Cat Food Cost Calculator

How much should I feed my cat?

Cats aren't small dogs, and they need fewer calories than most people guess. A spayed or neutered adult cat needs roughly 1.2 times its resting energy requirement; an intact cat needs about 1.4 times; a growing kitten needs more again. That's why we ask about life stage and spay/neuter status before anything else. Enter your cat's weight and the calculator works out grams or cans per day for each food.

How much wet food should I feed a cat?

Wet food varies a lot in calories per can, so no single number of cans fits every cat. A typical 10-pound adult cat needs roughly 260 calories a day, and a 3-ounce can holds around 90, so that is about three cans per day. The calculator does this for each wet food, so you see cans per day and the monthly cost side by side.

Cat feeding chart by weight

Daily calorie targets for a spayed or neutered adult cat, from the same RER formula. The wet-food column assumes a 3-ounce can at about 90 calories. Labels vary by brand and texture, so check yours and use the calculator for an exact count on any food.

Intact (not neutered) cats need about 15% more; growing kittens need roughly double; overweight cats on a vet-guided diet need less. Set the life stage and spay/neuter status in the calculator to adjust.

Is wet or dry food better for cats?

It comes down to the specific food, not the format. Wet food is mostly water, so a can holds far fewer calories than the same weight of kibble, which is what makes per-can prices look so high. We convert every food to cost per calorie so wet, dry, and fresh line up on the same terms and you can see which is cheaper for your cat.

Where do the numbers come from?

Prices come from the Amazon Product Advertising API and refresh on their own. Calorie density comes from each manufacturer's published figure (kcal/kg, or per can for wet food), looked up rather than estimated. This is a planning tool, not veterinary advice, so check portions with your vet, especially for urinary, kidney, or weight-management diets. See our methodology for how we score the foods.

Feeding a dog as well? The dog food calculator runs the same cost-per-calorie breakdown for dog food.