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They're all grown up—it's time to start treating, and feeding, them that way. Just because they're older, however, doesn't mean they're completely self-sufficient. Adult cats have nutritional needs particular to their life stage just as kittens and senior cats do, and they need your help to meet them. The CatChow.com Adult Care Center will clue you in on what you need to know.
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Nutrition for the Reproducing Queen |
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The information in the following article is dedicated to responsible cat breeders who are committed to maintaining the standards of their respective breeds and placing every kitten in a home. Breeding should never be indiscriminate and should never contribute to the serious problem of cat overpopulation.
While nutrition is a key factor in keeping a cat healthy, its importance during gestation and lactation is heightening. Supplying essential nutrients in the proper balance influences kitten survivability by affecting the birth weight of the kittens, their body condition and the queen’s milk production.
Not only should the queens nutritional requirements be met, she should also be in good body condition, free of internal an external parasites and current in immunizations before being bred.
Choosing the Diet
Diets labeled for adult maintenance, intermittent feeding, or therapeutic uses are generally inadequate during pregnancy and nursing. If maintenance diet is few prior to breeding, a gradual changeover should be made to a diet appropriate for reproduction before the female is bred.
No Supplements Needed
Breeders sometimes believe dietary supplements are needed in addition to the regular diet to provide the extra nutrition pregnant and nursing queens require. This need for extra nutrition can usually be met by feeding a high-quality complete and balanced diet such as Purina Cat Chow brand cat food. During these periods, the queen will normally eat more of this diet to meet her nutritional needs.
Water is Essential
During reproduction, water serves as a carrier of nutrients to and wastes eliminated from the developing fetuses. Other important functions of dietary water during reproduction are the regulation of body temperature and as an aid in milk production. Fresh water in a clean bowl should be available at all times. Keeping water bowls clean and changing water frequently tend to encourage water consumption.
Changes in Eating Habits
Hormonal and behavioral changes that occur during reproduction may cause periods of undereating, overeating or not eating. Diet changes are not needed during these brief periods of irregular eating habits.
However, if undereating is prolonged, or if the female’s body condition begins to deteriorate, a veterinarian should check her for health problems.
Throughout gestation, a queen should show a slow, steady increase in body weight and, at the same time, her food intake should increase gradually. During the final three weeks, body weight will increase more rapidly. Growing kitten fetuses, developing placental tissues, fluid and developing mammary glands contribute to the queen’s increasing body weight and nutrient requirements. As fetal size increases, less abdominal space is available for the digestive tract. Free-choice feeding or multiple daily feedings is a means of compensation.
Food refusal during the ninth week of gestation is frequently a good indication that littering will occur within the next 24 to 48 hours. Usually within 24 hours after delivery the appetite will slowly increase.
The demand for milk by nursing kittens will continue to increase for about 20 to 30 days. Consequently, the queen’s food and water requirements increase during this time. The queen may have to be fed two to three times a day. Fresh drinking water should always be available. Dry food should be fed moistened to increase the queen’s food intake and to encourage her kittens to nibble solid food.
When they are three to four weeks of age, the kittens’ interest in solid food begins and the female’s interest in nursing declines. The weaning process is underway. Moistened food in a shallow dish should be available to the kittens for several hours each day. At this time, the queen’s food intake will gradually decrease. By the time the kittens are weaned, the queen’s food consumption should again be near normal maintenance levels.
The Weaning Procedure
On the first day of weaning, the queen should not be fed, but water should be available. On three successive days, limited feeding, ¼, ½ and ¾ the normal maintenance amount respectively, is recommended. On the fifth day, the food is increased to the amount the queen was fed prior to breeding.
Reducing the queen’s food intake and then gradually increasing it helps decrease milk production and aids in the maintenance of healthy mammary glands.
If, after this time, the queen’s body condition is such that more food is needed, her food intake should be increase until her condition is back to normal.
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| Balanced nutrition for cats of all ages |
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| Created for the unique needs of indoor cats |
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| Is your kitty wreaking havoc on your curtains by climbing on them? Consider installing your curtains on tension rods. When your cat attempts to climb, the curtains will fall. Your cat will not be harmed, as she will be enveloped in soft fabric. This should discourage further climbing. |
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