Written by: Rijja Fatima
People always configure whether do cats eat less in winter or summer. Cats are very social creatures. They love to play as well, and they also love to eat something every time.
But now the question arises: if they love to eat, then why do cats eat less in winter? What are the reasons behind their eating, and what is the purpose of this act of cats? The answer to this question lies in the discussion below:
Reasons for less eating of cats in winter:
Why do cats eat less in winter? Cats may eat less in winter due to many reasons. These reasons may be dependent upon their behavior and psychological, environmental, and social factors. They may be facing problems related to any one of the factors described before as drinking water in winter. The reasons that may be trusted to them are discussed below:
Physiological reasons why do cats eat less in winter?
Cats make me inactive in winter. They love to take a sunbath or a long nap. Cats are much lazier in winter than in summer. This may be the reason for their less eating in winter: there is no use of calories, or the calorie burning rate is low compared to summer.
- Metabolism also affects the need for food; in winter, the metabolic rate of cats is low as compared to summer, so there is less need for energy.
- Hormonal changes may also cause cats to eat less in winter; the hormone melatonin may affect appetite in cats, but temperature changes may reduce or increase the need for food for cats.
- The temperature also has a great influence on cats’ eating rate. Low temperatures influence the cats to eat less to reduce energy consumption. The maintenance of body heat in winter is also a major cause of less food intake by cats in winter.
Behavioral reasons:
Do cats eat less in winter? This may relate to behavioral reasons. Cats may refuse to take food in winter due to behavioral fluctuations like stress and anxiety. Due to temperature fluctuation, cats may have stress, which reduces their food intake.
For wild cats, due to extremely cold weather, there is a great decrease in prey. So cats are forced to reduce their food consumption.
There is also a great increase in the sleep of cats during winter; this is also a cause of less food intake in winter by cats. During winter, cats like to stay in their shelters to get safe from cold weather. This act of them is responsible for less intake of food because when they do not go out from their shelter, they find nothing to eat.
Social reasons:
Sometimes cats refuse to take food because they want to show anger towards their masters. Meeting with new people and fellow pets may also cause cats to show unwillingness towards eating food. They may dislike other pets living with them, which may cause a cat to reduce food intake in order to get angry towards the master.
Tips to overcome the situation of do cats eat less in winter:
It is a common problem for every person who loves cats, whether he owes a cat as a pet or not, still it is his problem. To overcome this problem, there are a lot of solutions. Some of them may include:
- Encourage cats to eat food
- Maintenance of a proper meal schedule
- Monitor your cats.
- Better environmental conditions
Some steps of cat eating behavior:
The first step is to encourage cats to eat food. This may include a delicious meal. The meal should be full of nutrients to fulfill the nourishment requirements of cats. You may encourage your cats by feeding them with the help of your hands; your cats might be cheerful with this act of yours.
The next step is to maintain a meal schedule. To follow this step, you may schedule your cat’s meal time. A meal on time may help you to feed your cat because, in this way, when you provide your cat with a meal after 3 or 4 hours, your cat may be hungry. So, in this way, you can feed your cats by maintaining a proper meal schedule.
The third step consists of monitoring your cat. You can check when your cats like to eat. Where do they like to eat? And what do they like to eat? Try to find the answer to each question. This may help you to provide your cats with the meal of their own choice at their favorite place and at their preferred time.
Fourth and last step includes the enhancement of environmental conditions. Try to make the environment stress-free for cats. You can monitor if they are feeling cold and try to provide them with a cozy temperature. If they dislike their fellow pets or people near them, try to make a bond between them.
Cats Encourage:
You can also encourage your cats to eat by increasing their playtime. The more they play, the more they feel an appetite. This can help you a lot in facing the situation of Why do cats eat less in winter?
Conclusion:
In short, there are many reasons for less food intake in cats. The reasons may be related to their physical, behavioral, social, and hormonal factors. You can encourage them to eat food in winter by following the above-mentioned steps. You can also follow some additional tips like cleaning the pot, topping food to make it attractive, and giving food to your cat in the form of a puzzle. This may help you a lot to solve your problem of less intake of food by cats in winter.
