| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 2959.1 | | CRUISE::NDC | Nancy Diettrich-Cunniff-I wanted it all | Wed Oct 18 1989 11:16 | 18 |
| Terri - its a myth that cats gain weight after being spayed. We
have 3 spayed females and only one of them, Isis, is at all over-
weight - and isis is just a little pudgy, not fat.
I was reading recently about how cats develop food tastes. Apparently
there is a critical period when they are kittens that imprints them
with the definition of "edible" substances. Studies were done with
kittens who were fed restricted diets and later tested for food
preferences. What they found was "Finicky eaters are made, not born"
Until your little one starts gaining weight, I wouldn't worry about
her eating habits. Just give her reasonable portions and keep her
out of the adult's food.
I don't have any good suggestions of how to get the other one to
eat more. Maybe someone else does.
Nancy DC
|
| 2959.2 | | CRUISE::NDC | Nancy Diettrich-Cunniff-I wanted it all | Wed Oct 18 1989 11:18 | 4 |
| OH - and my cats weigh in at 8.5, 9.5 & 10.5 (the overweight one)
lbs. I'd be more concerned about how skinny she appears than what
the "average" weight for a spayed female is.
Nancy
|
| 2959.3 | | NRADM::CONGER | What's ONE more cat???? | Wed Oct 18 1989 11:23 | 10 |
|
that's okay, Rosie weighs 4 (YES, 4!) lbs, Missy is
probably down to about ten (from 12) and Squeek has
gone from 8 to about 11 in six months! Now, how can
I put weight on Rosie, keep Missy the same, and get
Squeek (aka Pudge-ums) to lose weight? I've given up!!
Sherry
|
| 2959.4 | Finicky Schminicky - They'll Eat When They're Hungry | TAMARI::MCGOVERN | Szechuan Vanilla | Wed Oct 18 1989 13:14 | 22 |
| My solution to the "finicky" eater problem is to make sure the cat(s)
have enough good food (Iams, Triumph, along that line of quality)
and then to forget it. If they don't eat it, they aren't hungry.
I put about 1/3 cup of wet food down twice a day and keep a small
bowl of dry full at all time. This keeps our two cats going fine.
As the vet said your cat's weight is not a problem, I wouldn't worry
about it now. If she loses weight, that may be a different story.
As to referre-ing one cat you want to eat and one you want to slow down,
I have no suggestions except to put down enough food for both cats
and then make sure the "eater" doesn't get into the other cat's
food before the "non-eater" gets there. But don't get too involved
in refere-ing and moving bowls and shooing cats and picking one
up and moving it to it's bowl etc. because you'll get "trained" and
be stuck doing it for life.
Good luck.
MM
|
| 2959.5 | pick it up or not? | TALLIS::DUTTON | Its only rock'n'roll, but I like it | Wed Oct 18 1989 13:40 | 22 |
| Well, maybe this has been covered before, but I'm a little confused,
and want to do what's best for our two new little furfaces...
In true "intellectual" fashion, I've been reading up on our kittens and
catcare in books (and, of course, this conference). One subject that
there seems to be disagreement about is feeding techniques. Some
authors (experts?) state that you shouldn't leave food down for your
cats -- that if they haven't eaten what you've given them within, say,
a half-hour to hour, to pick it up. Others disagree and say to leave
kibble (but not canned or milk) down for them, so they can graze when
they're hungry. The "pick-it-up" faction says that the smell of food
triggers their systems to prepare for digestion, increasing blood flow
to the stomach and intestines, leaving less for other activities; their
claim is that if you leave food down all the time, this mechanism is
always triggered, and the cat ends up lethargic and overweight.
The feliners here have lots of experience -- what's your opinion? Are
these authors full of it? Or are there points valid? Our boys are
home alone during the day -- I'd hate to have them go all day without
something to nibble on :-)
Todd
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| 2959.6 | | CRUISE::NDC | Nancy Diettrich-Cunniff-I wanted it all | Wed Oct 18 1989 15:56 | 4 |
| Changes in eating habits may signal problems. If you have multiple
cats and free feed it is almost impossible to tell who's eating
and who isn't. That's one disadvantage to free-feeding.
Nancy DC
|
| 2959.7 | The weight gain for a spay 'can' be very real | PENPAL::TRACHMAN | ExoticSH=Persian in Underwear | Wed Oct 18 1989 16:24 | 15 |
| It's not really a myth that females gain weight after spaying.
What happens after spaying is that the metabolism slows down
quite a bit, requiring that the cat eat less food because
she needs less food, but the cat is fed the same amount of food,
and the cat gains weight (generally). The other side of the coin
is that females are generally spayed between the ages of 6 months
and one year. After about 18 months, some cats seem to slow down
their activity becoming more adult (adult in some cases equals
lazy, they sleep more, play a little less, etc.) use less energy
cause they are sleeping more, hence more weight gain.
Most of us feel guilty feeding a spay or a neuter less food because
for many months they have been very happy with the amount they have
been receiving. sigh, the old guilt trip - they can do it to ya
every time!
|
| 2959.8 | | CRUISE::NDC | Nancy Diettrich-Cunniff-I wanted it all | Thu Oct 19 1989 11:16 | 5 |
| Maybe the age of spay has something to do with it. Our cats
have always been spayed right at 6 months before their first
heat.
N
|
| 2959.9 | | GIGI::GOLDBERG | | Thu Oct 19 1989 11:41 | 13 |
|
maybe thats why my mummy is gain weight and my baby isn't...
Mummy the exstray is at the vets guess four or five years.. she
had a litter and then got nuetered.. she's gaining weight now!!
(alot) whearas baby was fixed at five months (an emergency situation)
and she hasn't gained any weight...
mmm....
i guess maybe its all in their metabolisms (or something) too...
F.
|