Sterilized Cat Food

Cats go through different physiological stages in their life cycles (such as kittens, adults, seniors or sterilized cats). In each new stage, their life standards also change depending on their metabolic and physical features. In order to support them to lead a healthy life in the different stages of their life cycles, we need to emphasize adequate and balanced nutrition. There are many food brands and sorts available in the pet industry. Cat and dog owners might have difficulty in selecting the correct food due to the vast product range as well as the information pollution. Food selection is a key aspect especially for our pet friends experiencing an important metabolic and physical change such as sterilization.

Well, what are the key considerations for this process?

Diet after sterilization

Cats experience several metabolic changes after sterilization. In that process, short-term psychological (depression) or physiological (change of appetite) effects might be seen. It should be noted that the nutrition needs will change in the post-operation period. The most effective way of passing that period properly is to seek help from a specialized vet.

After sterilization, your cat has almost no sex hormones which significantly affect the metabolic activity. The energy and nutrition needs also change accordingly.

Although sterilization is a low-risk operation having a very high success rate, it is an operative intervention after all. Namely, your cat undergoes anesthesia. In the post-operation period, some cats might reject eating food. In such cases, you can give treats or wet food to encourage eating food. You should observe this process well, and stop the extra treatments after the cat returns to its normal nutritional routine.

What is the difference between sterilized and normal cat food?

Such products that are specially formulated for sterilized cats differ from normal food in terms of energy and nutrient composition. After sterilization, metabolic activity might decrease up to 30%. In line with the changing metabolic activity, food have varying levels of proteins, fats and fatty acids, fibers, vitamins and minerals.

As the metabolic activity will decline after sterilization, the energy requirement also decrease. In this period, daily energy intake should be decreased to prevent the cats from gaining weight. However, feeling of fullness should also be guaranteed. Consequently, sterilized cat food contains less energy and more fiber. The energy content of sterilized cat food is generally 10 to 40% lower than the standard products.

After sterilization, body composition tends to change as well. Especially, muscle mass might decrease. Low muscle mass is also associated with reduced mobility. Muscles are the body components which uses more than half of the energy taken from diet. For any reason whatsoever, low muscle mass means low energy requirement. In order to maintain the muscle mass and meet the reduced energy need in a balanced manner after sterilization, sterilized cat food generally has higher levels of protein and lower levels of fat.

Another result of the reduced physical activity after sterilization is reduced water requirement. Generally, sterilized cats tend to drink less water. After sterilization, the mineral composition of the food should also be different in order to maintain the bone health and avoid kidney stone formation.

Additionally, sterilized cat food might contain additives such as fat metabolism regulators, antioxidants, immunity boosters or other functional components.

In conclusion, all of the details given above are taken into account when formulating sterilized cat food. In order to lead a happy and healthy life, your cat should have a diet which is prepared according to its physiological condition and meets all nutritional requirements in an adequate and balanced manner.

Can sterilized cats be fed with normal cat food?

In simple terms, feeding normal cats with sterilized cat food cause a failure in meeting the nutritional requirements of cats in an adequate and balanced manner due to the different energy, protein, fat and mineral composition.

Likewise, if sterilized cats are fed with normal serial food, too much energy will be provided and this will create susceptibility to weight gain, obesity and other obesity-related metabolic problems (diabetes, cardiovascular problems, etc.) Moreover, feeding sterilized cats with normal cat food will also increase kidney stone formation risk. We can list many similar reasons.

In order to maintain the metabolic harmony, cats in different life stages and of different physiological features should eat food which is customized according to their needs.