Kitten Feeding Portion & Schedule
Turn kitten weight and age into meals and grams
Kitten feeding portions and schedule FAQ
Where do the kitten calorie numbers come from?
The calculator starts with a standard resting energy requirement (RER) equation based on your kitten’s current weight in kilograms. It then applies higher growth factors for younger age bands (nursing and weaning kittens) and gradually steps those factors down as your kitten approaches adult size. That gives a practical kcal/day range to discuss with your veterinarian.
Why do I have to enter food kcal per 100 g?
Calories alone do not tell you how much food to scoop. The kcal per 100 g (or per kg) from the label lets the tool convert energy into grams and ounces per day. Without that number the calculator can still estimate calories and meals per day, but it cannot tell you exactly how many grams of a specific food to feed.
What if I am still bottle-feeding a very young kitten?
For 0–4 week neonates, the results are only a rough energy target. Bottle-feeding and orphan care are delicate: you should work from kitten milk replacer packaging, specialist charts and direct vet guidance. Use this tool mainly from early weaning onwards, when kittens are taking more solid food from a bowl.
How many meals per day should my kitten have?
The calculator suggests more frequent, smaller meals for younger kittens and fewer meals as they grow. Neonates may feed 6–8 times per day, weaning kittens typically 4–5 times, and older kittens around 3–4 meals. By the time your cat reaches the junior stage (around 6–12 months), most families settle on 2–3 meals per day.
Do I use ideal adult weight or current weight?
This tool uses current body weight, not an adult target weight. Growth is not perfectly linear, so you should recalculate every few weeks as your kitten gains weight, adjusting grams and calories in small steps and watching body condition and stool quality as you go.
Can I use this for adult cats as well?
No. Adult cats use different maintenance energy needs, and some also need special diets for weight control or medical conditions. For an adult, use a cat calorie needs calculator or a dedicated weight management plan from your vet instead of this kitten-focused growth tool.
What if my kitten has diarrhoea or is vomiting?
Any sudden change in appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea, lethargy or rapid weight change in a kitten is a reason to call your vet quickly. Portion calculators cannot safely manage sick kittens. Stop diet experiments, offer fresh water, and seek veterinary advice as soon as possible.
How do I know if the portions are right in real life?
Use the numbers here as a starting template, then watch your kitten’s body condition score, growth curve, coat and energy levels. If ribs disappear under a thick fat layer or the waistline vanishes, calories may be too high; if ribs are sharp and hips stand out, calories could be too low. Your vet can teach you how to score body condition and adjust portions safely.
How to use this kitten feeding portion & schedule calculator
This page turns your kitten’s weight and age band into a simple daily feeding plan: calories per day, meals per day and grams (and ounces) per meal when you add your food label. The goal is to keep growing kittens on a steady, gentle growth curve without huge swings in weight or upset digestion.
1. Pick US-first weight units and enter weight
By default the calculator assumes pounds (lb) because many US records and scales use them. If you prefer kilograms, switch the units box to kg: the input and results will then show kg first and lb as a secondary line. Enter your kitten’s current weight as measured this week, ideally on the same scale each time.
2. Choose the closest age band
Next, pick the age band that best matches your kitten: neonate (0–4 weeks), early weaning (4–8 weeks), young kitten (8–16 weeks), growing adolescent (4–6 months) or junior (6–12 months). Each band has a different growth factor and a typical range of meals per day, so the plan feels natural for that stage.
3. Add the calorie density from the food label
To translate calories into real scoops, look for kcal per 100 g or per kg on your kitten food bag or can. Put the kcal per 100 g number into the label box. If you cannot find it, you can leave the field blank and the calculator will assume a typical 100 kcal per 100 g kitten food. Using the exact label, however, always gives a more accurate grams-per-meal guide.
4. Read daily calories, meals and grams per meal
Tap Build feeding plan to see:
- Your kitten’s weight in your chosen unit (with the other unit in brackets).
- Daily calories calculated from weight, age band and growth factor.
- The suggested number of meals per day for that age band.
- Total food per day as grams and ounces based on your food label.
- Food per meal when that daily amount is split into equal bowls.
The notes under the numbers remind you whether the plan fits neonate bottle feeds, a three-meal weaning day or a more adult-style breakfast and dinner routine.
5. Copy the summary and tweak it over time
Use Copy summary to send the plan into a notes app, a shared family chat or a printed feeding chart on your fridge. As your kitten grows, weigh again, re-run the calculator and nudge portions up or down in small steps instead of making sudden big changes.
Think of this tool as your math helper for kitten meals. Your veterinarian’s advice, your kitten’s body condition and their day-to-day behaviour always come first; the numbers on this page just keep the portions consistent and easy to explain to everyone in the household.
How the kitten feeding portion math works
Under the hood, the calculator follows the same basic nutrition logic many vets use when sketching a starting plan: an energy requirement based on weight, multiplied by a life-stage factor, then converted into practical portions using your chosen food.
1. Resting energy requirement (RER) from weight
First, your kitten’s weight is converted into kilograms. The tool then uses a standard feline resting energy requirement formula:
RER (kcal/day) = 70 × (weight_kg0.75)
This gives the energy needed for basic body functions at rest and forms the foundation of the later growth calculations.
2. Growth factors by age band
Kittens need more calories per kilogram than adults because they are building tissue and are usually very active. The calculator applies age-band factors such as:
- Newborn to early weaning — higher factors (around 2.5 × RER).
- Young kittens (2–4 months) — still around 2.5 × RER for rapid growth.
- Older kittens (4–6 months) — around 2.0 × RER.
- Junior cats (6–12 months) — stepping down towards 1.6 × RER.
These values are deliberately conservative and meant to be tuned with your vet as you track body condition.
3. From daily calories to grams and ounces
Once the calculator has a daily calorie target, it uses the kcal per 100 g value from your food label:
Grams per day = (Daily kcal ÷ kcal_per_100g) × 100
That gram value is then converted to ounces (1 oz ≈ 28.35 g) to give a US-friendly line alongside the metric one. The result is rounded to practical numbers (nearest 5 g and one decimal place for oz) so measuring with a small kitchen scale feels easy.
4. Splitting the day into meals
Each age band carries a suggested meals per day value. The daily grams are divided by that number:
Grams per meal = grams_per_day ÷ meals_per_day
The calculator shows this as a simple plan, for example “4 meals/day of ~20 g (0.7 oz) each”. You can then match those meals to times that suit your household routine while keeping the overall intake close to the target.
Because real kittens grow at different rates, these equations are kept transparent and adjustable. You can sanity-check the numbers on a handheld calculator, change food types or age bands as your kitten grows, and always layer the math with your vet’s exam findings and feeding advice.
References and further reading on kitten nutrition and feeding plans
Use these guides alongside this kitten feeding calculator when planning meals:
- WSAVA Global Nutrition Guidelines — framework for assessing calories, body condition and feeding amounts for dogs and cats.
- International Cat Care — Feeding your kitten — practical advice on weaning, meal frequency and portion control for growing kittens.
- Cornell Feline Health Center — Feeding your cat — background on choosing diets, managing calories and reading pet food labels.
Always let your own veterinarian’s written feeding plan override any online calculator, especially for very young, underweight, unwell or high-risk kittens.