How Much Wet Food to Feed a Cat: Cans per Day by Weight

How much wet food to feed a cat depends on its calories, not on the can: a neutered 10 lb indoor cat needs about 261 kcal a day, which is roughly 8.8 oz of a typical wet food, or 3.1 cans of the 3 oz size or 1.5 of the 5.5 oz size. A small 6 lb cat needs about 6 oz and a 16 lb cat about 12.5 oz. Wet foods vary a lot in calories per can, so the honest method is two numbers: your cat's daily calories, and the kcal per can printed on the label. This guide works through both, then mixed wet and dry feeding, kittens and weight loss.

Wet food per day by weight

Daily calories for a neutered indoor adult (resting energy, 70 × kg^0.75, times 1.2), converted to food at 85 kcal per 3 oz can and 170 kcal per 5.5 oz can, about 29.6 kcal per ounce. Those are mid-range figures for complete wet foods; your brand may be 20 percent either side.

Cat weight	kcal/day	Wet food, oz/day	3 oz cans	5.5 oz cans
6 lb	178	6 oz	2.1	1
8 lb	221	7.5 oz	2.6	1.3
10 lb	261	8.8 oz	3.1	1.5
12 lb	299	10.1 oz	3.5	1.8
14 lb	336	11.4 oz	4	2
16 lb	371	12.5 oz	4.4	2.2
20 lb	439	14.8 oz	5.2	2.6

Calories do not rise in proportion to weight. A 16 lb cat weighs twice what an 8 lb cat does but needs only about 67.9 percent more food, because the formula scales with weight to the power 0.75. That is why a big cat on "twice the small cat's portion" gets fat. If the weight in the left column is more than your cat should weigh, use its ideal weight instead (see the weight-loss section below).

How to read the calories on a can

US labels must state calorie content, usually as kcal/kg and often also as kcal per can. If only kcal/kg is printed, convert it: a 3 oz can is about 85 g and a 5.5 oz can about 156 g, so a food at 1000 kcal/kg delivers about 85 kcal in the small can and 156 kcal in the large one. Then divide your cat's daily calories by the per-can figure.

Texture makes a real difference. Pâtés are usually the densest; chunks or shreds in gravy carry more water and often less fat. For the 10 lb cat at 261 kcal, a 100 kcal pâté can means 2.6 cans a day; a 70 kcal can in gravy means 3.7. Two foods in identical cans can differ by a full can a day.

Check the nutritional adequacy statement as well. A food labelled "complete and balanced" for adult maintenance can be the whole diet. Products labelled as a "complement", "topper" or "for intermittent or supplemental feeding" (many broths, purées and lickable treats) cannot, and their calories should come out of the treat allowance, about 10 percent of the day.

Wet food for a 10 lb cat at each life stage

The same cat needs different amounts as its circumstances change:

10 lb cat	kcal/day	3 oz cans	5.5 oz cans
Neutered indoor adult (×1.2)	261	3.1	1.5
Intact adult (×1.4)	305	3.6	1.8
Senior (×1.15)	250	2.9	1.5
Weight loss (fed for ideal weight) (×0.8)	174	2	1

For the weight-loss row the 10 lb is the cat's ideal weight, not its current one. The full method for each factor, and why the intact figure is higher, is in the cat calorie guide.

Mixing wet and dry food

Most cats in the US eat some of each. The mistake is adding a full can to a full scoop. Decide what share of the calories should come from wet food, then size each part. For the same 10 lb cat at 261 kcal, with 85 kcal small cans and a 400 kcal/cup kibble:

Share from wet	Wet kcal	3 oz cans	Dry kcal	Dry food
100%	261	3.1	0	none
75%	196	2.3	65	0.16 cups (3 tbsp)
50%	131	1.5	130	0.33 cups (5 tbsp)
25%	65	0.8	196	0.49 cups (8 tbsp)

A common, workable pattern is wet food at the morning and evening meals and a measured portion of dry food in a puzzle feeder or timed feeder for the hours in between. Measure the kibble with a kitchen scale or a level measuring spoon; at these quantities a heaped scoop is a big error.

How often to feed wet food

Adult cats do well on two to four meals a day. Cats naturally eat small meals, and splitting the daily wet food into at least two portions keeps each one fresh in the bowl and avoids the vomit-after-a-big-meal habit some cats have. Pick up what is left within a few hours, sooner on a hot day, and wash the bowl between wet meals. An opened can keeps for about three days covered in the fridge; warm it to room temperature or stir in a spoon of warm water, because cats judge food by smell and cold food smells of little.

Kittens

Growing kittens need about 2.5 times their resting energy, more than double an adult per pound, and their stomachs are small, so they need kitten food in three or four meals a day:

Kitten weight	kcal/day	Wet food, oz	3 oz cans
2 lb	163	5.5 oz	1.9
4 lb	274	9.3 oz	3.2
6 lb	371	12.5 oz	4.4

These assume an adult wet food's energy; kitten formulas are often denser, so check the label. The kitten feeding guide has the month-by-month figures and when to switch to adult food.

Wet food for weight loss

Wet food is a good tool for an overweight cat because it fills the stomach with water rather than calories. Feed for the weight the cat should be, not the weight it is. A 14 lb cat whose ideal is 11 lb would get 336 kcal at its current weight, but about 187 kcal on a weight-loss plan: 2.2 small cans a day. Aim for about 1 percent of body weight lost per week. Faster than that, or a cat that refuses its new food and stops eating, risks hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver), which can be fatal, so weight loss should be planned with a vet and checked by weighing every two to four weeks.

How to tell the amount is right

Every figure here is a starting point; individual cats of the same weight can differ by 20 percent. Feed the amount for three or four weeks, weigh the cat on the same scale, and check its body: you should feel the ribs easily under a thin layer of fat and see a waist behind them from above. Gaining? Cut about 10 percent. Losing when it should not be? Add 10 percent. The food calculator (choose Cat) does the arithmetic from your own cat's weight and your food's kcal per can, and saves the cat for next time. For breed-specific calorie ranges, the cat breed pages such as the Maine Coon and the British Shorthair list calories across the breed's adult weight range.