Spayed get only eating dry food. Help!

Aafia Ijaz

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So one of my spayed cats (9 months old) has stopped eating boiled chicken since 2 months. She only wants to eat dry food. I can't afford canned food and i prefer giving her boiled chicken at least once a day. I've tried mixing the chicken and cat food, tried giving her chicken broth only but nothing works. How can i make her eat boiled chicken again? She used to to eat it when she was much younger. I am afraid she might start gaining weight if she only eats dry food. I give her royal canin hairball care
 

fionasmom

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Plain chicken by itself is not balanced, so the RC is at least a balanced formulation of what she needs. If you can only feed the dry, I would not eliminate it. Supermarket canned food would be a good addition to her diet; it does not have to be a premium brand.
 

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The dry cat food alone is enough for your cat nutritionally. Cooked chicken is ok only up to 10% of the diet. Any more than that results in an unbalanced diet which may result in nutritional deficiencies and health issues.

To prevent weight gain, feed your cat the appropriate amount of calories daily and have plenty of play time. One general suggestion is 20 to 25 calories per pound of body weight daily. Dry food is very calorie dense, like a fast food burger with the works plus extra large fries and a large milkshake. Royal Canin Hairball dry food contains 338 calories per measured cup. How much does your cat weigh? A 10 pound cat may need between 200 to 250 calories daily. Royal Canin also makes a canned hairball formula food which would be better health-wise for your cat.

Are there any other brands of cat food available where you are? Royal Canin generally isn't considered a very good brand due to the poor quality ingredients.
 
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Aafia Ijaz

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But I've read almost everywhere that spayed and neutered cats don't need a lot of calories since their entry level decreases by 50%. Also, my other cat is spayed i feed her twice a day, she gets 4 tbs for dry good daily and boiled chicken with broth at night. Is it balanced?
Yes, we have reflex here. Is it a good brand?
 

LTS3

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4 tablespoons of dry food daily? That's hardly any food at all for a cat's tummy even with the chicken added. Is your cat at a good body weight?

Neutered and spayed cats might not need as many calories as intact cats but they should still eat enough calories daily to maintain body weight.

I am not familiar with Reflex cat food. I did find the web site: Products - Reflex The dry foods aren't very good, full of grains and gluten and a mysterious "processed animal protein". The canned, tray, and pouched wet foods are somewhat better.
 

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A Aafia Ijaz
Hello,
I would add balanced wet food to your cats diet. Dry can easier lead to weight gain as very carb heavy.
 
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Aafia Ijaz

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4 tablespoons of dry food daily? That's hardly any food at all for a cat's tummy even with the chicken added. Is your cat at a good body weight?

Neutered and spayed cats might not need as many calories as intact cats but they should still eat enough calories daily to maintain body weight.

I am not familiar with Reflex cat food. I did find the web site: Products - Reflex The dry foods aren't very good, full of grains and gluten and a mysterious "processed animal protein". The canned, tray, and pouched wet foods are somewhat better.
But they do have Reflex catfood for sterilized cats. So do you think it would be better to give her that instead of the regular reflex catfood?
 

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A Aafia Ijaz , since your cat is only nine or ten months old, she's still a kitten! She's still growing and she's probably fairly active. That means she needs calories. To be blunt, this isn't the time to think about limiting her calories unless she's already overweight!

I agree what LTS3 LTS3 and Flybynight Flybynight say about feeding your kitten wet foods that you buy. Four tablespoons of dry food plus plain boiled chicken doesn't sound like an adequate diet, particularly for a young cat that needs nutrients to develop properly. Starting to feed wet food now is a better approach to avoiding long-term weight gain than feeding dry food for a spayed cat.
 

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But they do have Reflex catfood for sterilized cats. So do you think it would be better to give her that instead of the regular reflex catfood?
No, generally the specialized foods like that are just a gimmick, and the various "weight control" foods are usually higher in carbs, which is the opposite of what cats need. Choose a formula that has the most meat and the highest protein.
4 tablespoons of dry food daily? That's hardly any food at all for a cat's tummy
It's 1/4 cup, which is usually around 100 calories, depending on the food.
 

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No, generally the specialized foods like that are just a gimmick, and the various "weight control" foods are usually higher in carbs, which is the opposite of what cats need. Choose a formula that has the most meat and the highest protein.
This is also a very important point, both about gimmicks and what's in the food. When we first adopted our cats (who were ten months old and underfed), our vet kept saying "meat" and "protein." Cats need their protein from meat, not vegetable matter.
 
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Aafia Ijaz

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A Aafia Ijaz , since your cat is only nine or ten months old, she's still a kitten! She's still growing and she's probably fairly active. That means she needs calories. To be blunt, this isn't the time to think about limiting her calories unless she's already overweight!

I agree what LTS3 LTS3 and Flybynight Flybynight say about feeding your kitten wet foods that you buy. Four tablespoons of dry food plus plain boiled chicken doesn't sound like an adequate diet, particularly for a young cat that needs nutrients to develop properly. Starting to feed wet food now is a better approach to avoiding long-term weight gain than feeding dry food for a spayed cat.
She is going be 10 months this month. Her current weight is not ideal to her current age and breed. She should've been around 3-3.5 kgs but she is 4-4.5 kgs
 
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Aafia Ijaz

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She's not chubby
 

Flybynight

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So can i use boiled chicken with more broth as a substitute for wet food?
No, boiled ChIcken with broth is not nutritionally complete. It can be a treat or way to get more hydration. Make sure no bones or seasonings like salt in the broth.

Do you have access to Zooplus or Chewy? They sell nutritional supplements to make raw or cooked food complete.
 
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Aafia Ijaz

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Yeah she doesn't look fat to the eye but she has a hanging abdominal pad, there's too much of fat there
 
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