I have noticed that mine, all indoor/outdoor cats, seem to put on a layer
of fat before winter and lose it during spring and summer.  Needless to
say, that does mean increased food intake, but since they also eat what
they catch, it's not always regular.  Right now hunting must be poor:
Snowball came home two and a half weeks early (normally she goes off for
about three weeks, then comes home for a few hours to get petted and
reacquaint herself with the clowder) and kibble consumption is up by at
least ten percent.

My cats get all the dry food they can eat plus a can of food
each day but they hunt all the time and eat a lot of mice each
day. The oldest one eats the most and hunts the most. When
one of the other cats is careless with what they catch she takes
it away from them and eats it. There must be millions of mice
around here for them to catch as much as they do. They bring
their catch to the house and show me before they eat it. When
I'm not outside they sometimes bring it inside to show me.

WBD