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A gestating or lactating cat is known as a Queen. Gestation, also referred to as pregnancy, is when offspring develop within a female. Gestation lasts 9 weeks in the queen then parturition occurs. Lactation is a process that is unique to mammals where mothers are able to produce milk to feed their offspring. Cats begin to lactate immediately after parturition, with highly nutritious milk. Her milk becomes less nutrient dense as the weeks go on and the kittens go towards consuming alternate forms of energy. Lactation lasts about 6 weeks in the queen. Gestation and lactation can be an extremely nutrient and energy demanding times in a cat’s life. Mismanagement of the queen at this time can lead to undernourishment in herself and her kittens, congenital abnormalities and potential abortions in her offspring. But successful gestation and lactation can be achieved through a combination of factors. These include selection of healthy animals, implementing proper breeding management, maintaining a healthy environment, and consistent long term feeding of proper diets.

Proper diets will include nutrients that are important to maintaining energy in the queen during gestation and lactation, as well as providing nutrients that are crucial for the growth and development of her litter. Some of these nutrients include fat, such as omega 3’s and 6’s, carbohydrates, protein, with an emphasis on the the essential amino acids, minerals such as calcium, phosphorous, and potassium, vitamins like vitamins A, D, K, niacin, and ascorbic acid, and water.

Gestation
When a queen first become pregnant, she has a steady increase in body weight, beginning in the second week of gestation until parturition. The increase in body weight is accompanied by an increase in the quantity of food the queen receives during this time. This weight gain is due to the growth of fetal, placental, and mammary tissue. During gestation, it is recommended that you feed for a 40-50% increase in body weight compared to maintenance in the queen. At the end of gestation the queen should be receiving a 25 to 50% increase in food intake as compared to maintenance. At parturition, only 40% of the weight gained from gestation is lost. The remaining 60% of the weight gained during gestation is stored as energy that is needed for the queen to be able to keep up with the demands of lactation.

Lactation
After parturition, kittens begin consuming the queen’s milk, commonly referred to as suckling. Kittens suckle for 7-9 weeks depending on the litter size. Queens create milk through the nutrients they have stored throughout gestation. This leads to a loss in body weight, regardless of diet during this period. The average weight loss seen is around 700-800g/day.

The amount of milk they produce is dependent on the size of their litter and their stage of lactation, milk yield increases as the litter size increases. The amount of milk the queen produces increases until weeks three to four and decrease afterwards. The energy of the milk is also affected as the energy content increases from 1 to 1.5 kcal/g of milk in the first 4 weeks, with a rapid decrease afterwards. The queen’s milk yield and energy content are important as it gives an insight into the energy required for milk production.

Growth
Growth is the time in a cats life between parturition to adulthood. Energy requirements for new born suckling kittens is approximately 20-25 kcal/100g of BW. Since the energy content and nutrients in milk decrease rapidly, it is recommended that you start introducing kittens to kitten food around 2.5-4 weeks of age as the milk will no longer have the nutrients sufficient for development solely from milk.

Feeding lactating and gestating cats kitten food
The degree of stress that lactation imposes on the queen depends on her body condition at parturition, litter size, and stage of lactation. The excess weight that was acquired during gestation will deplete during lactation to produce nutrient rich milk for her kittens. To prevent malnutrition occurring in the dam, proper feeding of the right food is essential for her well being. It is advised that the lactating and gestating queen is always fed a nutrient dense, highly digestible and palatable diet regardless of litter size. These qualities are often found in food formulated for kittens. This food is formulated for growth, performance, or high energy and will provide the optimal energy and nutrients to the queen during gestation and lactation. Other food is formulated for adult maintenance and should not be fed to the dam as they will not provide the sufficient nutrient density and energy for gestation and lactation.

It is recommended that you begin to switch over the queen’s diet to kitten food starting in the second week of gestation. This is due to her increased energy requirements and giving her sufficient time to adjust to the new food. The energy should be increased up until the second week of lactation where it is approximately 2-2.5 times her normal energy maintenance requirements. The food should be presented as a free fed ration, given several times each day. By weeks 3-4 of lactation, kittens begin to wean themselves off their dam’s milk, consuming a higher amount of solid food. It is at this point that food intake should gradually be reduced by the lactating queen. By week 7-8, the lactating queen should be consuming less than 1.5 times her maintenance energy requirements.

Energy requirements
Meeting the proper energy requirement for any cat is important for optimal health and body condition. Energy requirements for gestating and lactating cats is greater than that for regular adult maintenance, since energy needs include both the queen and her kittens. To ensure the lactating or gestating queen will eat enough to meet these increased energy demands, they should be freely fed highly palatable, high-calorie food, with at least 4kcal ME/g dry matter.

For lean cats with a body condition score (BCS) of 5 or lower on a 9-point scale, energy requirements are around 100kcal/kgBW0.67, which translates to 70 kcal/kg BW. A queen will lose weight during lactation, so it is recommended to increase her body weight during gestation by 40-50%. Gestating queens will require 90-100kcal/kg BW; up to 1.5 times the requirements of normal adult maintenance.

The energy requirements during lactation are mainly based on the amount of milk a queen produces as well as how much energy is in the milk. Lactating queens with more than two kittens generally need between 2 and 2.5 times the amount of energy required for normal adult maintenance, and may even require up to 4 times the amount of maintenance energy. A lactating queen can require between 90-270 kcal/kg BW depending on how far into lactation she is and how many kittens she has. Peak lactation is the most energetically demanding stage of the animal’s life and occurs around the 3rd and 4th weeks of lactation. At this point the lactating queen will not be able to maintain her body weight and will require the maximum amount of energy.

An energy deficiency may be difficult to detect since signs are not specific, but the most noticeable sign is weight loss. In a gestating queen, the growth of her kittens may be slowed or stopped by a deficiency of energy. In a lactating queen, her ability to produce milk may be compromised and she may also become osteoporotic. Fat is generally lost first in early stages of energy deficiency, but protein catabolism will eventually occur and reduce the cat’s ability to fight infection. Excess energy intake is characterized by an overweight or obese cat. This can cause diabetes or increase issues with other conditions such as skeletal or heart problems, as well as increase the risk for hyperlipidemia.

Proteins and amino acids
Protein is essential in the diet of queens and is needed in higher quantities during gestation and lactation due to an increase in energy requirements. The quality and composition of the protein is important for the digestibility and utilization of protein by the body. The lactating or gestating queen requires highly digestible protein in the diet and has a higher demand for certain amino acids over others. Protein is required in the diet because amino acids are broken down and utilized for energy and are the foundation for proteins and peptides used in biological processes. Protein in the diet provides essential amino acids that cannot be made by the body, but are necessary for life. Protein also provides queens with dispensable amino acids that can be synthesized when nitrogen and carbohydrates are present and are utilized during maintenance, growth, lactation and gestation. It was discovered that the same ten essential amino acids needed in the diet of all other animals, including dogs, were also needed in the diet of the cat. The ten amino acids are: arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.

Cats have an evolutionary disadvantage regarding an amino acid deficiency compared to omnivores or herbivores due to the fact that they are historically carnivores and only consumed animal tissue. When a cat experiences an essential amino acid deficiency it will take longer for them to show the signs of the deficiency which is accompanied by a decrease food intake. The decrease in food intake will negatively affect the queen during lactation and gestation due to the high energy demand during this time.

Growth, gestation and lactation
Cats have higher protein requirements than other species. Their efficiency of protein utilization for maintenance and growth is lower due to their lack of ability to conserve nitrogen and essential amino acids in response to reduced dietary protein intake. The high protein requirement is a result of maintenance needs rather than growth. Kittens use 60% of their protein requirements for maintenance and only 40% for growth. Crude protein and essential amino acid requirements for gestation do not exceed those found for maximal nitrogen retention of weanling kittens. The protein requirement for maximal lactation exceeds that for max weight gain of kittens. A gestating and lactating queen's crude protein requirement is 170 g/kg and 240 g/kg respectively in a 4.0 kcal ME/g diet. The highest nutritional requirement is during peak lactation, in the third to fourth week of lactation.

Cats require all the essential amino acids, with the addition of a taurine intake requirement. Compared to other species, cats also need a slightly higher intake of leucine, threonine, methionine, and arginine. A growing kitten is less sensitive to essential amino acid imbalances, when one or more are limiting and dietary protein intake decreases, compared to herbivores and omnivores.

A peculiarity of cats is their requirement for taurine. Most species can synthesize enough taurine through methionine and cysteine metabolism, but cats are unable to synthesize enough to meet their requirements. Cats require a dietary source of taurine and it is recommended to feed a minimum of 1000 mg taurine/kg for dry foods and 1700 mg taurine/kg for wet foods. Deficiency in taurine for gestating queens can result in a higher chance of fetus abortion or reabsorption, stillborn kittens, and kittens with lower birth and growth rate. Taurine deficiency in lactating queens causes significantly lower concentrations of taurine in their milk.

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates include sugars, starches, non-starch polysaccharides (NSPs) and dietary fibres (DFs). Their are four carbohydrate groups; absorbable, digestible, fermentable, and non-fermentable.

Absorbable carbohydrates include monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, and galactose). They can be readily absorbed in the body as they do not require digestion by gastric enzymes. Cats are limited at metabolizing certain sugars and toxicity from low levels of galactose (5.6 g*kg BW-1·d-1) can be toxic.

Digestible carbohydrates include disaccharide (lactose, maltose and sucrose). Feeding diets high in carbohydrates can also lead to feline urologic syndrome. Lactose and sucrose may escape digestion by endogenous enzymes and can end up being fermented in the small intestine. These can be considered fermentable carbohydrates.

Common examples of fermentable carbohydrates include; lactose, resistant starches, and dietary fibres which are all known as oligosaccharides. Due to the absence of pancreatic amylase suckling kittens should not be given milk substitutes containing starch. Diary fibers are the remnants of edible plant cell walls such as lignin, and those associated substances that are resistant to the hydrolysis by the digestive tract enzymes. Plant-based diets contain high amounts of fiber. Corn gluten feed, soybean hulls, and wheat grains are common ingredients found in lactating and gestating cat diets that are high in fibre.

Non-fermentable carbohydrates are not fermented by the microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract in cats. Cellulose and wheat bran are common example of these carbohydrates.

Effects on reproductive performance
The milk that the lactating queen produces for the kittens contains lactose that is utilized by nursing kittens. The concentration of carbohydrates in the lactating queens milk affects the amount of lactose that is present. The kittens gastrointestinal tract produces high amounts of lactase, the enzyme used to break down lactose, and are efficient at metabolizing high amounts of lactose in the diet.

Fats and fatty acids
Generally when fat is included in the diet, this is referring to triglycerides made up of fatty acids and glycerol. Fatty acids can be long, medium, or short chained, and some may be essential (not produced by the body). Fats are a source of concentrated energy, providing 2.25 times the amount of energy compared to protein and carbohydrates. They can be provided in the form of animal fats or oils from plant seeds. Fat is also important for carrying fat soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E, and K. The high energy density of fat makes it an important nutrient to include in the diet of lactating and gestating queens, since they will require higher amounts of energy to support their kittens.

It is recommended that cats be fed a minimum of 9% total fat on a dry matter (DM) basis for normal adult maintenance. For queens during lactation or gestation, the requirements of total dietary fats is the same as the requirement for adult maintenance on a percent metabolizable energy (ME) basis. Since lactating or gestating queens will have increased energy requirements, the overall intake of fat will also be increased. Higher fat diets can be fed with minimal consequence, with a safe upper limit of 70% ME (82.5g/1000kcal) total dietary fat. High fat diets also tend to be more palatable, which is beneficial for increasing food intake of the lactating or gestating queen.

Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids will be important in the diet of a queen. Omega-3 acids include alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). These omega-3 fatty acids are beneficial for neurologic growth and development of kittens, as well as having anti-inflammatory effects. They can improve skin, gastrointestinal, and renal health, and can aid in the treatment of cancer, arthritis and hyperlipidemia. Omega-3 fatty acids are found mainly in marine sources like fish, so diets including fish oils would benefit the health of the queen and her kittens. Omega-6 fatty acids include linoleic (LA) and arachidonic (AA) acids, which help to maintain proper reproductive health in queens. Arachidonic acid is important to include in a cat’s diet since they are not able to synthesize it themselves.

Omega 3 fatty acids
The parental form of this omega 3 fatty acid is Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA). This is an important fatty acid as it is the precursor to other fatty acids with physiological importance like eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). EPA is incorporated into cell membranes and serves as a precursor eicosanoids such as prostaglandins and leukotrienes. These molecules are crucial in altering the inflammatory and immune response in the body. DHA is found in neural tissue, inside the cell membrane, and is the most abundant fatty acid in the retina of the eye. This makes its presence vital to normal neurological and retinal development in the fetus.

Cats can convert some Alpha-Linolenic Acid to EPA and DHA, but this is limited. Adult cats do not need supplementation of omega 3 fatty acids for maintenance in their diet. However, stages in a cats life with the highest metabolic demands, such as gestation, lactation, growth, and development, require supplementation as the body is not able to produce enough omega 3 fatty acids. This essentiality in key life stages that categorizes Omega 3 fatty acids as conditionally essential.

Supplementation of Omega 3 fatty acids are needed for the gestating and lactating queen due to the stress of pregnancy and lactation that can negatively affect her essential fatty acid status. She needs an increased supply of essential fatty acids to supply the embryos with fatty acids via the placenta and later through her milk. An absence of Omega-3 fatty acids in the queen’s diet can lead to abnormal neural and retinal function. This risk increases as she has more litters, due to the depletion of essential fatty acid reserves. It is suggested that 0.1 g of EPA and DHA combined per 1000 g diet in a food containing 4000 kcal/g can maintain normal development of offspring.

Omega 6 fatty acids
Linoleic acid is a form of Omega 6 fatty acid which functions by maintaining the epidermal water barrier of the skin, aiding in coat and skin health, and is a precursor to help maintain membrane fluidity, structure, and function. Omega 6 fatty acids that are derived from linoleic acid are found as storage fatty acids in adipose tissue, liver, kidney, and muscle cells.

The most important LCPUFA that gets produced from linoleic acid is arachidonic acid (AA). AA is one of the major cell membrane fatty acids and a precursor for certain eicosanoids. Eicosanoids are released when cell membranes respond to physical or chemical trauma causing the initiation of an inflammatory response. Although cats do not typically require a valid source of AA, queens require it in order to produce healthy litters. Queen that lack AA in their diet can develop impaired platelet aggregation, thrombocytopenia and failure to deliver healthy kittens.

Cats have the ability to thrive on a wide range of dietary fats. It is recommended that cats obtain a fat requirement of 9% with 0.5% being linoleic acid and 0.02% AA in food containing 4000 kcal of ME/kg. Deficiencies in Omega 6 fatty acids can cause improper kitten growth and can develop fatty degeneration of the liver and fat deposition in the kidneys. It can also lead to dermatological signs in cat coat quality.

Minerals
Minerals are inorganic elements that can make up to 4% of our total body weight and are essential for life. There is some evidence claiming essentially of 11 minerals in cats; other minerals are assumed to be essential because they have been demonstrated in other animal models. There are 2 major forms of minerals, macro-minerals and micro-minerals. Macro-minerals are minerals required in a greater amounts and make up the majority of the body’s ash content. These include Calcium (Ca), Phosphorus (P), Magnesium (Mg), Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Iron (Fe), Sulfur (S), and Chloride (Cl). Micro-minerals are minerals that are needed in trace amounts by the body. These include the rest of the minerals such as Molybdenum (Mo), Boron (B), and Chromium (Cr). Minerals serve many physiological functions such as provide skeletal support in vertebrates, transmitting nerve impulses and muscle contraction, components involved in the transport of proteins and hormones, and function in maintaining water and electrolyte balance. Trace minerals mainly function in enzymatic reactions. Care needs to be taken with the amount of minerals provided, as there are many interrelationships between them that can produce deficiencies and toxicities.

Calcium
Calcium is the most abundant mineral in queen diets and is an essential mineral for the formation and maintenance of the skeleton. Ingredients that can be included in gestating and lactating diets that contain high amounts of calcium include; dairy products, bones, or poultry and meat meals. Calcium requirements for the lactating queen is 358 mg*kg BWᐨˡ dᐨˡ. Improper calcium homeostasis can lead to impaired bone development, puerperal tetany or eclampsia in the lactating queen. A diet containing sufficient calcium intake to support the growth of the queens kittens is 2.0g per 1,000 kcal ME.

Phosphorus
Phosphorus is the second most abundant mineral in mammals including queens. The majority of phosphorus is contained in the bones of animals and is digested by the queen when animal protein is consumed. Ingredients included in lactating or gestating queen diets that contain common phosphorus sources are bone meal, meat, meat meal, fish meal, dibasic calcium phosphate, dibasic ammonium phosphate, phosphoric acid and phosphorus. The clinical signs of a phosphorus deficiency include hemolytic anemia, locomotive disturbances and metabolic acidosis. Phosphorus requirements for a lactating queen is 263 mg*kg BWᐨˡ dᐨˡ. Phosphorus deficiencies in kittens causes them to grow slower than kittens without phosphorous deficiencies. Feeding diets containing 1.2g P/1,000 kcal ME with a Ca:P ratio of 2:1 results in a normal P balance.

Potassium
Potassium has a high concentration in cells and is critical for proper muscle function in cats, as well as fluid and ionic balance. Minimum potassium requirements for lactating and gestating queens hasn’t been determined, but it is likely that the amount for growth should meet the requirements of the queen. The adequate intake for lactating queens with four kittens may be determined to be 175 mg·kg BW-1·d-1, and a diet containing 1.3 g K/1000 kcal ME has been found to support gestation and lactation in queens.

Signs of a potassium deficiency in kittens include anorexia, retarded growth, and neurological disorders which eventually lead to muscle weakness. In adults, potassium deficiency may be linked to the development of renal disease, hypokalemia, depressed reflexes, or cardiac failure. It is unlikely that excessive amounts of potassium will cause issues for cats and no safe upper limit has been defined.

Vitamins
Vitamins are organic compounds that are needed in the diet of queens in small amounts throughout their life. Some vitamins are non-essential to the diet and can be metabolized in the body, while others are essential for queens. They are further categorized into soluble in water and soluble in lipids, which dictates how the vitamin will be absorbed by the gut. Dietary deficiencies cause a broad spectrum of disorders that will have a negative impact on the queen's health as well as the health of her kittens. There are also adverse effects on the queen's health when administered high doses of vitamins. Cats posses a number of abnormalities in regards to their vitamin requirements, in particular Vitamin A, Vitamin D and niacin.

Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a common name for a group of fat-soluble retinoids including, retinol, retinal, and retinoic acid. Vitamin A functions include vision, reproduction, and bone growth. Carotenoids are synthesized by plant cells and are the origin of all vitamin A. When carotenoids are consumed in the diet, β-carotene 15,15'-dioxygenase, an enzyme located in the intestinal mucosa, will produce vitamin A aldehyde (retinal). Retinal is then reduced by another enzyme to form the active form of vitamin A known as retinol. Fatty acids and dietary fat can then be absorbed within the body after the esterification of retinol. However, cats lack the dioxygenase enzyme to make this conversion successfully, and therefore require a source of preformed vitamin A in the diet. Common examples include retinyl acetate and retinyl palmitate, where a large portion of these are found in fish liver oils, egg yolks and animal livers.

Growing kittens should receive an average of 200 μg retinol/1000 kcal of food, and an average of 400 μg/ 1000 kcal during pregnancy and lactation. Vitamin A deficiency can lead to reproductive failure, impaired growth, dermatoses, and retinal degeneration. It is also important that the queen does not exceed the upper limit of vitamin A, or this could also lead to detrimental effects. The queen should not exceed 100,00 μg retinol*kg-1 and kittens not exceed 20,000 μg retinal per 1000 kcal. If the the diet exceeds these limits, fatal malformations including cleft lip may be observed.

Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a general term for a group of sterol compounds that has properties to prevent or cure rickets. Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3) and ergocalciferol (Vitamin D2) are provitamin forms. Cats are unable to use ergocalciferol as efficiently as cholecalciferol. Cholecalciferol is synthesized when 7-dehydrocholesterol is exposed to UV light from the sun. Vitamin D, along with the parathyroid hormone and calcitonin, affects homeostatic control of calcium, which is used for muscle contraction, blood clotting, nerve conduction, and intracellular signal induction.

It is recommended to feed 6.25 μg cholecalciferol/kg for growing kittens, gestating, and lactating queens. Moderate amounts of vitamin D are available in egg yolks, liver, and various fish. A high concentration dietary source is fish liver oils. Most commercial pet food products are supplemented with a purified form of cholecalciferol.

A diet low in vitamin D fed to a queen can have a negative impact on her kittens. Initial signs of deficiency are reluctance to move and progressive posterior paralysis. Other signs include lack of grooming and reduced water and food intake. Deficiency in vitamin D may lead to the onset of rickets and a severe deficiency of vitamin D results in the development of hypocalcemia.

Vitamin E
Vitamin E is used as a general term for biologically active α-tocopherol. It is a fat-soluble vitamin which is important in cats as an antioxidant, preventing oxidative damage of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).

Cat diets are generally higher in fat compared to other species like dogs, especially when they are lactating and require higher energy in the diet. Diets for cats often contain fish products like tuna and fish oil, which are rich sources of PUFAs, making them prone to lipid peroxidation by free radicals. There are several adverse effects of free-radical reactions, so keeping these free-radical reactions to a minimum with antioxidants is important for the health of the queen and her kittens. Due to the increased PUFAs in the diet, cats, and queens in particular, will be more susceptible to vitamin E deficiencies. It is recommended to feed a cat 30mg α-tocopherol/kg in a diet that is relatively low in fat. Queens consuming a high PUFA diet may require four times the amount of vitamin E to prevent deficiency.

Signs of deficiency in cats include depression, anorexia, sensitivity to palpation of the abdomen, and steatitis. Kittens who are not given vitamin E in the diet may develop myocarditis and myositis of skeletal muscles. Vitamin E is one of the least toxic fat-soluble vitamins, however, extremely high doses in kittens (more than 100mg/kg/day) can cause death. Vitamin E supplementation in cats fed fish based diets may have prolonged blood clotting times.

Niacin
Niacin, also known as Nicotinic Acid, must be converted into Nicotinamide within the body in order for it to be metabolically active. Nicotinamide is then further broken down into two coenzymes, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP). Unlike in dogs, cats are unable to synthesize niacin as an end product from the metabolism of tryptophan, and must derive their dietary requirements straight from the diet. In its unbound form, proteins and grains contain high amounts of niacin that can be absorbed readily. A minimum requirement of 8.0 mg per 1,000 kcal ME, or a daily intake of 0.8 mg*kg BW-0.67 is needed to obtain a normal niacin balance in the queen. The clinical signs of a niacin deficiency include anorexia, elevated body temperatures, and congestion.

Ascorbic acid
Ascorbic acid, commonly known as Vitamin C, is synthesized from glucose by most plant and animal species. Its chemical structure is similar to that of a monosaccharide sugar. It is used for proline and lysine hydroxylation to form collagen and elastin, and the synthesis of acetylcholinesterase.

Cats, like most animals, are able to synthesize the required amount of ascorbic acid needed for metabolism. Ascorbic acid is used in biological reactions as redox cofactors, and hormone synthesis and activation. For maintenance and growth, cats do not require any supplementation of ascorbic acid. It has been advocated to provide an addition of ascorbic acid to cats in periods of high stress, such as during breeding and showing, but there has been little evidence to support this.

Water requirements
The queen's water requirements are dictated by their history of being a strict carnivore that obtained water from animal tissues. This causes the queen to be less sensitive to dehydration than omnivores and herbivores because they cannot adapt their water intake to a change in the moisture content in their diet. This means that queens consuming a dry food would consume half the amount of dietary water compared to queens on a wet food due to the high water content in wet food. The act of consuming food, whether it be dry or wet, stimulates the intake of water. An increase in protein concentrations in the queens diet will also stimulate an increase in water intake. Lactating and gestating queens will therefore require a higher increase in water consumption due to an increase in the protein in the diet and food consumed. Providing free access to fresh drinking water and enough calories in the diet will provide the queen with the nutrients needed to support optimal milk production during lactation. The milk produced from a lactating queen is 78% water which contributes to an increased water requirement during lactation.

Physical activity and temperature
Cats are evolved to have short bursts of energy for hunting and catching prey, but otherwise are not as physically active the rest of the time. There is generally not much variation in the amount of physical activity that cats get, even though outdoor cats hunting for food will be more active than indoor house pets. Cats that are more active will make up for the excess amount of energy spent by eating more food than more sedentary cats, and the same applies to active vs. sedentary queens.

The thermoneutral zone for cats lies between 35 and 38°C. Cold-induced thermogenesis will increase the basal metabolic rate, increasing the requirements for energy to maintain body temperature. Food intake during the colder winter months increases by about 15% compared to the warmer summer months. How temperature may affect energy requirements for queens should be taken into account when considering how much to feed her.

Feeding recommendations
Gestating and lactating cat diets should consist of high quality protein, easily digestible feed, and plenty of essential fatty acids. Clean, fresh water should be provided at all times. Adequate fat and essential amino fatty acid provision, especially arachidonic acid, influences litter size positively. Malnourished gestating cats have increased difficulty conceiving, underweight kittens, abortion rates, and kitten abnormalities. Obesity in cats can lead to stillbirths, caesarean sections, overweight kittens, and dystocia.

A gradual increase of food should be given in the beginning of the second week of gestation until parturition. Free choice feeding is an optimal way to provide the gestating cat with the nutrients needed, but weight gain should be closely monitored. By the end of gestation, they generally gain 12% to 38% of their pre-pregnancy body weight.

The most important nutritional aspects for lactating cats are water and calories. Adequate energy intake correlates with sufficient milk production and prevents the cat from losing weight drastically. Energy requirements for lactation depend on litter size. At one week of lactation, queens should be fed 1.5 to 2 times her maintenance needs; 2 times during the second week; and 2.5 to 3 times during her third and fourth week when it is peak lactation. Consumption of milk decreases as kittens begin to eat solid food at the third to fourth week. The queen’s daily intake levels should slowly be reduced, and at week seven to eight when the kittens are weaned, her daily intake should be less than 50% above her regular maintenance requirements. Queens generally lose weight during lactation, but it should not be greater than 10% of her normal body weight.

Queens should continue to be fed the energy dense food for at least three weeks after weaning for nutritional repletion. Daily intake levels should be gradually reduced post-weaning. During weeks one to two of post-weaning, they should be fed 125% to 150% of their normal maintenance level, and 100% at week 3 and after.