How Much to Feed a Senior Cat: Portions by Weight
Older cats often need more food, not less. Daily calories and can counts by weight for cats over 11, and the weight change that means call the vet.
There is an assumption buried in most advice about older cats: that they slow down, so they need less food. For the first half of old age that is true. For the second half it is often the opposite — and feeding an eleven-year-old like a kitten-free pensioner is how plenty of cats quietly lose a kilo.
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- • A 4.5 kg senior cat needs roughly 215–260 calories a day.
- • That is about 2.5–3 standard 85 g cans of wet food.
- • Split it into 3–4 smaller meals, not two big ones.
- • From about 11, many cats need more calories, not fewer.
- • Weigh monthly — losing 5% is a vet visit, not a bigger bowl.
Why old cats often need more food
Cats go through two different changes as they age, and they pull in opposite directions.
From around seven, activity drops. A cat that used to patrol the garden now watches it from a windowsill, and calorie needs fall with it. This is the stage where cats put on weight, and where cutting portions genuinely helps.
Then, somewhere around eleven or twelve, digestion changes. Older cats absorb fat less efficiently, and a significant proportion lose the ability to digest protein as well as they did. The food goes in, but less of it is used. That is why so many geriatric cats start getting bony along the spine while eating the same amount they always have.
The practical rule: from 7 to 11, watch for weight gain. From 11 onwards, watch for weight loss.
Senior cat feeding chart
Daily amounts for a cat over 11, based on a 3 oz (85 g) can at 85 calories and dry food at 400 calories per cup. The lower number suits an inactive cat holding its weight; the higher one suits a cat that is active or starting to look lean:
| Cat weight | Daily calories | Wet only | Dry only |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 kg / 6.6 lb | ~160–190 kcal | ~2–2.3 cans | ~1/2 cup |
| 3.5 kg / 7.7 lb | ~180–215 kcal | ~2.2–2.5 cans | ~1/2 cup |
| 4 kg / 8.8 lb | ~200–240 kcal | ~2.4–2.8 cans | ~2/3 cup |
| 4.5 kg / 10 lb | ~215–260 kcal | ~2.5–3 cans | ~2/3 cup |
| 5 kg / 11 lb | ~235–280 kcal | ~2.8–3.3 cans | ~3/4 cup |
| 6 kg / 13 lb | ~270–320 kcal | ~3.2–3.8 cans | ~4/5 cup |
Cans vary from 70 to 120 calories, so check your tin before trusting the can count. The wet food guide works through the maths for different tin sizes.
Getting more food into a cat that has gone off its dinner
Appetite fades with age for ordinary reasons as well as medical ones. Smell weakens, teeth hurt, and bending down to a floor-level bowl is not comfortable with stiff shoulders. Several small changes usually do more than switching food:
- Warm wet food to body temperature. Smell drives appetite, and warming food releases far more of it.
- Raise the bowl slightly and use a wide, shallow dish so whiskers stay clear.
- Offer 3–4 small meals instead of two. Older cats eat less at a sitting.
- Feed away from other pets — an older cat often gives up the bowl rather than argue.
- Check the mouth. Dental pain is the most missed cause of a dropped appetite, and it is treatable.
Weigh once a month. Stand on a bathroom scale, then stand on it holding your cat, and subtract. In a 5 kg cat, a 250 g loss is 5% of body weight — the point at which most vets want to see them. A thick coat hides this completely by eye.
Protein, kidneys and the advice you may have heard
Older cats need good-quality protein to hold on to muscle, and healthy seniors should not be put on a low-protein diet “just in case” their kidneys age. Protein restriction belongs with a diagnosis.
If your cat has been diagnosed with kidney disease, that changes: therapeutic renal diets control phosphorus and protein levels, and they are one of the few interventions shown to extend life in cats with CKD. That is a conversation with your vet, not a decision to make from a bag label.
Weight loss is not a feeding problem until a vet says it is. Hyperthyroidism, kidney disease, diabetes, dental pain and intestinal disease all start with a cat getting lighter. Increasing portions hides the trend without treating the cause — and a cat that stops eating entirely for 48 hours is at risk of liver damage and needs seeing that day.
Water matters as much as food
A cat needs roughly 50 ml of water per kilogram of body weight a day, and most of that should arrive in its food. Ageing kidneys cope badly with the mild, permanent dehydration that a dry-food-only diet produces, so a wet meal a day does more for an old cat than almost any supplement.
Put bowls in two or three rooms away from the food, use wide shallow dishes, and top them up rather than refilling once a day. If your cat has suddenly started drinking much more than usual, that is a vet visit — it is the first sign of both kidney disease and diabetes.
The bottom line
Feed a senior cat for the body in front of you, not the age on the calendar. Around 215–260 calories a day suits a typical 4.5 kg cat, split into three or four meals, with at least one of them wet. Weigh monthly, feel the ribs and spine while you stroke them, and treat any unexplained loss as a symptom rather than a hint to buy bigger tins. Our cat food calculator gives you the number for your own cat. 🐱
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should I feed a senior cat?
Most senior cats need between 180 and 280 calories a day depending on weight — roughly the same as an adult cat, not less. For a 4.5 kg cat that is about 260 calories, which works out at around 3 standard 85 g cans of wet food. Older cats that are losing weight often need more than that, not a diet.
What size can of wet food should I feed a 15 year old cat?
Count calories rather than cans. A 15-year-old cat weighing 4 kg needs roughly 240 calories a day, which is about 3 standard 3 oz (85 g) cans at 85 calories each, or two larger 5.5 oz cans. Check your tin, because brands run anywhere from 70 to 120 calories per can.
Do senior cats need to eat more or less?
Less in middle age, then often more in old age. Cats slow down from about 7 and can gain weight, but from around 11 many start digesting fat and protein less efficiently, so they need the same or more calories to hold the same weight. Body condition decides, not the birthday.
How often should I feed an old cat?
Three or four smaller meals suit older cats better than two large ones. Appetite in senior cats tends to come and go, and smaller portions more often usually get more food in overall. Warming wet food to body temperature helps too, because smell drives appetite and it fades with age.
My senior cat is losing weight but eating well. What does that mean?
That combination is a red flag rather than a feeding problem. Hyperthyroidism, diabetes and intestinal disease all cause weight loss despite a good appetite, and all three are common in older cats. Book a vet visit with blood work rather than simply increasing the portions.
Should a senior cat eat special senior food?
Not necessarily. Senior formulas vary enormously — some are lower in calories for overweight cats, others are higher for cats struggling to hold weight. Pick the food that matches your cat's body condition and any diagnosed conditions, and ask your vet before switching to a restricted-protein food.