How Much to Feed an Indoor-Only Cat
An average 10-pound indoor cat needs about 240–280 calories per day. That's usually 1/2 to 2/3 cup of dry food, or two to three 3-oz cans of wet, or some mix of both. Outdoor cats and active hunters burn 20–30% more, so if you've been feeding by the bag's chart, your indoor cat is almost certainly overfed.
Start with resting energy, not the bag
Cat food bag guidelines assume a lifestyle most indoor cats don't have. The real starting point is your cat's resting energy requirement (RER), the formula the National Research Council uses:
RER = 70 × (body weight in kg)^0.75
For a 10-lb (4.54 kg) cat, RER is about 218 kcal/day. That's baseline. Multiply by an activity factor to get maintenance:
- Neutered indoor adult: 1.2× RER (about 260 kcal/day for a 10-lb cat)
- Intact or active indoor adult: 1.4× RER
- Overweight cat on weight loss: 0.8× RER, calculated on ideal weight, not current
- Kittens and pregnant/nursing queens: 2.0–2.5× RER
That 1.2× is where most owners go wrong. A neutered indoor cat runs about 20–30% below what most bag charts assume, because those charts default to an intact or moderately active animal.
Convert calories to actual food
Once you know the calorie target, find the "kcal per cup" or "kcal per can" line on the label. Every bag lists it. Ballpark ranges:
- Dry kibble: 350–450 kcal per cup
- Pate wet food: 70–100 kcal per 3-oz can
- Freeze-dried raw: 120–160 kcal per oz
For that 10-lb indoor cat needing 260 kcal:
- All dry at 400 kcal/cup: about 2/3 cup, split into two meals
- All wet at 85 kcal/can: three 3-oz cans
- Mixed: one 3-oz can + 1/3 cup dry ≈ 220 kcal, then a small evening topper
Skip free-feeding. Cats grazing from a full bowl consistently eat 15–25% more than portioned cats.
Wet, dry, or both
Wet food helps with two things indoor cats struggle with. Water intake (they often drink less than they should) and fullness per calorie. Wet food is roughly 75% water, so a can fills the stomach more than the same calories of kibble.
Dry food is cheaper, easier to portion, and doesn't spoil in the bowl. The trade-off is density. It's easy to overshoot by a quarter cup and add 100 kcal without noticing.
A workable split for most indoor cats: one wet meal, one dry meal. Or wet in the morning and a measured dry portion at night. If your cat has a urinary history or eats a prescription diet, follow your vet's ratio.
Portion guide by weight
Rough daily kcal targets for neutered indoor adults at a healthy body condition:
| Cat weight | Target kcal/day |
|---|---|
| 6 lb | 170 |
| 8 lb | 210 |
| 10 lb | 260 |
| 12 lb | 300 |
| 14 lb | 340 |
| 16 lb | 370* |
*If your cat is 16 lb and shouldn't be, feed for a target weight of 12 lb (about 240 kcal/day) and re-check in three months. Never crash-diet a cat. Fat cats who lose weight too fast can develop hepatic lipidosis, a serious liver condition that can kill within days.
Signs you're feeding too much
You don't need a scale to check. Run the body condition test:
- Ribs felt with light pressure, not seen but not buried
- Waist visible from above, tucked belly from the side
- No swinging fat pad between the back legs. A small pouch is normal. A pouch that sways when they walk isn't
If your cat's belly sways and finding ribs takes real digging, they're carrying at least 15–20% extra. Weight loss for cats is slow. Aim for 0.5–2% of body weight per week, no faster.
Common mistakes
Treats count. Ten Temptations are about 20 kcal. Half a can of tuna is 60. Give treats if you want, but subtract from the meal.
Multi-cat households. One cat almost always eats the other's portion. Separate feeding stations, or use microchip feeders.
"Light" or "indoor" formulas. These are usually 5–10% lower in calories than standard, not the 25% cut a truly sedentary cat needs. Read the kcal-per-cup line, not the bag copy.
Kittens on adult portions. Kittens under a year need about 2× RER, not 1.2×. Feeding a 6-month-old adult amounts stunts growth and muscle.
Weigh your cat every two months on a kitchen scale (put them in a carrier, tare the scale first). Adjust portions by 10% up or down based on the trend, not a single weigh-in.
Run your cat's numbers here: /paws/tools/food-portion-calculator
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