Cat Food Calculator

Daily feeding amounts start from a cat's resting energy requirement (RER), a veterinary formula widely used in feline nutrition guidance that scales with body weight raised to the power of 0.75 rather than linearly -- doubling a cat's body weight less than doubles its resting calorie needs, since larger animals are metabolically more efficient per pound than smaller ones. This calculator computes RER from your entered weight (converting pounds to kilograms first if needed) and then applies a life-stage and activity multiplier on top: kittens need roughly 2.5 times RER to fuel growth, typical adult cats need 1.2 to 1.6 times RER depending on activity level, and senior cats need a smaller 1.1 times RER multiplier reflecting generally lower activity and lean mass. Weight is the input that drives the underlying calorie calculation directly -- heavier cats need more daily calories -- while life stage and activity level change how that calorie figure gets scaled without changing the underlying RER math itself.

Daily calories then convert into cups of dry food or cans of wet food using flat calories-per-serving assumptions (350 calories per cup of dry food, 200 calories per 5.5oz can of wet food), and with Food Type set to dry food only, the wet food output stays at exactly zero regardless of weight, since that food type never triggers the wet-food calculation branch. What this calculator doesn't account for: actual calorie density varies substantially between specific food brands and formulas, spayed/neutered status (which further lowers maintenance calorie needs versus intact cats), and body condition score -- a cat that's already overweight needs a calorie target based on ideal weight, not current weight.