Preventing obesity in a Norwegian Forest Cat

Good thinking coming here now — Norwegian Forest Cats are a breed that genuinely benefits from early weight management, and one year old is exactly the right time to get ahead of it. Cats are obligate carnivores with specific nutritional needs many commercial foods miss, and wet food is almost always the better choice over dry because hydration is critical for kidney health long-term. To point you in the right direction: is your Norsk a male or female, has your vet flagged anything health-wise, and what are you currently feeding them?

You're absolutely right to flag the spaying — it does lower calorie requirements, often by around 20 to 30 percent, so what worked before won't necessarily work now. The bigger issue is the dry kibble. It's calorie-dense, low in moisture, and easy for cats to overeat, especially as indoor cats get less active. The supermarket pouches are better than nothing but they're usually padded with gravy, gelling agents, and not much real meat. For a breed like the Norweg Forest Cat — which is naturally muscular and active but can carry weight quietly — high protein and lower carbohydrate is the goal. What does the kibble and pouch label say in terms of protein percentage, if you have them to hand?

Thirty percent on dry kibble sounds reasonable but that figure is measured on a dry matter basis — once you account for moisture, the actual usable protein for a wet food is typically higher, and the carbohydrate load in most kibble is the real problem for weight management. Supermarket own-brand pouches are a gamble; they vary a lot and tend to be low on named meat content. Here's what I'd suggest: move her to a high-quality wet food as the main event and use a small amount of a good-quality kibble as a topper or treat rather than a staple. The product I'd point you towards specifically is Applaws Natural Wet Cat Food — the tuna and chicken varieties. It's around 75 percent named meat, no added sugars, minimal fillers, and genuinely low in carbohydrates, which is exactly what you want for long-term weight control in a spayed cat. It's available in multipack tins on Amazon UK and works out reasonably economical when bought in bulk.

For a one-year-old spayed female Norwegian Forest Cat at a healthy weight — probably around 3.5 to 4.5 kg — you're looking at roughly 200 to 250 calories a day. Each 70g Applaws tin is around 60 to 70 calories, so three to four tins a day is a reasonable starting point. Weigh her monthly and adjust from there; you should be able to feel her ribs without pressing hard, but not see them. On the kibble question: you don't have to ditch it entirely, but treat it as a small supplement rather than half her diet. If you do keep some kibble in the rotation, look at something like Orijen or Applaws dry, which have much lower starch content than most brands. The main shift is making wet food the bulk of what she eats — that alone will improve her hydration, reduce calorie density, and keep her fuller for longer.

Good plan. Transition gradually over about a week — mix increasing amounts of the new food with the old to avoid any digestive upset. And keep an eye on her weight every four weeks for the first few months post-spay, since that's when weight tends to creep up fastest. You're in a great position — catching this at one year rather than at three or four means you're managing a healthy cat, not reversing a problem, and that's a much easier job.