Dietary recommendations for weight management of Maine Coon cats aged 2 years old

The proportion of high animal protein is ≥40%, the proportion of medium and low fat is ≤18%, and the proportion of carbohydrates is ≤10%. It can be fed in separate meals according to daily caloric requirements.

Why do you have to be stuck at the age of 2? Anyone who has raised a Maine Coon knows that they are notorious for slow development. The bone growth cycle is 1-1.5 years longer than that of ordinary short-haired cats. Most Maine Coons officially end the "grow" stage when they are 2 years old. Before, you were afraid that they would not be able to grow. If you feed them too much, most of them will make up for the skeleton. But if you overfeed them after 2 years old, all the growth will be real fat. My Maine rice cake is a negative example. Before I was 2 years old, I always heard people say that "Maine must be open-fed to grow to 1.2 meters."

Speaking of which, I have to mention the major feeding schools for raising Maine Coes. Each has its own reasons and pitfalls. There is really no need to stick to a certain "most correct" plan, just choose what you can stick to. Several of my Maine Coon breeding friends feed raw meat and bones. The general ratio is 8:1:1 (80% muscle + 10% bone + 10% viscera). The animal protein can be increased to more than 50%, and the fat can be controlled within 15%. As long as the ratio is correct and the weight gain is very stable, it will basically not occur. In the case of excessive obesity, you must pay attention to regular internal control, and trace elements such as iodine, manganese, and taurine must also be supplemented according to standards. I once had a cat friend who accidentally mixed the iodine and missed the iodine. After feeding it for half a year, his cat lost hair and almost became bald. I went to the hospital for a checkup and found out that it was a nutritional deficiency. If you don’t have the energy to study the ratio, don’t try it casually.

If you have enough budget, canned feeding of all staple foods is also a good choice. Just choose one that is gluten-free, gluten-free, and has less than 5% carbohydrates. Don’t use snack cans to make up the number. The amount you feed is about 3%-4% of the body weight. For example, a 7kg male cat can feed about 240g a day, and it can be fed three times in the morning, lunch and evening. I fed Nian Gao a full can of rice for three months last year, and the weight loss was very stable. It was a bit expensive, and his stool was a bit soft at the time. Later, he switched to a half-food, half-can mode, which worked very well.

If you are usually busy at work and don’t have the energy to cook raw meat or meat and can’t afford the cost of a full can, you can still manage your weight by choosing the right dry food. Just choose those with crude protein ≥ 40%, crude fat ≤ 18%, and no grains or legumes in the first few ingredients list. Don’t buy low-quality grains whose first three ingredients are rice and wheat, and which contain more attractants than meat. The daily feeding amount is about 2%-2.5% of the body weight. Don’t try to save trouble by self-service. I used to put a large bowl of food for him to eat, and he gained 3 pounds of rice cakes in half a year. Later, I switched to a timed feeder and gave him three meals a day of 30g each. I gradually controlled his weight.

I have argued several times in the cat friend group about "whether snacks can be added". Some people said that no snacks can be given during weight management, while others said that it is okay to feed them occasionally. After trying it myself, I felt that it really does not need to be so extreme, as long as the total calories are calculated. For example, if you give 50g of boiled chicken breast as a reward today, then you will reduce the staple food by 10g that day, which will not affect weight control at all. However, you can avoid the snack cans and nutritional creams that add a lot of sugar and attractants. It is better to grow some cat grass yourself, which can melt hair without excess calories, and cats still like to eat it.

Oh, by the way, don’t stick to the standard weight on the Internet. I used to always struggle with "male cats must be within 9kg". Later, I met a senior who has been breeding Maine Coons for more than ten years. His family has a competition-level male cat with a frame that is larger than the average Maine Coon. It weighs 10kg and has a body fat rate of only 15%. It can run and jump very flexibly, and there are no problems in the physical examination. Don't just look at the scale to judge whether you're fat or thin. If you touch your ribs, you can easily feel a thin layer of fat. There's no soft bag falling down on your belly. If you can run for five or six minutes without panting, then you'll be fine. You don't have to starve to the standard line.

In fact, if you have raised large cats for a long time, you will know that they are really cute when they look chubby, but every pound gained after the age of 2 is a burden on the body. My rice cake is now 8.5kg, and I jump up to the top of the curtains at home every day. I am much more energetic than when I was fat before I could only walk two steps and lie on the ground to catch my breath. If you are afraid of not being able to control the weight, weigh it every three months. It is normal if the weight does not exceed 0.5kg. If it suddenly gains two or three kilograms or falls off the scale significantly, either the diet is not adjusted properly, or you need to take it to the hospital to check if there is a physical problem. To put it bluntly, keeping a Maine Coon is better than anything else.