Do cats eat less in the summer?

gigi

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We got Georgia from a shelter about a year ago. She had an enormous appetite-- I figured it had something to do with having been a stray for so long. She gained weight so quickly that we had to stop free feeding and put her on 'weight management' food. She always finished everything in her bowl.
Now all of a sudden, Georgia's eating less. There don't appear to be any health issues-- her personality is the same, she doesn't appear malnourished, and she has tons of energy (as usual)-- but she's not finishing the food. Because she seems to be completely normal (or as normal as a cat can be), I'm wondering what is causing this. Does anyone know whether cats instinctively eat less when the winter is over? Could there be another reason? She's an indoor kitty, so I know she's not getting extra food elsewhere. Thanks!
 
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gigi

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She's still a young thing-- approximately 2, and she still acts like a kitten.
 

StefanZ

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If it is very varm they may eat less. Take care they drink a lot! Sometimes it may even be necessary to forcefeed water on them...
 

larke

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She's bored! Cats get bored very easily, so try a new kind of food, but mix it in with the old in little bits at a time for a couple of days so she won't throw it up on your carpet or something til she's used to it. My cats have a lot of different kinds of food and if I tried to get them to eat the same thing all the time (tho' they have favorites) they would starve (or close to :-).
 

mizzykitty

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As long as she's not losing too much weight or seeming malnourished, I don't think it's a problem at all. It could be that she's finally becoming comfortable in your home and doesn't feel the need to gobble all the food because she realizes that you will be giving her more.

My cat Markko was an SCPA kitty. He used to eat everything in sight when he was a kitten. He would gobble his own food as fast as possible then push the other cat out of the way (even though she was bigger) and eat hers too. We had to put him on weight control as he was getting really fat. Then one day he just stopped doing it. He still eats quickly, but he doesn't eat everything in the bowl all at once. He's lost some weight, and now maintains. I think after awhile he came out of starvation abandoned cat mode, and realized he was in a safe place where food will be replenished on a regular schedule, so there's no need to eat every ounce of it at the time it's given (something which is ingrained in strays, I'm sure).

If I were you, I would take it as a good sign! But maybe just to be sure, you might take her to the vet to make sure she doesn't have something wrong with her teeth or a mouth abcess or something that pains her to eat.
 
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