Cat gained weight after being spayed

Question
I know that this may sound like a silly question, but I need to ask anyways, as I am very curious.  My husband and I have two strays that we adopted and soon thereafter we had them spayed.  Within months, both girls gained weight.  Is this something to be worried about, or is this just common among spayed pets? They look much better now then they did when we first rescued them

Answer
Hello Lisa,

It is completely normal for a cat to gain weight after being spayed. Hormonal changes that take place after neutering will have an impact on the cat, as neutering abruptly decreases the normal circulations of particular hormones that are responsible for the storage of body fat mass.

It is good that you are concerned about this as the weight gain will continue if certain changes are not made in the cats diet and lifestyle. If the weight gain does continue into obesity then the cat's may be of increased risk of certain complicating medical conditions such as FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disease), diabetes and osteoarthritis.

I would recommend to start feeding them on a 'premium' nutritionally balanced diet, if possible one that is specifically tailored for neutered cats. Most of these diets will be high in protein which help to maintain lean body mass (most commercial diets replace much of the protein with carbohydrates which will result in more fat being stored),and contain L-carnitine which will help to reduce the deposition of fat also.

I would also recommend to get the cat's to be as active as possible like chasing toys,providing high up hiding places to get them jumping more. And one game which my cats love is to get a small empty soft drinks bottle, fill it with some of the cats daily allowance of food, then cut small holes into it,making sure there are no sharp edges and the holes are big enough that when knocked about a treat will fall out every so often and hang it onto a door handle. This game really gets the cat exercising with the knowledge that if they keep jumping up and swiping the bottle they may get a treat!

As I said, it is not un-common for them to gain weight but when cats are neutered we do need to adjust their diets to compensate for this.

Kelly