Cats eat more during the winter and owners should give their pet more food during this time, a four-year observational study of 38 adult colony cats has found.
Seasonal food intake has been examined in the past on farm animals, such as dairy cows, to establish new ways of increasing milk production, but this study is the largest that has yet taken place with domestic cats.
The 38 cats of mixed breeds, ages and genders were all inhabitants of a center in France where they were allowed to play and exercise outside all year round.
They had a microchip on their collar which allowed them to take as much food as they wanted from a dispenser which only opened for them.
At the same time, this microchip recorded how much the cat had eaten and when.
“Cats, like many humans are more inclined to comfort eat when it’s cold outside but, in their case, it’s likely to be due to the extra energy they need to keep warm when out and about,” explained Dr Alex German from the University of Liverpool, UK, who is the senior author of a paper published in the open-access journal PLoS ONE.
Dr German and his co-authors found that cats ate about 15 per cent less food during summer.
They concluded that the extra effort to keep warm in winter and the temptation to rest during hot summer days contributed to the swing in activity levels during the year.
“People should consider the amount of food their cats need at different times of year as this can be part of helping them to maintain a healthy weight,” Dr German said.
______
Serisier S et al. 2014. Seasonal Variation in the Voluntary Food Intake of Domesticated Cats (Felis Catus). PLoS ONE 9(4): e96071. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0096071
