Spayed and...hungry?

marishka

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Awhile ago, I posted about Marishka not eating any wet food. Like, at all. She stopped eating the wet kitten Iams on, oh, the fourth day. I tried Authority, with a little better results, but she would eat a bite or two and that's it. Eats a lot of dry food still though, so I was hoping it would help her gain weight.

She was spayed Tuesday, and slept most of the rest of the day. The next morning as I was getting ready for class she was looking better, but still sleepy (baggy eyes especially). But as I walked by her food (which I had brought up into the living room where she was recouperating) she started meowing like she was hungry. She downed a whole 3 oz. can! And another at lunch. And another before bed! This morning she is acting like her old self (the pain medication makes her tired, but she only had one more day of that left anyway), but ate almost a whole can at breakfast, and tonight ate almost another 3 oz. What has kicked her appetite into...well, normalcy? Can I expect this to be something that will continue? I would love for her to eat wet food primarily, but at this point, I'm anxious for her to get to a better weight.

Anyone experience something like this? I know that some cats gain weight after a spay, but not like, the next day
 

hdizzy

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I didn't notice that with any of my cats, but my dogs seemed to have an increase in their appetites.

May I ask why you only want to feed wet food?
 
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marishka

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Hmmm...I wish I knew what caused her change of heart. I can't remember how if affected either of my dogs.

May I ask why you only want to feed wet food?
I'm not by any means a nutritional expert...so this is just stuff I've compiled over the internet and twisted in my head

I kind of take it as a "more bang fot the buck" type of situation. For the little amount that she eats, she can get more nutrition from it. Less filler, stuff like that. And the cat my parents had when I was younger suffered from urine crystals, so I hope that the extra moisture she gets from that would help prevent them in her. I remember reading a good (and short! lol) article about it here.

But, it doesn't help if she doesn't eat it, so hopefully she will keep this trend!
 

ocicat_steph

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you also have to remember she has been starved for the surgery she has to catch up with her foood!! lol
a lot of females will pack it in when they get spayed or when they have that un healthy feeling. it's a survival thing to up the ammune system.


as for the wet vs dry debate. i feel its best to give wet once or twice a day and leave out some healthy dry with teeth cleaning action or hairball treatment, they even make urinary ones for cats with uric crystals that are dry or wet. the wet foods still can have a lot of sodium and additives in them so they may not be good for them all the time. them being wet has nothing to do with the amount of water your cats will absorbe. if a cat has a UTI it will drink normal water excessivly and still have problems. keeping fluids in them doesn't keep the UTI from coming. it's the lack of something in thier diet forming uric acid. different cats react to different things. a lot of wet foods have additives in them with the animal fats that produce uric acid when digested and in turn cause the UTI problems. has nothing to do with if the food has more or less liquid in it.

Its very healthy for your cat to have a mixed diet, the wet food gives them something nice and mushy to eat and the dry food gives them the ruff food they need for weight control and healthy teeth and gums. giving them the wet once or twice a day and the dry all the time also gives them the choice of eating when they are hungry. cats aren't like dogs and horses where they will eat all the time and stuff themselves to death! they are animals that eat only when they are hungry, unless they have a thyroid or blood disorder. which if you are feeding them healthy well balanced food and letting them eat as they please... when they gain or lose excessivly you will know they aren't healthy and should have some blood work done to check them for an underlying disorder.
 

urbantigers

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Originally Posted by ocicat_steph

you also have to remember she has been starved for the surgery she has to catch up with her foood!! lol
When Jaffa had a dental recently he acted like he was starving for a couple of days afterwards. I don't know whether it was the anaesthetic, the fact that he'd had to fast beforehand or what but he couldn't get enough to eat, despite the fact that he'd eaten something at the vets before I collected him.

The more I read about nutrition the fewer things I can find in favour of dry food. It certainly doesn't clean the teeth (unless it's a prescription dental food with larger kibbles) as they just shatter the kibble with the tip of the tooth and many (like my Jaffa) just swallow it whole. Incidentally - many cats will overeat (Jaffa being one) and I think a lot of that is to do with dry food - the kibbles are sprayed with fat or animal digest to make them attractive to cats and many overeat just because they like the taste of the food.
 

ocicat_steph

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Originally Posted by urbantigers

When Jaffa had a dental recently he acted like he was starving for a couple of days afterwards. I don't know whether it was the anaesthetic, the fact that he'd had to fast beforehand or what but he couldn't get enough to eat, despite the fact that he'd eaten something at the vets before I collected him.

The more I read about nutrition the fewer things I can find in favour of dry food. It certainly doesn't clean the teeth (unless it's a prescription dental food with larger kibbles) as they just shatter the kibble with the tip of the tooth and many (like my Jaffa) just swallow it whole. Incidentally - many cats will overeat (Jaffa being one) and I think a lot of that is to do with dry food - the kibbles are sprayed with fat or animal digest to make them attractive to cats and many overeat just because they like the taste of the food.
hence my key comment HEALTHY FOOD, i.e prescriptioned or well made food. actually i think you might be interested to read about Royal Canin when it comes to foods for the teeth. it really does depend on how they are made. some of the cheaper fatty foods will 'shatter' with one bite but most of them actually break in half or thirds and graze up the tooth line to the gum cleaning. Hills T/D is an example, but at the same time i wouldn't recommend T/D to your Jaffa if he has a weight problem as the T/D is VERY fatty as are most Hills products, which is why i prefer the Royal Canin whom also make a dental http://www.royalcanin.co.uk/ or http://www.royalcanin.us/. hills is great for kittens and elderly animals though! excellent growth and supplement formulas.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by urbantigers

When Jaffa had a dental recently he acted like he was starving for a couple of days afterwards. I don't know whether it was the anaesthetic, the fact that he'd had to fast beforehand or what but he couldn't get enough to eat, despite the fact that he'd eaten something at the vets before I collected him.

The more I read about nutrition the fewer things I can find in favour of dry food. It certainly doesn't clean the teeth (unless it's a prescription dental food with larger kibbles) as they just shatter the kibble with the tip of the tooth and many (like my Jaffa) just swallow it whole. Incidentally - many cats will overeat (Jaffa being one) and I think a lot of that is to do with dry food - the kibbles are sprayed with fat or animal digest to make them attractive to cats and many overeat just because they like the taste of the food.
I agree with you for sure. Bijou was getting pretty chunky on dry food only (and he's supposed to be a slim Siamese
). I changed them both over to mostly wet diet (Merrick which is a quality food) and he has slimmed back a bit and maintaining. Dry food does little to nothing to help clean their teeth - think of you eating dry crackers and what's left in your teeth after you eat it - ewwwww.

I have been feeding Royal Canin for Siamese as their dry "grazing" food during the day while we are out and when I went to get some last evening they were all out at the pet store. I bought a new brand that seems to have good ingredients and they like it.

IMO a wet food diet is a much healthier diet for any cat.
 

urbantigers

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Well Jaffa's quite a skinny cat so I'm not worried about his weight (he would get fat if allowed to free feed dry food). He swallows almost all dry food whole (inc hills oral which has larger kibbles) and while he at first crunched the hills t/d once before swallowing I think he's now got the hang of swallowing it without crunching
I don't think it's the quality of the dry food that affects the teeth cleaning ability as many good quality dry foods have small kibbles - I just dont' think that any dry food, unless it has a large kibble and has been specifically designed for dental health - cleans teeth. Vets have traditionally encouraged dry food for dental health, but the latest studies show that it just isn't true. I feed a small amount of James Wellbeloved dry which is one of the better dry foods available over here, but it still has a small kibble and doesn't do anything for the teeth, imo.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...dcleantheteeth

The main reasons that I'm opposed to dry food though are the carbohydrate content and the lack of water. Cats are just not designed to eat grains, esp in the amounts found in dry food. They are also designed to get their water with their food, and dry food is only about 10% water (compared to approx 75% that would be in prey a cat would catch).
 

hdizzy

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Thanks for all the info. I'm learning so much here. I always had the idea that wet was bad for their teeth. I need to start feeding more wet I guess. Domino gets it as a treat only. He actually will only eat the kitten kind that he got when he was weaning from the bottle. I've tried several different flavors and brands with no luck. I'm sure the kitten kind has way too much protein and fat in it for a 3 year old.
 

ocicat_steph

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Originally Posted by Hdizzy

Thanks for all the info. I'm learning so much here. I always had the idea that wet was bad for their teeth. I need to start feeding more wet I guess. Domino gets it as a treat only. He actually will only eat the kitten kind that he got when he was weaning from the bottle. I've tried several different flavors and brands with no luck. I'm sure the kitten kind has way too much protein and fat in it for a 3 year old.
don't get the wrong idea. not all wet food is bad for teeth just most if not all of the wet food you buy from your local supermarket. best to find a good well balanced healthy food from a local pet shop, vets or online. i believe every cat is different just like people some may swallow it whole and some may leave half of it on the floor when they are done. i've had all types and i personally have done well with mine on all dry food or a wet in the morning and dry the rest of the day filling thier biscuts/dry food every morning and checking it in the evening. never had an over weight cat or an underweight cat. guess i've just been lucky and done my research with my nursing training.
 
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marishka

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Thanks for all of the replies! Unfortuneatly, Marishka is not eating like she was, probably 2 oz today (which is kind of the norm for her pre-surgery). What in the world would cause her to turn her nose up at wet food? The vet doesn't seem worried since she is eating the dry food and is healthy otherwise, but she is gaining sooo sloooowly...
Thanks again for the input.
 
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