How Much Raw Food to Feed a Cat (Chart by Weight)
The most common raw feeding mistake with cats is overfeeding, and it happens for an understandable reason: raw food looks like a small amount of food. A 4kg cat's entire daily ration is a little over half a cup. Owners used to measuring dry biscuits in cups look at that and assume they must be starving the cat.
Here is the actual arithmetic, plus a chart you can screenshot.
The rule of thumb
Adult cats eat 2 to 4% of their ideal body weight in raw food per day. 3% is the sensible starting point for a typical indoor adult cat. Then adjust:
- 2 to 2.5% - overweight, sedentary or desexed apartment cats
- 3% - average healthy adult, moderate activity
- 3.5 to 4% - young adults, lean cats, outdoor or highly active cats, cats in a cold Melbourne winter
- 5 to 8% - kittens (see below)
Use ideal weight, not current weight. If your vet says your 6.5kg cat should be 5kg, feed for 5kg.
Raw feeding chart for cats (grams per day)
| Ideal weight | 2.5% (weight loss) | 3% (maintenance) | 4% (active / lean) | Per meal at 3% (2 meals) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 kg | 50 g | 60 g | 80 g | 30 g |
| 3 kg | 75 g | 90 g | 120 g | 45 g |
| 4 kg | 100 g | 120 g | 160 g | 60 g |
| 4.5 kg | 113 g | 135 g | 180 g | 68 g |
| 5 kg | 125 g | 150 g | 200 g | 75 g |
| 6 kg | 150 g | 180 g | 240 g | 90 g |
| 7 kg | 175 g | 210 g | 280 g | 105 g |
| 8 kg | 200 g | 240 g | 320 g | 120 g |
The maths is simple enough to do for any weight: weight in kg x 10 x percentage = grams per day. A 5.5kg cat at 3% is 5.5 x 10 x 3 = 165g.
What that looks like in real products
Working with the pack sizes we stock, a 4kg cat on 120g a day gets:
- Doctor B's BARF 115g portions - about one portion a day, so a 12-pack is roughly 12 days
- Proudi 1.08kg tub - about 9 days
- Big Dog BARF 1.38kg - about 11 days
- Organic Paws 2.2kg - about 18 days (portion and re-freeze on day one)
Two cats on raw will get through roughly one 2kg-plus pack a week, which is worth knowing before your first order - it is usually the point where the free cold-chain freight over $99 starts making sense.
Kittens
Growing kittens need far more food relative to their size, and they should not be weight-restricted:
- 8 to 16 weeks: roughly 8% of current body weight, across 4 meals
- 4 to 6 months: roughly 6 to 7%, across 3 meals
- 6 to 12 months: roughly 4 to 5%, across 2 to 3 meals
- 12 months+: settle into the adult 2 to 4% band
Re-weigh a kitten fortnightly and recalculate - they outgrow their portion fast. See our kitten food range and the new kitten checklist.
Pregnant, nursing and senior cats
- Pregnant queens: increase gradually to about 1.5x maintenance by late pregnancy.
- Nursing queens: effectively free-feed - 2 to 3x maintenance is normal with a large litter.
- Seniors: keep protein up and watch muscle rather than just the scales. Older cats lose lean mass while gaining fat, so a "stable" weight can hide a problem. Browse senior food.
How to tell if you have it right
Ignore the chart after four weeks and read the cat instead:
- Ribs should be easy to feel with light pressure, not visible.
- From above, there should be a visible waist behind the ribs.
- Stools should be small, firm and dark. Loose stools usually mean too much food, too much organ meat, or too fast a transition.
- Weight should move no faster than 1 to 2% a week if you are aiming for loss.
Still adjusting? Weight management options can help, and our guide to transitioning a cat to raw food covers the digestive side.
Mixing raw with wet or dry food
If you feed half raw and half something else, halve the raw portion and follow the other food's guide for the rest - do not feed a full raw ration plus kibble. Overfeeding shows up as weight gain within a month, so weigh your cat before you start and again four weeks in. More on the trade-offs in dry vs wet cat food in Australia.
Frequently asked questions
How much raw food does a 4kg cat need per day?
About 120g a day at 3% of body weight, or roughly 80g to 160g depending on age and activity. Split it across two meals of about 60g each.
How many times a day should I feed a cat raw food?
Two meals a day suits most adult cats. Kittens under six months need three or four smaller meals. Free-feeding does not work with raw food because it cannot sit out.
Is 2% or 4% the right amount for my cat?
Start at 3% of ideal body weight and adjust by what you see over four weeks. Move toward 2% for an overweight or very sedentary indoor cat, and toward 4% for a young, lean or outdoor-active cat.
Should I feed by current weight or goal weight?
Always by ideal weight, not current weight. Feeding an overweight cat 3% of what they weigh now simply maintains the excess.
Do I feed the same weight of freeze-dried food?
No - freeze-dried food has the water removed, so it is roughly a quarter of the weight for the same nutrition. Follow the pack's own feeding guide, or rehydrate it and then compare.
Buying raw cat food in Melbourne
ADS Pet Store is a local Melbourne pet shop at 39-47 Nelson St, Moorabbin VIC 3189 (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 11am-3pm). We deliver Australia-wide and run refrigerated freight for frozen and fresh lines:
- Free standard shipping over $69 to selected VIC, NSW, ACT and SA metro areas
- Same-day local delivery to eligible Melbourne suburbs - free over $79, otherwise $15
- Frozen, fresh and raw cold-chain freight free over $99
- Click & Collect - order before 2pm and pick up the same day at Moorabbin
Questions about your pet's diet? Call 0481 349 394 or email [email protected] - we feed our own pets this way.
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