Food for Multiple Cats With Different Body Types

Body Weight

You can decide what amount to feed your cat based on its body weight. Every day, you should feed any cat about a third of an ounce of dry food (or an ounce of canned food) for every pound the cat weighs. The average cat needs about 30 calories per pound of body weight, too. Also, cats need to drink a lot of water every day, as much as twice the amount of food they eat. Canned food contains a lot of water, so a cat may not need to drink as much if it eats a lot of canned food.

A young cat of the same body weight as an old cat will likely need more food. Cats that are from 1 to 4 years old generally expend more energy with just general actively and will require a bit more food than an old cat because of this. Once you know about what you should give a cat based on its body weight, you can feed it based on its age, as well. If you leave some food out for a young cat, it will eat when needed and burn off the calories, leading to a healthy body weight, whereas you need to control an older cat's intake more.

When you need to feed multiple cats, all with different body weights, you need to give each its own bowl and watch over their eating habits more closely, or just feed them all at the same time and not even leave food out. Also, if you are feeding kittens, make sure to keep their food separate from adult cats, and make sure you provide food that's approved for their age group. Cats about 10 years old and up will also need special food, just like a kitten. Older cats can get fat easier, too, so you should take that into consideration.

All cats are unique and its best to test and observe to see what amount of food they need. If you have an underweight cat, perhaps less than 8 lbs., you should feed it a smaller percentage than the average cat. Some cats are lean and more active, regardless of age, so you could consider meeting their caloric needs by giving them 25 percent more food than you would the average body type. Similarly, obese cats may need 25 percent less food and more activity to lose weight and be more healthy.