Feline Nutritional Management

today’s domestic cat

• Strict carnivore – needs high % animal tissue
• Doesn’t mean only meat in diet – successful hunter eats WHOLE animal (intestinal content too)
• Can’t maintain on plant-based diet
• Can’t maintain on dog food – too many specific needs in feline diets
• Dogs can synthesize some things cats can’t

special needs of cats

• Pre-formed Vit A

• Taurine

• Arginine

• Niacin

• Arachidonic acid

• Increased protein

  • Highly digestible

  • Sufficient taurine & arginine

  • Only from animal proteins

• Water?

  • Volume unknown

  • Less than dogs

  • Slower to recover when dehydrated

water conservation

• Urine-concentrating abilities = little water intake

• Prone to crystalluria

• Fresh drinking water always (canned or dry diets)

ancestor influence

Feeding behaviours:

• Not intermittent feeders like dogs

• Ate small prey so many small meals through day

• Solitary animals/hunters – ate slowly (no fear of losing meal)

• Now eat up to 20 small meals/daily (20 – 25kcal/ea)

Best feeding method:

• Free choice!

• Eat at their convenience

• Only reason to change – cat won’t eat enough to maintain energy requirements

• If overindulging – offer multiple small meals/daily

finickey eaters

• Made – not born!

• Will be fixated on a particular flavour/shape

• Good to change it up (easier to change later if needed)

• Don’t change daily – can promote finicky appetite & GI upset

• changes should be gradual

• Change over 7 – 10 days

• Gives GI tract time to adjust

The queen

• Optimal health and weight before breeding

• Vaccinated (antibodies at peak levels)

• Deal with other health problems (internal/external parasites, etc.)

• PE done

• *Breeding overweight/underweight queen = pregnancy/kitten problems

pregnancy weight gain

• Linear weight gain through pregnancy

• Starts at 2 weeks post-breeding

• Initially thought to be body fat (used as energy source after kittens born)

• Appropriate diet and volume as soon as bred

gestation into weight gain

• Diet higher in energy, vitamins, minerals

• Formulated for growth or lactation

• Amount gradually increases through pregnancy

• Largest increase during lactation

• Some good at self regulation – free choice best

• If queen gains too much, change to frequent meals (esp. later in pregnancy)

• At queening – 25 – 50% more than maintenance (depending on litter size)

• At birth – 40% extra weight lost

• Other 60% used in milk production

• By weaning – almost back to pre-breeding weight

lactation

• Nutritional demands as much as any other species

• Ability to produce enough nutritionally adequate milk depends on her nutritional status

• Keep queen on growth/lactation

• Amount increases with demand for milk

• Kittens: ~100g at birth

• Limited stomach capacity

• Need colostrum in first 24hrs of life

• As they grow – need for milk grows

• Increases demand on mother

• Food for mother increases to ~3x maintenance by 4 wks. PP

• water availability also needed

kitten nutrition in first days of life

• Colostrum + first 2 – 3 days of life set the page for life-long health

• Only source of nutrition is m o m

• Important to nurse min. 4x daily to get nutrients

• Volume is low at first, as they grow this increases

• Starting weight 90 – 100g, should gain 50 – 100g/week until 5 – 6 months

• Monitor gains good way to determine nutritional status

• If not getting enough milk – usually get vocal

• Sometimes not the case – monitor weight just in case

what to do about newborn weight loss?

• If weight loss noted

• Check milk production

• Check kitten’s ability to eat

• See if supplementation needed

introducing solid food

• Around 4 wks. old – introduce growth diet

• Method same as in puppies (use diet mom’s eating)

• Gruel first, shallow bowls, 3 – 4x daily

• Leave down for 20 - 30 minutes – remove uneaten food

• Milk replacer vs. water

• Dry vs. canned

• Greater tolerance for lactose than puppies, decreases with age – avoid milk in large amount to grown cat

feeding kittens

• More supplemental diet means less milk

• Start reducing mom’s intake to reduce milk production

• If queen isn’t reducing on her own, switch to meals

• Periodically move kittens from m o m through day to minimize chance of nursing (helps reduce amount produced)

• 6 – 8 wks. usually weaned – eating growth 3 – 4x daily

• DON’T remove from mom before 7 – 8 wks. (important for socialization)

needs of growing kitten

• Just like puppies – increased need for nutrients

• Growing new tissue, building immune system, large demands for right nutrient levels

• Diet needs adjustments with:

  • Total energy content

  • Protein

  • Calcium

  • Phosphorus

• U p to 2x maintenance between 8 wks. – 6 mths.

• Rec. 200 – 250 kcal/kg/body weight (decrease to 100 kcal/kg around 6 mths)

• High protein – 35% on DMB

• Ca:P for skeletal growth – 2x above adults

  • Keep ratios in correct margins

• High-quality diet that’s:

  • Energy dense

  • Highly digestible

  • High quality protein

• No need for supplementation – risk of imbalances

best feeding method

• FREE CHOICE!

• Amount needed vs. stomach capacity – small frequent meals

• Less chance of kittens eating more than needed – less chance of obesity in kittens

• Monitor for excess weight gain – switch to meal feeding if needed (rarely needed for rapid growth phase – more at 5 – 6 mths.)

• Type of food? Individual preference

• Feeding method important to overall health

• Many small meals daily

• Fixate on one type/texture

• Potential to overeat increases

when does a cat count as an adult?

• At 90% of adult weight

• Start maintenance diet

• Guideline only – other factors to consider

• Could be 6 – 10 months old (depends on breed)

• Matches up with spay/neuter

• Many wait until after surgery, regardless needs to be gradual

how to feed an adult cat

• Meat-based protein

• Nutrients that can’t be synthesized

• Precise amount certain minerals

• Maintenance vs. growth – varied energy, protein, certain mineral levels

• Don’t need increase anymore – just maintain current size

• Skeletal growth done – reduce Ca & P levels

• Energy requirements – 80 – 100 kcal/kg (incl. decrease from neutering)

spaying/neutering affect on diet

• always decreases energy requirement

• owners blame surgery for making their cat fat

• in reality they did not adjust diet to support decreased metabolism

cat’s weird metabolism

• 26% protein on D MB

• 30 – 40% of calories from protein

• Needs taurine & arginine so animal-based protein

• Plants still okay – but combined with meat

• Ca & P ratio stay in range but % of each lower (1/2 what kitten needs) – growth levels to adults long term = problems

• High level organ meat also bad (too much P, throw off ratio)

Long-term effects:

• Nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism

Reduce risk of FLUTD:

• Keep Mg <20mg/100kcat ME

• Acidifier to maintain urine p H at 6.2 – 6,4

• Don’t go higher – create different problems

nutritionally balanced cat food

• Increased amounts of certain vitamins

• Cat’s needs researched and put in diets

• Supplementation creates issues

• Fat soluble vitamins (A) store well, can’t access well, result in excess amounts

• Large amounts of fish (raw form) added

• Contain thiaminase, destroys vitamin thiamine

• Large amounts fed = deficiency in thiamine

• Cooked fish = enzyme destroyed (certain fish oils still problematic: add to Vit A stores in body)

• Other concern is fixation – hard to switch to high-quality diet

• Non-commercial food no more than 10% total diet

• Ideally – just give commercial diet, no supplements

reducing chances of obesity

• Monitor body condition

• Keep track of weight gains/losses

• Follow feeding guide on bag and modify as needed

• If can’t eat enough, change to meal- feeding (2 – 3 meals daily or more)

• Best with dry

• Amount restricted rather than time

geriatric cats energy needs

• Lowered function (liver, kidney, intestine) means harder to efficiently use nutrients

• More important for digestible & useable nutrients

• In cats – energy needs increase

• Fat & protein metabolism compromised?

• Need high quality protein in energy dense/digestible form

• Still increased protein requirement

• Decrease in organ function means protein needed in appropriate amount with little extra

• Generally, not a big reduction unless disease present

oral health in older cats

• Lack of at-h o m e dental care means calculus & periodontal disease
  common

• Dental disease + decrease taste perception = little/no desire to eat enough

• Must identify & treat dental dz A N D suggest changing food

• Offer food with different texture, better taste

vitamins and minerals

• Increase in some if can’t maintain

• Decrease in others if hard to breakdown or access when stored

• In moderation – Na & P

• If overall healthy, fed to meet needs without extra (like protein)