Research overview: metabolic constraints and kill frequency in felids

A survey of how a cat's metabolic needs and prey size determine how often it must kill. Larger felids require more total energy but extract it from larger carcasses, so kill frequency scales with the ratio of energy demand to prey size, and reproductive females provisioning young must kill more often. This overview synthesizes data on kill rates and inter-kill intervals across species, how consumption efficiency and carcass loss to scavengers raise required kill frequency, and how metabolic scaling links body size to predation pressure on prey populations. It connects energetics to the functional response and to estimates of total prey offtake. The topic underpins translating individual physiology into population-level predation impact and explains why prey requirements differ across the felid size spectrum.