Neutered cats need less food - I had no idea!

[longdiling]

Am I just a bit stupid and everyone knows this?! I'm just back from the vets with my cat (she has an infected bite wound ) and her weight was discussed - as it normally is . I said that I genuinely only give her the recommended amounts of food so I couldn't understand why she was overweight - she has three pouches a day. She said neutered cats need a 1/3 less than the recommended amount and she should only have 2!

How did I not know this?!

I think it depends more on activity levels than presence/absence of gonads.

However, whatever you have been feeding your cat is too much for her, to try vet's advice & see how she goes.

As I understand it, a lot of energy goes into the reproductive process, so when that's removed, the energy requirement goes down

Oh I'm absolutely going to take her advice OldeTrout, I was just amazed that in all my years of owning neutered cats I didn't know this. Indeed I thought I was erring on the side of caution as the cat food usually says they can have 3-4 pouches. I want her to have a long and happy life, which she won't have if she continues to be overweight.

The feeding guides for many foods wildly over estimate what the average cat needs.

Mine's an indoor female and I initially reduced her feed to 80% of the guideline amount in line with the food brand advice. She still put on weight, albeit very slowly, so she's now at 75% of the recommended amount.

Interesting that she said 2/3. That's roughly what one of my spayed girls does need - well, maybe between 2/3 and 3/4, but she's gotten fat again in the one second I stopped watching her like a hawk so I guess we're going back to 2/3. The other one, also spayed, seems to need the full amount though, even though she's skinnier and lighter. She's just lucky with her metabolism.

Mine eats the advised 4 trays a day but he's an active breed so is still slim. He's 6.1-6.3kg.

If he isnt doing the paddington hard stare I dont feed him. Dh gives him chew sticks once a day.

H is looking a little, ahem, fluffy, at the moment so my pet sitter (who is also a vet nurse) is going to take a look at him this weekend. He's not the most active cat in the world so I think we're going to have an unhappy cat when his food is reduced!

6.1 kg! He's a big boy Fluffy! My sister's cat is like that, large but not fat. Mine is 5.3kg but she's very definitely overweight, with a big tum. Bit like her owner.

The fact that my cat isn't the most active probably doesn't help. She's a bit under the weather at the moment but once she's back on form she's not going to be happy about missing her middle of the day pouch of food!

I didn't know that either, I always thought three to four pouches seemed a lot. Ours have one pouch a day (two neutered girls, share a pouch morning and evening) plus some dry food (3/4 of the recommended amount) but they don't always eat all the dry. Have been monitoring them recently as one is fatter than the other, it seems to be the slim one that eats more, but she ismore active.

I didn't know that either. Until 5 months ago I'd had a cat all my life. Is it a bit like women tending to put on weight after the menopause?

Look at the weight of the food that you are giving as well. Some are 75g some are 100g so quietly moving to the 75g might reduce the calories without invoking the death stare?

H only eats dry food and I've just checked the feeding guidelines and he has the top end allowance for an indoor/overweight cat which is 49-56 grams. We give him 20g in the morning and evening and 5-10g at lunchtime and before bed, but only if he's up and about. If he's asleep we don't put down the extras so some days he has less than the recommended amount! I'm 99.9% sure he's not being fed elsewhere so I don't know what to do!

Bike - that's exactly what the vet compared it to. I thought, well that's something great for me to look forward to!! Yddraig - good point. It's not so much the death stare, she'll just be under my feet meowing at me all day until I eventually feed her!

Pink - dry food only can make them put on weight apparently. I've just changed mine from dry only to wet only in the hope that helps!

I always think the details about how much food cats need are guidelines. I've always fed on demand.
The vets used to say my girl cat was a bit big (not huge) but she made it to 19. By that point she was very very skinny. If she had been slim to start with I don't think she'd have lasted so long. She also are less than our boy but he roamed further.
If weight is a concern I would either look to encourage exercise (play?) or cut back the food a bit.
Our local vets seem obsessed with weight. My mum's dog put on a few grams and they were on at her about it.
But a fat pet generally lives for less time and quite possibly has health complications.

I spoke to H's pet sitter and she said he's a little bit chubby but not too bad. I told her what he eats and she suggested upping his exercise rather than cutting down his food so I've bought a new laser pointer and he spent 15 minutes chasing it around the floor.

I've also bought him senior food but I'm going to try mixing it in with his normal stuff as he's very, very fussy (the main reason I don't think he's eating elsewhere!). He won't eat wet food so I need to make sure he's not over eating dry food.