Cats Need More Food During Winters: Study

All cat owners must know that during winters cats consume more food and need to be fed more, a new study reveals.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool invested four years in monitoring the amount of food cats prefer to eat and found that cats consume more food during the winters and so owners need to increase the amount of food they give to the felines in the colder months.

In collaboration with researchers at the Royal Canin Research Centre in France, the experts monitored 38 cats who had a microchip attached to their collar and they were allowed to take as much as food they wanted from a dispenser that was easily accessible by them. During this time, the microchip recorded the amount of food the cats consumed and also the time when they ate more.

The study team noticed that the cats' appetites dropped during the hotter days and increased during the winters.

Veterinarian and study author, Dr Alex German, said, "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."

The cats ate 15 percent less food during the summers and based on this the vets claimed that extra food consumed during winters was to help keep warm during the winter. And this reversed during the summer due to the temptation to rest during the hotter days.

The cats monitored in the study were from an animal  centre in Southern France where they were allowed to play and exercise outside all year around. The cats involved in the study were of mixed breeds, ages and genders. The study used computer modeling to compare the data on food to climate in the area.

In the past, a study was done on farm animals to examine the seasonal intake of food. But this is the first study on domesticated cats.

Dr German said, "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."

The finding was published in the journal PLOS One.