Ask five cat parents how much they feed and you will get five confident answers, four of them guesses. The scoop is 'about that much', the bowl gets topped up whenever it looks sad, and the cat, being a cat, never says no. Meanwhile most indoor cats in the UAE live in cool, air-conditioned apartments, burn fewer calories than their outdoor cousins, and quietly gain weight one generous scoop at a time. Portions are not complicated. They just need numbers, a routine, and a little honesty.
Start with calories, not scoops
A healthy adult indoor cat needs roughly 40 to 60 kcal per kilogram of body weight each day. For a typical 4 kg cat that lands around 170 to 240 kcal, which usually means 45 to 65 g of dry food, since most dry recipes carry 350 to 420 kcal per 100 g. That is the whole trick: weigh food in grams, not scoops, because a 'cup' of kibble can vary by a third depending on the shape of the pieces and the enthusiasm of the pourer.
Two caveats before anything else. Every bag prints a feeding table for that exact recipe, and it outranks any blog, including this one. Your vet outranks the bag, especially for kittens, seniors, or any cat with a health condition.
Rough starting points by size and age
Treat these as opening numbers to refine, not targets to hit:
- Kittens: growing bodies need two to three times an adult's energy per kilogram. Follow the kitten table on the pack, serve three to four small meals a day, and let your vet set the pace.
- Small adults, around 3 kg: roughly 140 to 180 kcal a day, often 35 to 50 g of dry food.
- Average adults, 4 to 5 kg: roughly 170 to 250 kcal, often 45 to 65 g.
- Large breeds, a lean 6 kg or more: more, naturally, but confirm with your vet that the extra is frame, not padding.
- Seniors: often fewer calories, sometimes more if they are losing muscle. This one is genuinely a vet conversation.
Why small meals beat one big bowl
A cat's natural rhythm is many small hunts a day, not one open buffet. Split the daily total into three to five small meals and you get steadier energy, fewer scarf-and-vomit incidents, and a cat that stops treating the kitchen as a 24-hour canteen. For indoor cats especially, meals become events in an otherwise air-conditioned, predictable day, which is as good for their mood as for their waistline.
A schedule that survives real life
Take the daily grams and divide by the number of meals. A 4 kg cat on 60 g a day might get 15 g at 7am, midday, 6pm and 10pm. The catch: nobody with a job and a family keeps that up by hand, and cats notice a late lunch with theatrical intensity. This is exactly what a smart feeder is for. The FELVO Signal lets you set schedules and portion sizes from your phone once, then keeps the promise every single day.
Moving off free-feeding without a mutiny
If the bowl has always been full, do not go cold turkey. Measure what your cat actually eats over three or four normal days, serve that amount as scheduled meals, then trim gradually towards the target over a week or two. A portion feeder such as the FELVO Tempo helps because the change reads as routine rather than rationing: food arrives on time, and the campaigning around your ankles fades once your cat learns that the schedule does the feeding, not the lobbying.
Away at work, or away for the weekend
Long office days and weekend trips are where portions usually fall apart, because guilt pours generous scoops. Scheduled meals simply carry on without you. The FELVO Cadence holds four litres of kibble, enough for days of measured meals, and the FELVO Vista adds a camera so you can look in on breakfast from your desk. For anything longer than a night or two, a feeder is support, not a substitute: arrange a friend or sitter to visit as well.
Water, weigh-ins, and the bowl itself
Dry food is, well, dry, so water matters. Keep fresh water in more than one spot, ideally away from the food, and wash bowls daily. Then close the loop with a weigh-in every week or two: same scale, same time of day. You should feel ribs under a light layer and see a waist from above. If the trend drifts, adjust portions by five to ten per cent and give it two weeks before judging. Comfort counts too: a slightly raised dish such as the FELVO Tilt makes a calmer, more comfortable eating position easier, especially for cats that rush their food.
The short version
Weigh food in grams, start from the bag's feeding table and your vet's advice, split the day into several small meals, and let a scheduled feeder hold the routine while life happens around it. Your cat gets a hunter's rhythm, you get your evenings back, and the scale stays boringly steady. When you are ready to put portions on autopilot, browse the full FELVO feeder collection.