I've seen calorie guides from many sources. They're all over the map. I realize that metabolism varies cat to cat.
My cats, a 12 YO 14.2 lb female and a 3 YO 12.6 lb male both maintain on an average of 200-220 Kcal/day including treats.
If I add calories beyond that, they will gain weight. Both maintain at about the same count. The senior is sedentary for the most part.
cats.com says 280+, with up to 560 kcal/day. for the senior.
why the wide variation across sites, do their metabolism's vary that much?
Thank you in advance for your response!
Hi Bill, the average indoor adult cat may require from as little as 180 calories up to 250 per day. This might depend on whether your "average" cat has an ideal weight of 9lb or 12 (or in a Maine Coon's case, higher than that). I always aim for a similar range as you have for your cats. As for cats.com, the cat calorie calculator does its best to assess calorie needs based on a cats age, current weight, and body condition, but it is only a starting point. It is important to utilize the most accurate body condition and weight you can. The calculator has one flaw, which is that if you use unreasonable numbers, such as a very low body condition and a heavy weight, you could see a daily calorie recommendation even in the 700s. But no 15lb cat is going to be at a body condition of 1, so this is not a practical result to get.
The calculator can't determine needs based on an individual cat's health. For senior cats, their needs may be higher or lower than that of a younger healthy adult cat, depending on their own state of health and activity level.