Your kitten’s just been neutered, and you probably have lots of questions about his diet. Should you feed your neutered kitten adult cat food? Can you still give dry food for kittens to your neutered kitten? When and how should his diet be changed? Don’t worry, we tell you all about it in this article.
At what age should I get my kitten neutered?
Cats reach sexual maturity between 4 and 12 months, but that can sometimes happen at around 18 months. The age at which sexual maturity occurs can vary between individual cats and breeds. However, the average age is usually between 6 and 8 months.
It's technically possible to have a kitten neutered at an earlier age, but vets generally recommend neutering your cat at around 7 months when most of their development is considered complete.
Read all about it in our article on nutrition for neutered cats. We provide a complete overview and share some tips to prevent weight gain.
What should I feed my neutered kitten?
The nutritional needs of neutered kittens
Let's first take a look at the nutritional needs of kittens.
Regardless of their age, cats are strict carnivores. They can’t develop properly or stay healthy without animal protein in their diet throughout their lifetime. These proteins are critical as they provide cats with the amino acids needed to synthesise their own proteins. Among the twenty or so amino acids, 11 are essential for cats. These include: taurine, arginine, phenylalanine, methionine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, tryptophan, threonine, and histidine.
Adult cats and kittens both need fats (essential fatty acids), minerals, vitamins and fibre in their diet to ensure healthy digestion.
However, kittens are still developing. Their nutritional needs are significantly higher than those of adult cats as their bodies gradually mature and synthesise new tissues as they grow.
Compared to an adult cat, a kitten requires food that's richer in many nutrients: proteins, amino acids, lipids, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and trace elements.
Should I change my kitten's diet after neutering?
While their energy needs drop by an average of 20% after neutering, their nutritional needs don’t! You just need to be careful how much you give them to eat.
Until he reaches 12 months, or longer for certain large cat breeds like Maine Coons, your kitten will need a diet specifically formulated for kittens. Only once they are fully grown can you transition them onto wet and/or dry food for neutered adult cats.
Keep in mind that neutering a cat isn't the equivalent of them reaching adulthood, quite the opposite.
Neutered kittens need kitten food throughout their first year! It's highly recommended to feed your neutered kitten with kitten food.
Once they’re fully grown, you can offer them wet food and/or dry food for adult neutered cats.
Find out about the best dry food for cats in our article. (click on the link).
We've also written about the 4 criteria for choosing the right food for your kitten on our blog.
Can I give my neutered kitten adult cat food?
You can give adult cat food to your neutered kitten, but this food should only be a temporary solution. Otherwise, your kitten could develop deficiencies further down the line.
Adult cat food contains less calcium and phosphorus. Yet, these minerals are essential for kittens. A calcium deficiency can, for example, lead to bone demineralization, causing frequent fractures and hypocalcemia (compulsive licking of extremities, digestive problems, epilepsy). A phosphorus deficiency can cause bowed legs (poor skeletal growth), very low endurance, and a poor quality coat.
Finally, whether neutered or not, kittens require more protein and fat than adult cats. These nutrients are found in reduced quantities in adult cat food. Proteins are a source of energy, and fats help increase the digestibility of certain fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) that are very important for kittens.
Feeding your kitten adult cat food puts their health at risk! Find out more in our dedicated article on the topic (click on the link).
At Ziggy, we want the best for our little furry friends. We offer dry food for kittens and wet food for kittens, which are both rich in quality proteins and meet all their nutritional needs. All our recipes have been developed by Veterinary and feline nutrition expert Dr Géraldine Blanchard.
The website Chatparexemple.fr considers Ziggy's wet food to be 'probably the best on the market'. Read all about the criteria they based their decision on in this dedicated article.
How much dry and/or wet food should I give my neutered kitten?
You can continue giving him specialist food for kittens. However, once neutered, you'll need to control the amount of food you he eats, especially if your kitten doesn't go outdoors, as neutering leads to a 20% drop in daily energy needs.
We always recommend giving him mainly wet food, to guarantee good hydration and ensure he feels full after eating. The other part of their daily diet can consist of a limited amount of dry food. This will help them avoid gaining weight.
To easily and accurately determine the amount of food to give your kitten, don't hesitate to use our ration calculator .
And if they’re still hungry?
A complete wet food diet usually allows them to meet their energy needs while keeping them satisfied. Nevertheless, some greedy (or gluttonous!) felines may sometimes need a little extra.
You can start by serving them their daily portions at regular times to establish a routine. We also recommend adding small amounts of boiled courgette cubes to their wet food to help fill them up.
You generally avoid doing:
- Giving your kitten your leftovers.
- Feeding your kitten as soon as he starts meowing.
- Placing his bowl too close to his litter.
- Leaving dry food out at all times if he cannot self-regulate his eating or doesn’t have access to the outdoors.
When to stop feeding them kitten food?
Your little friend needs a diet specifically designed for kittens while they’re developing, which is approximately until they reach 1 year old.
Once your kitten has completed 80 to 90% of his development, a special kitten diet is no longer required. The challenge lies in figuring out exactly when that is.
Our wet and dry food for kittens has been specially formulated for their needs, and we recommend giving it to them up until around 12 months old.
Once your little companion has blown out his first candle (we hope you'll throw him a birthday party worthy of the occasion), you can move on to a diet for neutered adult cats.
However, if he hasn't yet been neutered, you can continue to feed him kitten food for a while - there's no hurry - or switch to a full adult cat diet.
Once your little companion has blown out his first candle (we hope you'll throw him a birthday party worthy of the occasion), you can move on to a diet for neutered adult cats.
How to change a kitten's diet?
When switching from kitten food to adult cat food, it helps to gently transition to get him used to his new diet.
A dietary transition for cats works as follows:
On the first day, mix one teaspoon (approximately 10g) of the new food into their usual portion. Then gradually increase the amount of the new food and reduce the amount of the old food.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Your little friend’s dietary transition should be done smoothly. Some cats will not have any particular issues changing diets, while others may need a period of adjustment (sometimes up to two to three weeks).
- It's not recommended changing your cat's diet right after a stressful event or if they've been ill. They might associate their new diet with a negative event.
- During the dietary transition, you can monitor your cat's stool to determine whether he's tolerating his new diet well and if the change is not too abrupt.
Would you like to try out our recipes for your neutered kitten? Discover our kitten discovery box, including 1kg of kitten dry food and 4 wet food with beef and 4 wet food with trout.
Bonjour Annie,
Avec plaisir 💛
Dans notre calculateur, cliquez sur “ans” et vous pourrez choisir “mois”.
Si cela ne s’affiche pas, n’hésitez pas à nous envoyer un petit message à hello@ziggyfamily.com. On vous donnera le bon dosage pour votre petit chatte 😽
Bonjour,
merci pour votre précédente réponse.
Sur le site pour le calcul de la ration, je ne parviens pas à saisir" Mois" dans l’âge puisque ma chatte a bientôt 8 mois et non 8 ans.
Merci pour votre aide
Annie
Bonjour Annie,
Dans notre calculateur de ration, nous intégrons tous les nutriments, et non uniquement les protéines. Contrairement à la pâtée pour chaton, nos recettes pour chats adultes stérilisés sont moins riches en matières grasses, car après la stérilisation, le besoin énergétique de nos moustachus baisse de 20% en moyenne. Cela permet de bien réajuster les quantités pour éviter qu’ils ne prennent trop de poids. Pour vos chatons, nous vous recommandons de leur offrir une alimentation chaton jusqu’à leur première année, et ce, même s’ils sont stérilisés. Si vous avez d’autres questions, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter à hello@ziggyfamily.com 😻
Bonjour, je donne de la pâtée ménagère à mes chatons âgés de 6 mois (7 mois le 15/12) et de la pâtée Ziggy le dimanche spéciale chaton .Elles vont être stérilisées jeudi. Sur le calculeur de ration , on passe de 224g de pâtée (avant sté) à 188g( après sté) .Or sur le site de “cuisine a crocs” de 130 g de proteines à 135g par jour( après stérilisation) par chat et pas de changement pour les autres ingrédients. Pourquoi cette différence? Merci pour votre réponse
Annie Bellec
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