PetQuick answer
What it costs to feed a cat in Canada is decided by wet versus dry, not by the size of the cat. Adult cats cluster in a narrow weight band, so the eight-fold spread that makes dog feeding costs so variable simply isn't there. What varies instead is format: dry-only is the cheapest per calorie, all-wet the most expensive, and mixed feeding sits between. Calculate your own number rather than trusting an average — price ÷ weight × the daily amount on the label.
Key takeaways
- Format, not cat size, is the dominant cost variable.
- Wet food costs considerably more per calorie — much of the weight is water.
- Compare on cost per day, not per bag or per tin.
- Homemade is rarely cheaper, and cats are less forgiving of an incomplete diet than dogs.
- The real jump is a therapeutic diet, which is a medical decision — see prescription diet costs.
Why cats are simpler than dogs to budget for
A Chihuahua and a Great Dane differ enormously in what they eat. Adult domestic cats mostly don't — they sit in a comparatively narrow weight band, so the body-weight variable that dominates dog feeding costs barely applies.
That makes the arithmetic easier, and it moves the entire question onto format. The gap between feeding a cat dry food and feeding the same cat an all-wet diet is the single biggest number in this guide.
Work out your real number
Same method, whichever format you use:
- The price of the bag, case or tray.
- The weight of it.
- The daily amount the feeding guide gives for your cat's weight.
Then:
- Cost per kilogram = price ÷ weight
- Cost per day = (daily grams ÷ 1000) × cost per kilogram
- Cost per month = cost per day × 30
Run it once for dry and once for wet and the format difference stops being an opinion.
Weigh, don't scoop. Cats are small enough that a modest daily overestimate becomes real weight gain over a year, and feline obesity is closely tied to the expensive conditions further down this page.
Where the money actually goes
- Wet versus dry. The dominant variable. Wet food is priced per unit of largely water, so cost per calorie is considerably higher.
- Mixed feeding. Common, and lands between the two — worth calculating rather than assuming.
- Life stage. Kittens eat more relative to size; most adults are stable. See kitten vaccination and first-year costs for how year one differs overall.
- Therapeutic diets. The change that moves feeding from a modest line to a significant one, and the reason many senior cats' food bills rise.
Is homemade cheaper for a cat?
Rarely, and the margin for error is narrower than with dogs.
Cats have specific dietary requirements — taurine being the best-known — that have to be present in the right amounts rather than merely present. A complete homemade cat diet therefore depends on a formulated supplement, not on ingredient quality alone, and that line is what makes the cost comparison come out close to level once it is done honestly.
We are independent researchers rather than veterinarians, and we do not publish diet formulations. If you want to feed homemade, a consultation with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist is the right starting point — not a recipe.
Where feeding cost meets vet cost
Portion accuracy is preventive spending. Excess weight in cats is associated with several of the conditions that dominate our cost guides:
- Feline diabetes, where insulin and monitoring become an ongoing monthly cost
- Urinary blockage, one of the most expensive feline emergencies
- Dental disease, where the anaesthetic is most of the bill
A scale costs less than one emergency consultation.
Gear that makes feeding cheaper, not fancier
The items that change what you actually spend — accurate portions and food that doesn't spoil:
- Digital kitchen scale (grams beat cups)
- Airtight food storage container
- Silicone lids for opened wet food tins
- Wide, shallow cat bowls
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