Over 57% of cats in the US are overweight or obese. That’s a lot of cats carrying around extra weight and living shorter lives as a result. Taking weight off dogs is a little simpler than cats because you can exercise dogs more easily. It’s not too often you see someone running or hiking with a cat. Not to say it doesn’t happen, but not too often.
Due to the exercise challenge, it’s even more critical that you are aware of the calories required by your cat to maintain good health and fitness. Obviously, you can calculate the calories your cat eats each day by carefully reading their cat food label and adding up how much you feed them to get a total. Be sure and include any treats you give them.
But figuring out how many calories your cat needs each day to maintain their weight, or to lose weight is a little trickier, just as it is for humans. To make it easier for you, we’ve created the following chart with some weight ranges and AVERAGE calorie needs. Keep it mind, that these are just examples – if your cat is one of those cats that hikes with you, then they will need a little more, but if the most exercise they get is jumping from the couch to the table and back again, then they might need a little less.
| Weight (lbs) | Kcals at Target Weight | Kcals For Weight Reduction |
| 5 | 155 | 116 |
| 7.5 | 210 | 158 |
| 10 | 261 | 196 |
| 12.5 | 309 | 232 |
| 15 | 354 | 266 |
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