finding out the amount of canned food that your cat needs. A very active cat uses a lot of calories, which is provided by wet food. Kittens also use more calories than older cats.
Having looked at the above factors therefore, it may not be possible to determine the exact amount of wet food that you need to feed your cat with. If you, therefore, want to be accurate in these numbers. Then you will first need to calculate the number of calories needed by your cat. However, if you always keep on monitoring the amount of food that year cat eats per meal time and then it should be easy for you to get the accurate amount. However, this differs from one cat to another.
Do cats need canned food?
Yes. Your cat needs as much wet food as dry food. Both kinds of foods are supplements to each other yet you may not be able to substitute one for another. Currently, many vets recommend the use of wet food mostly, for the reason that cats are carnivorous and they do not need a lot of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are synonymous with dry food.
Also, here are other benefits of feeding your cat with canned food
- Water content
Water is the main ingredient in canned cat food. This means that canned food is closer to what your cat would eat in its normal natural environment. At the time when your cat murders and eats prey, the prey flesh contains the water necessary to meet the cat’s nutritional needs. This is not the case with dry food.
As cats have been adapted to get most of their water from the prey they hunt and eat, they are not acclimatized to drinking water from a bowl everywhere. Many cats do not get enough water if they eat dry feeds. This can lead to regular cat diseases, such as urinary tract disease, which often leads to kidney and liver problems.
- Animal protein
Most canned cat foods contain significant amounts of animal protein, and this is usually the subsequent ingredient after water and before any starch. Canned cat food does not contain much sugar for the most part, while dry food sources generally contain a lot of sugar.
Is this important? Without a doubt! Excess starch for a cat can cause a variety of problems, including a higher likelihood of developing diabetes, a higher likelihood of becoming fat, and a more serious risk of pancreatitis. A superior understanding of the diet of cats shows us that lower strength and higher animal protein are a much more beneficial eating routine.
- Digestion
Canned foods are already half-broken when the cat eats them. This makes it much easier to process in the cat’s stomach and intestines. What this can mean for your cat is less vomiting and intestinal gas, and less risk of bloating.
I understand that canning can be impractical. If you are dry, you should empty a little into a bowl every day. You may despise the smell of canned food. The cans and bowls are messy and should be cleaned or reused. But as soon as you realize what your cat needs for ideal well-being, you understand that despite all the difficulties, this is justified. Also, think that the amount would be impractical if your cat causes diabetes or kidney problems and you need to give him insulin injections or subcutaneous fluids every day! Also how this would affect your cat’s happiness and wellbeing.
So, these three reasons justify why your cat needs to be a friend to canned feeds.
Another reason is that cats in nature do not consume a lot of water. Hence they will need to consume canned foods to keep themselves hydrated. Canned food in nature provides water to the cat.
How often should I feed my cat?
This depends on the age of your cat. If it is a kitten of less than a year, it should be fed at least three times in a day. But if it a cat that is one year and above, you can feed it twice a day. However, this depends on the feeding habits of the owner and the health condition of your cat.
Conclusion
It may be hard to determine the amount of wet food to give your cat. But it is important to have in mind all the factors that contribute to the feeding. These factors include things such as age, health status, activeness of the cat. Whether it is nursing amongst many other factors.
Finally, you will need to feed your cat with dry food as well. Dry food is a compliment to the canned food. Hence the two work hand in hand with the common goal of a healthy cat.

Saundra J. Graves is a housewife. I love to keep my cats happy always. Also, I want to make sure another person takes caring their cats and kittens. Stay with my personal blog to know caring tips and reviews of cat & dog food, other products also.