Easy methods to Change Your Cat’s Meals in 10 Easy Steps

Melina Grin / Cats.com

Altering your cat’s meals requires cautious consideration and planning. Having lived with a number of cats at totally different life phases and with various well being circumstances, I’ve needed to alter my cats’ diets prior to now, which concerned many trials and changes.

Cats are naturally cautious creatures, so any deviation from their standard setting or weight-reduction plan can set off suspicion and trigger them to keep away from novel meals. New meals smells and flavors set off their survival instincts to keep away from poisonous substances within the wild.

Regardless of your particular purpose for altering your cat’s meals, you possibly can comply with some easy steps to make sure a easy and secure transition on your feline companion.

Meals for Life Levels and Circumstances

Correct cat vitamin is necessary on your cat’s well-being and longevity. There are a selection of the explanation why altering your cat’s meals may be useful or obligatory.

A cat’s dietary necessities change as they transition by way of life phases. A cat’s weight-reduction plan, due to this fact, wants to alter primarily based on their age and power wants. Cat vitamin is totally different for kittens, adults, and seniors, in addition to when cats are pregnant or lactating.

Sure medical circumstances, equivalent to urinary tract an infection, diabetes, inflammatory bowel illness, hyperthyroidism, dental sickness, or kidney failure or liver illness, may additionally name for a particular weight-reduction plan. Your veterinarian will recommend a therapeutic or prescription weight-reduction plan for a particular period or lifelong if the situation is continual.

Treating Meals Allergy symptoms or Intolerance

Like people and canines, cats can develop meals allergy symptoms. Signs embody itching, rashes, vomiting, and diarrhea. Frequent triggers are particular proteins (beef, rooster, eggs, pork, fish, and dairy merchandise) or components present in meals.

Based on two research, ^{[1] [2]} meals allergy symptoms can happen at any age and with any breed or combine, however Siamese cats and their crosses may be at a larger danger. Seek the advice of along with your vet about altering your cat’s weight-reduction plan to another protein, hypoallergenic weight-reduction plan, or balanced home-cooked weight-reduction plan for a two-month trial interval to deal with allergy symptoms or intolerances.

Supporting a Wholesome Weight

Puzzle feeders present psychological stimulation and make mealtime extra partaking on your cat. Melina Grin / Cats.com

All through your cat’s life, their weight could fluctuate between ultimate, underweight, and obese. Weight problems is probably the most prevalent nutrition-related dysfunction in companion animals. A number of research establish weight problems ^[3] because the second most typical well being difficulty in home cats, after dental illness. This difficulty is a big purpose why cat homeowners swap their cat’s meals.

Additionally Learn: Cat Weight problems Chart: Discover Out if Your Cat is Overweight

To assist your cat shed weight, go for a weight-reduction plan excessive in lean protein, average in fats, and low in carbs. Meals greater in dietary fiber can even assist cats really feel fuller. You could possibly additionally swap from free-feeding to measured meals, and it could assist to alter from dry kibble to a canned meals with excessive moisture. Encourage train by way of play, equivalent to with wand toys and puzzle feeders. When you’re not sure in case your cat is the precise weight, or how a lot try to be feeding them, communicate to your veterinarian for recommendation.

Cats—particularly seniors—are additionally recognized to be choosy eaters. Any hectic occasion or sickness can have an effect on their want to eat. You may must tempt your cat to eat by serving canned meals at room temperature or warming the meals to extend its scent and enchantment. Providing quite a lot of moist and dry meals may additionally entice them again to the plate.

Adapting to Way of life Modifications

Way of life adjustments, equivalent to a shift in family members or private funds, could have you ever trying into new kinds of meals. When adopting a brand new kitten or grownup cat, holding them on the identical weight-reduction plan for a number of weeks is greatest to keep away from tummy points brought on by the nervousness of adjusting properties.

But when the present weight-reduction plan isn’t appropriate or if the cat turns into sick or refuses to eat, you may want to change to a special kind of meals. We needed to change our kitten’s meals from dry to moist when Sienna acquired sick and misplaced her style because of calicivirus. Fortunately, she recovered totally.

Lately, the price of residing has additionally been throwing pet mother and father for a loop. In the US, solely 3% of pet homeowners have pet insurance coverage, and one in 4 pet homeowners fear in regards to the excessive value of vet care. Some cat homeowners face difficulties paying for satisfactory vitamin.

Additionally Learn: How A lot Is Pet Insurance coverage for a Cat — Is It Actually Price It?

To alleviate monetary pressures, you possibly can swap your cat’s meals to dry, make balanced do-it-yourself meals, purchase in bulk on-line, or go for cheaper meals choices that meet their dietary wants.

Easy methods to Change Your Cat’s Meals

Altering your cat’s meals abruptly may cause them issues, equivalent to tummy upsets or meals aversions. For the smoothest transition, comply with these 10 easy steps:

1. Seek the advice of Your Veterinarian

Though all kittens must convert to grownup meals, and senior cats develop into able to transition to a weight-reduction plan formulated for older cats, it’s greatest to speak to your veterinarian to evaluate your cat’s present dietary necessities primarily based on their historical past, weight, physique, and muscle situation rating.

2. Select the New Cat Meals

When switching meals, select a complete-and-balanced cat meals with related elements, texture, and evaluation to make sure the identical high quality and advantages. When you’re altering to a brand new model because of a well being situation, it’s greatest to hunt dietary recommendation out of your vet.

3. Evaluation the Pet Meals Model’s Web site and Feeding Information

For a easy transition to your cat’s new weight-reduction plan, evaluate the model’s web site and feeding information, which can give particular ideas for the transition and feeding quantities.

4. Plan the Change

It’s greatest to introduce new diets to your cat when they’re wholesome, since a sick cat won’t settle for a brand new meals kind and may develop a meals aversion. Put together and analysis totally to make sure a easy transition that meets your cat’s dietary necessities over a gentle interval.

Veterinarian Dr. Joanna Woodnutt advises to keep away from altering your cat’s weight-reduction plan after they’re concerned in a really hectic state of affairs, equivalent to after they’re hospitalized.

“If compelled to eat meals after they really feel anxious or nauseous, cats can develop an aversion which could be very arduous to beat,” she stated. “Even when a weight-reduction plan is required for a medical purpose, it’s normally greatest to alter the meals at house as soon as the acute medical drawback is over.”

5. Guarantee a Gradual Transition

Transition your cat’s meals steadily over 10 to 14 days. Start by inserting a small quantity of the brand new meals subsequent to the previous meals on the identical plate to introduce your cat to the novel scent and texture.

Progressively improve the quantity of latest meals whereas reducing the quantity of the previous meals till your cat is solely consuming the brand new weight-reduction plan. Don’t combine the meals, and don’t worry in case your cat doesn’t eat the brand new delicacies instantly.

Right here’s an instance of how one can transition to a brand new kind of meals:

• Day 1 to 4: 75% previous meals + 25% new meals
• Day 5 to 7: 50% previous meals + 50% new meals
• Day 8 to 10: 25% previous meals + 75% new meals
• Day 11 to 14: 100% new meals

“Cats might be finicky about their meals—they’ve developed to be suspicious of latest issues, and so could flip down a brand new taste or texture of meals,” Dr. Woodnutt stated. “This implies it’s necessary to go gradual when altering a cat’s weight-reduction plan. It doesn’t matter if it takes a number of weeks!”

6. Reinforce Constructive Associations With New Meals

Place a small quantity of the brand new meals subsequent to the previous meals to introduce your cat to the novel scent and texture. Melina Grin / Cats.com

Encourage your cat to eat the novel meals by providing it throughout common feeding instances and eradicating any uneaten meals after an inexpensive period of time.

Supply the brand new meals in small portions as a deal with and reward your cat after they eat it to create a constructive affiliation with the most recent nourishment. Feeding your cat inside a relaxed setting can even assist them really feel extra comfy attempting new meals.

7. Observe Your Cat on the New Weight loss plan

Take note of your cat’s gastrointestinal well being, particularly regarding litter field habits. Recurrently examine your cat’s poop and be looking out for softness, uncommon stool odor, constipation, or diarrhea. When you discover any blood or extreme mucus within the poop, it’s greatest to hunt veterinary steerage.

Furthermore, observe adjustments in your cat’s habits, equivalent to lethargy, lack of urge for food, hiding, or sleeping.

8. Tackle Challenges Throughout Transition

Monitor your cat’s response to the brand new meals. In case your cat throws up or has softer stools, cease feeding the novel weight-reduction plan and swap again to their standard model for a number of days earlier than attempting once more. See a veterinarian in case your cat experiences continual diarrhea or signs of meals allergy symptoms.

Cats may develop into sick or refuse to eat after they bear a dietary change. If a cat goes as little as 24 hours with out meals, they will develop into severely in poor health and require veterinary care.

9. Be Affected person

Give your cat ample time to regulate to a brand new weight-reduction plan, primarily if they’ve been consuming the identical factor as kibble for a very long time.

Serafina, my feminine cat, examined my endurance through the transition; it took her six months to change from dry to canned meals. That’s an excessive case, nevertheless it reminds us that some cats want extra time than others to regulate to a brand new dietary regime.

10. Full the Meals Changeover

As soon as your cat consumes 100% of the brand new meals, full the transition if no antagonistic reactions happen.