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Encouraging cats to eat during hot weather
12th February 2018
Cats naturally eat less during the summer, which is nothing to worry about if your cats are healthy and you have no concerns about their diet. But if your cat is on a prescription diet to manage a medical condition, or they need to gain weight, you might need to find ways to encourage them to eat.
Feed in the shade
Keep your cat’s food in the shade. If your cat’s food is served in a sunny spot they may feel less inclined to eat it because they might get hot and bothered while they sit in the sun. Shade can also stop the food deteriorating as quickly.
Prevent food going stale
Cats will often turn their nose up at stale food, even more so if they do not have much of an appetite to begin with. Serve their food in a covered bowl to keep it fresher. SureFeed bowls have a lid which closes onto a sealed bowl to keep the food fresher for longer.
Don’t give your cat refrigerated wet food
You might think it’s a good idea to keep your cat’s food in the fridge during the summer because it will keep it fresh and your cat will have a nice cool treat. True, it will keep it fresh, but most cats prefer to eat food at room temperature. So, your good intentions might have the wrong effect. By all means keep wet cat food that has been opened in the fridge but allow it to come up to room temperature before serving it to your cat.
Storing dry cat food
It’s not just wet cat food that you need to protect from the heat. Dry food can go stale more quickly when it’s hot too. Try to store it in a cupboard which doesn’t get too warm. Large bags of dry food may become stale before you get a chance to use it all so consider smaller bags of dry food.
Keep the house cool
If you have the luxury of air conditioning, put it on during the hottest parts of the day to keep the house cool, or failing that, use a fan to cool the parts of the house that your cat likes to spend time in. It should encourage them to have more of an appetite if their feeding environment isn’t too hot.
