The Feline Consultant

21/10/2025

One question I often get is: do females require less food than male cats?
The answer is no.
How much food an adult cat requires only depends on:
✅ activity level
✅ weight and body condition score
✅ spay/neuter status

🚫 s*x

An adult active female of 12 lbs needs more calories compared to a 9 lbs inactive male cat.

19/10/2025

18/10/2025

If you own a large breed kitten, it is very important to pay close attention to their caloric needs and growth spurts.

The kitten stage extends up to 24 months. Free feeding them and allowing for a natural feeding schedule is often recommended to avoid behavior issues like biting or counter surfing.

17/10/2025

😻 Happy Friday! 😻

Superman and Livi are back at my house and it truly is a happy Friday.

They are cuddling and playing like nothing ever happened. And both are very happy to be reunited. Kittens should not be growing up without a conspecific to play and “cat around”.

Non-recognition aggression is a serious issue in many multi cat households. There is no research, and in many cases the cats have to be separated permanently.

16/10/2025

Kittens are near and dear to me. I typically foster 3-4 litters per season.

They eat A LOT, because they have a lot of growing to do!! They are forming bones, muscles, teeth and you can almost watch them grow.

Therefore, cats up to 12 months should ALWAYS be fed kitten food. This food is formulated to meet their increased need for protein, calcium, and phosphorus.

🙀 A growing kitten may need up to 500kcal per day.

That’s why I consider free feeding the best choice to accommodate their needs.

Many cat owners are afraid to free feed, because they want to prevent obesity.
If you don’t free your kittens, please make sure you are feeding enough.
Underfeeding kittens often leads to counter surfing, biting and food aggression.

14/10/2025

😻 I love it when clients send me pictures and videos after we have been working together for weeks on an introduction. 😻

Poe, the gentle tuxedo in the middle, is finally allowed to attend the VIP squirrel watch party.

13/10/2025

The caloric needs of your cat change during its lifetime.

A healthy 8 months old kitten may need up to 500 kcal a day, whilst your 14 year old senior biscuit maker may only need 200 kcal per day.

Don’t be afraid to count the calories you are feeding and compare it to general guidelines. It’s super easy and important for your cats health and wellbeing.

12/10/2025

Someone just fell in ❤️ with the CATIT Senses line.

09/10/2025

Feeding guidelines are calculated based on NRC and WSAVA recommendations.

It all sounds very boring, and therefore, WSAVA has a nice cheat sheet on their website to give cat owners some guidance how much to feed an healthy adult cat.

08/10/2025

TRIGGER WARNING ‼️

If you have not heard of non-recognition aggression, this is how it looks.

Two cats/kittens that have been getting along well are not recognizing each other after being separated for a vet visit or similar. The issue has been recognized but is not researched.

I am sure scent plays a huge role in this situation, but it’s probably not the only contributing factor.

Superman and Livi had their spay/neuter procedure yesterday. They can not be together in the same room without displaying growling, hissing, stalking and attacking each other.

07/10/2025

Superman is totally focused on the digging.
Livi is happily rolling the cups around….😹

05/10/2025

Feeding guidelines are mandatory on every complete and balanced pet food product to pass state regulations.

To find them on a 3oz can, or a small package design it’s recommended to use your readers or a magnifying glass.

However, mandatory does not mean they have to be correct. For me, incorrect or incomplete feeding guidelines are a first indicator to stay away from the product.