It is very important for adult cats to clean their eyes and ears daily and trim their claws regularly. Domestic cats should also pay attention to training and training cats to defecate regularly, and don't let cats develop the bad habit of jumping around on the table.
Ensure the cleanliness of cat houses, cat cages, utensils, etc. Should be cleaned frequently, disinfected regularly or exposed to the sun. The design of the cat house should be cold-proof, heatstroke-proof, ventilated, light-permeable, dry and hygienic, which are indispensable. We should also take some measures to suit the living habits and characteristics of cats, such as cats like to move, climb and bask in the sun.
Adult cats can be sterilized if they don't need to breed. That is, male cats remove testicles and female cats remove ovaries. Sterilization has little effect on the growth and health of cats, nor does it affect cats' friendly attitude towards their owners. At the same time, it can accelerate the growth of cats, and it is also docile and easy to manage. If you are an edible cat, the meat quality will be more tender and delicious after operation, and if you are a hairy cat, the fur quality will be greatly improved.
Female cats eat more immediately after mating, and their weight changes gradually from the first day of pregnancy, which is unique among mammals. The total average weight gain during pregnancy (regardless of litter size) is 39% of the pre-mating weight. However, the weight gain varies with the litter size, which can be explained by applying the following equation.
Weight gain (g) = 888.9+106.5n.
Interestingly, the constant 106.5 is very close to the average newborn weight106.2g of kittens born by a group of cats studied by WCPN.
It is speculated that this abnormal way of cat weight gain is the result of extrauterine tissue deposition in early pregnancy. With the increase of pregnancy days, the main reason for weight gain in the third trimester is fetal weight gain. The pregnant days of domestic short-haired cats are less than 64 days. The latest data of WCPN show that the average pregnant days are 65.8 2.5 days, but there are great differences among cats with different genotypes. Many factors, such as litter size and parity, will affect pregnancy. However, the gestation period varies with the parity of each individual and among individuals. Obviously, in order to maintain weight gain, female cats will increase their food and energy intake during pregnancy. The increase of energy intake increases with the increase of body weight.
In terms of weight-based energy intake, the minimum requirement for adult cats is 250 ~ 290 kilojoules per kilogram of body weight, and that for pregnant females is 370 kilojoules per kilogram of body weight. From a practical point of view, most cats eat less and eat more, so they can eat freely. In this way, the female cat can get the required energy accurately, and the owner can also give the pregnant female cat a little more energy than when she is not pregnant. Pregnant animals are more sensitive to nutrient deficiency or excess, so the diet at this time should be carefully prepared. For example, the ratio of calcium to phosphorus needs to be strictly controlled, because the earliest skeletal development of kittens begins in the womb, and the demand for protein will also increase.
When cats enter lactation, their nutritional needs increase greatly. Mother cats should not only get nutrition by themselves, but also provide milk for their kittens. The birth weight of kittens is between 85 ~ 120g, and each litter is about 1 ~ 8. These figures vary according to the cat's breed and dietary needs, but obviously have nothing to do with the weight of the female cat. After the kitten is born, it lives on the mother cat's milk for the first four weeks. At this time, the female cat's energy demand is much higher than that during pregnancy. At the same time, kittens grow fast. Although the kitten began to eat solid food at the age of 4 weeks, the nutritional requirements of the mother cat were still improving before she was completely weaned (at this time, the kitten was 7-8 weeks old), because the mother cat was still breastfeeding (although it was reduced to some extent), and the mother cat was in the recovery period of her body and should gradually return to the state before pregnancy. During childbirth, the female cat only lost 40% of her weight at the end of pregnancy. After giving birth, the female cat gradually loses weight during the 8-week lactation period, which is the same as when breeding.
The energy demand of lactating female cats varies with the number and age of kittens, which will affect the milk production of female cats. The energy density of female cat's milk is 444 kJ per100g, which is higher than 272 kJ per100g.
The reason why we should provide palatable, digestible and high-energy food for the female cat is because the energy demand of the female cat is almost 3-4 times that of the maintenance period. Female cats need to eat less and eat more, so it is advisable to eat freely. Female cats can effectively control energy intake. Because the female cat will lose a lot of water when giving milk, it is necessary to supply enough fresh water. For pregnant female cats, the nutritional level in food should be strictly controlled. Therefore, lactating female cats should be fed specially designed foods, such as certain vitamins, minerals and protein levels, and increase the energy density of food. If the nutrition in the food is relatively balanced, there is no need to add nutrients, otherwise it will cause nutritional imbalance.