How to ensure proper food for a stray or feral cat after neutering?

Question

I live in a city with lots of stray and feral cats. Very close to where I live there are a couple of kittens (~ 4-5 months and ~ 2-month year old).

My wife and I already rescued a cat a couple of years ago and we cannot take these two. We have discussed with several NGOs handling cats, but they are unable to take these cats, even if we ensure all the costs for them (initial treatment, neutering, food, etc).

The least we can do is to neuter them when the time comes, but I know that they need special ("urinary") food after the neutering. Clearly, this is hard to ensure outside and other non-neutered cats should not eat it anyway.

I have read multiple articles (example) + a couple of videos showing how to catch the cats, what to do at the vet, and how to safely release the cat after neutering. However, none of these mentions the special food part.

How to ensure proper food for a stray cat after neutering? Is this aspect even relevant for a stray cat?

Answer 1

Just because a cat (male or female) is neutered doesn't automatically mean that it needs special food.

The main risk after neutering is obesity, because neutered cats eat more and are less active than intact cats (Source: scientific study "Foods for Neutered Cats"). Of course obesity can lead to further health problems, but it's unlikely that a stray cat will become obese.

It's true that neutered cats have a higher risk of urinary stones, but "having a risk" doesn't automatically mean that they will become ill. The study I linked above says:

Foods for neutered cats may affirm to promote urinary-tract health, but this claim is not particularly specific.

Which means that the cheap foods don't specify how they improve urinary-tract health and probably aren't very effective. I know from experience that special medical food to prevent urinary stones is very, very expensive compared to normal cat food. Since stray cats have many more risks in their lifes I personally don't think it's waranted to feed them such an expensive food.

If you want to feed these cats, you can feed them any normal cat food. But I strongly advice you to stay with the cats while feeding and remove all leftover food when they are finished. If you just put some food out, other cats will eat as well. Well-fed stray cats give birth to even more stray kittens, which only increases the problem. I know it's hard to let a cat suffer from hunger, but unless they are all neutered, feeding them only leads to even more cats suffering from hunger.