When to start giving food for "sterilized cats"

[Attica1962]

My 8 mo kitten was sterilized one month ago. He was eating then dry and raw food, both high in protein. He was growing but he was more on the thin side. Now he is eating the same diet but we introduced a new flavour of dry food, he likes it so much that he devours it, and still eats some of the wet raw food afterwards. I noticed today that he's grown but he has also put on some weight, he's not fat (you can clearly see his muscles), but he's not the lanky youngster anymore. Is this because he's becoming an adult, or is it because we have to start him on food for "sterilized cats"? When do you introduce this food, is there an appropriate age, or do you have to rely on your judgement of his weight?

 

[eevans3373]

No idea what that means. Never heard the term describing a special form of cat food for "sterilized cats."

Based on age, I am going to assume your cat is eating kitten food. He should be eating kitten food until his first birthday.

 

[amethyst]

Rather then switching to a food for sterilized cats I would first just cut back on the amount you a feeding, specifically the dry food since they tend to be carb heavy. I know a lot of people say to feed kitten food or even feed unlimited food until they are a year old, however it's not a one amount fits all cats situation. Cats do the most growing in the first 6 months, then slow down as well as a neutered cat requires less calories then an intact cat. So many young cats need to be switched from kitten to adult food, or at least to all life stages food, after being spayed/neutered (if fixed at 6 months or later), and may also need to have their food portioned out and the amount reduced to avoid excess weight gain. The foods for sterilized cats are made with lower calories with less active full grown adult cats (over a year old) not growing kittens in mind, so it might cut the calories down too much. If just switching to an adult food and reducing the amount you are feeding per day doesn't help with excess weight gain then at that point I would look into trying a lower calorie food like those of indoor or sterilized cats.

It's hard to say without seeing him if it's just him developing into his adult body or getting fat from overeating. You can look at charts like this one to see if your cat is overweight or not.

 

[IndyJones]

Food for steralized cats is mostly a marketing gimmik put forth by royal canin/hills. It really is no different than adult food and a good canned food can be fed at all lifestages, indoor formulas are the same kind of deal. I would avoid dry food if you can since it tends to have more fillers.

Unless your cat has a medical condition requiring a specialized diet (cystitis, heart disease, renal failure, diabetes etc) there is no reason to use a specialized diet. A good quality canned food for all life stages will work for the majority of cats. Try to rotate flavours every other day or so too, keeps kitty intrested and makes things much easier down the road.

 

[Attica1962]

Right now he's eating Natural Greatness Wild Instinct for kitten and adult cats, with 86% of meat ingredients and 41% of crude protein, that's the dry food, ad lib. He likes it very much. And about 100 grs of Dr Clauder's number 2, Veal with apple, with 96.7% beef and 2% apple. We have tried to change the wet food, since it is easier to rotate the cans, but until now we haven't find another he likes. And we have tried several brands, expensive and cheap, in every possible presentation (pate, with broth, etc). Even within the same brand, and he only eats this one. With the dry food he's not so picky, so we could try to buy smaller bags and rotate those.

Many thanks for the condition chart, before neutering him he was a 4, and now I'd say he's a 5, but still on the ideal side.

And I don't know about your countries, but here in Europe almost every brand, even the supermarket ones, has a range for sterilized cats. And then there are specialized food, for all kind of ages and conditions and breeds and sizes. The variety is just mind-boggling!!!!

 

[di and bob]

Oh I know there are SO many to choose from. I give my obese cat a weight reduction grain-free dry food which he loves to nibble on. You might try some low-cal treats like shaved deli turkey so your boy doesn't feel deprived. My three inside cats all eat the same food, same amount, and only one is obese. It is hard to figure out! PS if he is LOOKING overweight it wouldn't hurt to get lower-calorie food. I know kitten food really has a LOT of calories for their excessive energy!

 

[Attica1962]

Oh I know there are SO many to choose from. I give my obese cat a weight reduction grain-free dry food which he loves to nibble on. You might try some low-cal treats like shaved deli turkey so your boy doesn't feel deprived. My three inside cats all eat the same food, same amount, and only one is obese. It is hard to figure out! PS if he is LOOKING overweight it wouldn't hurt to get lower-calorie food. I know kitten food really has a LOT of calories for their excessive energy!

So far he's not obese, just heavier than he used to be. I just would like to adjust his food before he reaches that point.

 

[eevans3373]

And I don't know about your countries, but here in Europe almost every brand, even the supermarket ones, has a range for sterilized cats. And then there are specialized food, for all kind of ages and conditions and breeds and sizes. The variety is just mind-boggling!!!!

That's not a thing here. What we have is "prescription" cat food that is supposed to treat a series of ailments such as kidney disease and other things. "Prescription" cat food costs twice as much as regular cat food and it's a bit dubious if it does what it says it's supposed to do on the tin.

Some weight gain is normal after a spay or neuter. Stick with the most nutritionally sound food your cat will eat.

 

[Alldara]

So far he's not obese, just heavier than he used to be. I just would like to adjust his food before he reaches that point.

The food for sterilized cats is usually just the lower calorie version. It's to ensure they get their full nutrition while not gaining weight. Many brands in Canada have a version like that too.

What's worked well for Calcifer is just getting some movement in, in regards to his dry food.

It's okay to lower regular food a bit, but if you find that doesn't work, you'll need to consider other options such as moving to one of the lower calorie kitten foods. This gives an explanation: Obesity in Cats | VCA Animal Hospital | VCA Animal Hospitals

 

[lisahe]

Unless your cat has a medical condition requiring a specialized diet (cystitis, heart disease, renal failure, diabetes etc) there is no reason to use a specialized diet. A good quality canned food for all life stages will work for the majority of cats. Try to rotate flavours every other day or so too, keeps kitty intrested and makes things much easier down the road.

What IndyJones says here about food is very similar to what our cats-only vet said about food when we adopted our cats. They were 10 months old and spayed/sterilized. Yes, they were underfed and initially needed to gain weight but that didn't last for long. Our vet didn't care if we were feeding them kitten food or "all life stages" food: the big thing was to feed them maximum protein (from meat, not peas or lentils or other vegetables) and minimum carbs. She even said something like "meat, meat, meat." That's what she recommends for cats of all ages since they don't process vegetables or carbs well.