how much cat food does a lactating cat need?

Question

my cat mille all she is interresting in is food i am feeding her about 2 tins of whiska's aday and she still would eat more, just wormed her about 3 weeks ago along with the rest of the gang? thanks folks

Answer 1

How old are the kittens? Up until the kittens are 8 weeks, mom should be eating high quality kitten food, in order to supply her growing kittens with the proper nutrients. She should have an unlimited supply of dry kitten food available to her at all times. You can start feeding the kittens wet kitten food when they are about 5-6 weeks old. 1 tablespoon each, 4 times a day or so. You'll want to seperate them from mom when they eat the wet food, so that mom doesn't eat it up on them.

Answer 2

This isn't my area, but from the site below I got the following information.

Energy Requirements for Kittens and Adult Cats
Age kcal/lb body wt
Active 20-30
Pregnant 45
Lactating* 56--145

As you can see, lactating cats need to eat a TON of calories per day. I don't know how many kcals Whiska's claims, but you're probably about on target. If she weighs 8 pounds, that means she could eat up to 1160 calories per day.

LOL - that sounds awful! Let's go halvesies and say 712. Assuming the average can of food contains around 250-300 calories, two cans per day is pretty close to the mark.

Again this isn't my area of expertise, but I think you're ok at 2 cans per day, and could even go higher.

But like the other person said, Whiskas isn't great quality food - I highly recommend finding something better.

Answer 3

On a can of catfood, it says to feed a cat 1 can twice a day.. this is just normal for a cat 6-8 lbs who isn't lactating. A lactating cat can eat up to three times as much. I've had issues feeding my lactating cats (foster parent for shelter animals) both canned meat and kitten chow. Which is what the shelter provides. I find that the surplus of vitamins causes diarrhea in both mommy and the kittens. 4-6 cans of catfood a day can get expensive. It's actually cheaper to make your own catfood, but that's a pain and time consuming. Plus you have to make sure you have the right amount of vitamins and nutrients or your kitty can become malnutritioned. I do make my own catfood, and feed the queen (proper name for a mother cat, no joke) 10 to 15oz a day (usually closer to 10). It fills her up better than store bought catfood and is much healthier. Plus her body absorbs most of what she eats, so there's little waste and what waste there is has no odor (bonus!). It is a raw meat diet though and if you're squeamish better stick with the dried kitten chow and just leave it out for her with plenty of water, and skip the canned food to avoid diarrhea. This is the recipe I follow from Dr Lisa Pierson DVM if you're interested in making your own: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=makingcatfood#The_Recipe

Answer 4

A lactating female cat need to be free fed kitten food. This means to always have a bowl of kitten food available for her. She needs the extra nutrients from kitten food.

Answer 5

For a start you need to get her on a decent cat food - feeding a cat whiskers is like eating a big mac and fries day in and day out - it is rubbish - full of additives, salts and sugars!! Very Little nuritional content.

There are specialist diets out there for lactating cats, just as there are for breast feeding mums. If you put your cat on one of these then you will probably notice she eats less - she is getting the nutrients she needs.

I would suggest putting her on a dried food such as Burns. www.burns-pet-nutrition.co.uk/pet_food.htm
Its perfectly natural, organic and packed full of vitamins. Plus its alot cheaper than those so-called superior foods that are sold in pet shops (i.e IAMS, Royal Canin etc). Dried food has lots of benefits, especially for her teeth. Plus you can leave it around all day and se can eat what she wants when she wants.

theres no halm giving her whiskers every now and then... as long as it is in moderation.

Answer 6

You shouldn't restrict her food while she's still feeding kittens, a cat needs extra nutrition to help offset the milk production.

Let her eat as much as she wants, and even offer kitten food (it's higher protein) so her body has something to work with.

Once the kittens are eating on their own, you can go back to regular feedings for her.

Answer 7

lactating cat will eat as mucbh food a she needs too.. juts keep the tyins coming try Royal Canin dry complete specially formulated for nursing queens .. you just dish it out and leave it down with plenty of fresh water.. the rest is up to the cat.

Answer 8

cat food lactating cat

Answer 9

She should be on higher calorie canned and dry kitten food - at least one meal of canned with free feeding dry on the side. I'd feed her Wellness, Blue Buffalo, Royal Canin or Natural Balance. Iams really is not a good food any more.

Answer 10

she shouldnt need any more food than normal, its more drinks she should have