How much should I feed a kitten?
A kitten under 4 months needs about 2.5× its resting energy requirement; from 4 to 12 months that falls to about 2×. So a 2 kg kitten under 4 months needs roughly 294 kcal a day — RER = 70 × 20.75 ≈ 118 kcal, multiplied by 2.5 — which is about 87 g of a 370 kcal/cup food, split across 4 meals. At 4–12 months the same kitten drops to about 235 kcal a day.
| Weight | Age | Factor | Daily kcal | Grams/day | Meals/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 kg | Under 4 months | × 2.5 | 175 | 52 g | 4 |
| 1 kg | 4–12 months | × 2.0 | 140 | 42 g | 3 |
| 2 kg | Under 4 months | × 2.5 | 294 | 87 g | 4 |
| 2 kg | 4–12 months | × 2.0 | 235 | 70 g | 3 |
| 3 kg | Under 4 months | × 2.5 | 399 | 119 g | 4 |
| 3 kg | 4–12 months | × 2.0 | 319 | 95 g | 3 |
| 4 kg | Under 4 months | × 2.5 | 495 | 147 g | 4 |
| 4 kg | 4–12 months | × 2.0 | 396 | 118 g | 3 |
Gram figures assume a 370 kcal/cup food and the calculator's default of 110 g per cup — use your own bag's grams-per-cup figure for your food.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure above is produced by the same calculation engine that runs the calculator on this site, in two steps:
- Resting energy requirement:
RER = 70 × kg0.75— the NRC energy equation. - Life-stage factor: × 2.5 under 4 months, × 2.0 from 4 to 12 months (NRC 2006 growth multipliers for cats; life stage takes precedence over activity level).
The same factor tables, with their sources, are published in the open reference dataset (CC BY 4.0) — so any number on this page can be re-computed independently. Our full method is described on how we check our numbers.
Work out your own kitten's number
The table covers common weights; the calculator takes any weight, plus your food's calorie content, and gives grams or cups per meal:
Open the cat calorie calculator →
How often, not just how much
Kittens have small stomachs and burn energy quickly:
- Under 4 months: 4 meals a day
- 4–12 months: 3 meals a day, dropping to 2 as growth slows
An age-by-age schedule is on the kitten feeding schedule page.
Feeding a kitten? Browse kitten food options on Amazon — kitten formulas are calorie-dense; check the kcal per 100 g against the daily amount above.
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Common follow-up questions
Why does a kitten need more than an adult cat? Growth. A kitten under 4 months eats about 2.5× its resting energy, against about 1.2–1.4× depending on neuter status and activity for a typical adult cat. The reasoning is on cat vs dog calorie needs.
When does a kitten become an adult for feeding purposes? Most cats move to adult multipliers at 12 months; large breeds may keep growing slightly longer but are fed as adults.
Kitten feeding schedule → · Cat calorie calculator → · Open dataset →