Seasonal and age effects on energy requirements in domestic short‐hair cats (Felis catus) in a temperate environment

There is little information known about the energy requirements of cats in temperature climates. Energy requirement of domestic short‐haired cats was determined using three groups of mixed gender – old kept outside (approximately 9.9 years of age; 4.8 kg; n = 9), young kept outside (approximately 3.1 years of age; 3.9 kg; n = 8) or young kept inside (approximately 3.1 years of age; 3.9 kg; n = 8). Cats were housed individually for 5 weeks during summer (18.5 ± 0.5 °C) and winter (8.5 ± 0.4 °C) and were fed a commercially available maintenance diet ad libitum. In both periods, energy expenditure was determined from the rates of ²H and ¹⁸O elimination for blood H₂O over a 12 day period, from a doubly labelled water bolus ²H₂O (0.7 g/kg BW) and H₂¹⁸O (0.13 g/kg BW) administered intravenously. During the summer period, macronutrient digestibility was determined. Older cats had a reduction (p < 0.05) in apparent digestibility of dry matter (approximately 9%), energy (approximately 8%) and protein (6%). There was a significant effect of age and season on energy intake and energy expenditure. While lean mass was affected by age and season, there was no effect of age or season on energy expenditure when expressed as a proportion of lean mass. Possible seasonal differences in nutrient digestibility may explain these results.