Korat cat nutrition: lean build, appetite loss and teeth

A Korat is a lean, muscular cat that weighs more than it looks, and its best-known breed-specific health risks are genetic rather than dietary: the inherited nerve diseases GM1 and GM2 gangliosidosis. Diet cannot change either one, so the protection comes from DNA-tested parents. Feeding a Korat well is mostly about keeping that dense, lean build and noticing quickly when the cat stops eating.

The Cat Fanciers' Association breed profile describes a medium-sized, hard-bodied cat with "surprising heft", a short silver-tipped blue coat and green eyes. Mature males often reach 4.5 kg (10 lb) or more, and females are usually smaller. The breed is slow to finish growing, taking two to four years to reach full maturity. Its earliest record is the Thai Cat-Book of Poems from the Ayudhya period (1350 to 1767).

Calories and body condition

Nobody has measured the energy needs of Korats as a breed, so the starting point is the general formula in the Merck Veterinary Manual. Resting energy requirement (RER), in kcal per day, is 70 multiplied by body weight in kilograms raised to the power 0.75. An intact adult cat needs about 1.4 times RER, a neutered adult 1.2 times, and an adult that gains weight easily about 1.0 times. Rounded to the nearest 5 kcal:

Kittens need about 2.5 times RER. That comes to roughly 175 kcal a day at 1 kg, 295 kcal at 2 kg and 400 kcal at 3 kg.

Treat all of these as a first guess. Merck notes that one animal can need as much as 30% more or fewer calories than another of the same weight. With a breed this dense, the scale is a poor guide on its own. Body condition tells you more. Ribs should be easy to feel under a thin layer of fat, the waist should be visible from above, and the muscle along the back and hips should feel firm. Weigh the cat every month or two, and change portions in small steps when the trend moves.

Cats have needs that dogs do not. Merck lists vitamin A, taurine and arachidonic acid as nutrients cats must get from food, along with higher requirements for some amino acids such as arginine. A commercial food labeled complete and balanced for the cat's life stage covers all of these. The protein and fat percentages sometimes recommended specifically for Korats are not based on any study of the breed.

Measured meals, two or more a day, are easier to manage than a bowl that is always full. They also show within a day when a Korat has stopped finishing its food, which matters for the reasons in the section on appetite below.

GM1 and GM2 gangliosidosis

Gangliosidoses are inherited storage diseases. A faulty enzyme inside the cell's lysosomes cannot break down fatty molecules called gangliosides, and they build up in nerve cells until those cells fail. GM1 gangliosidosis comes from a lack of the enzyme beta-galactosidase. GM2 gangliosidosis, the feline form of human Sandhoff disease, comes from a lack of the hexosaminidase enzymes. Both have been described in Korats.

How they are inherited

When researchers traced the pedigrees of affected American Korats, they found that GM2 gangliosidosis is autosomal recessive. A kitten is affected only if it inherits a faulty copy of the gene from both parents. Carriers, with one copy, look and behave normally. In that colony, a blood enzyme test picked out four apparent carriers among eleven healthy-looking cats, a reminder that carriers cannot be recognized by eye. The GM2 mutation in Korats, a single missing DNA letter in the HEXB gene, was identified in 1994.

GM1 works the same way. The mutation behind it, found earlier in Siamese cats in the United States and Japan and in Korats in Western countries, has since turned up in native cats in Bangladesh, and the affected kittens there carried two copies. The authors suggest the mutation was present in cats of the old Siamese region before the pedigree breeds were founded.

When two carriers are mated, on average one kitten in four is affected and half are carriers. A carrier mated to a clear cat produces no affected kittens. Because the causative mutations are known, DNA tests can separate clear cats from carriers.

What the diseases look like

The signs are neurological and get steadily worse. A Korat with GM1 was referred at 7 months of age with slowly progressive neurological disease and was put to sleep at 21 months, when post-mortem examination showed nerve cells swollen with stored material throughout the brain and spinal cord. There is no treatment, and both diseases are fatal.

For anyone buying a Korat kitten, the practical step is to ask for GM1 and GM2 DNA results for both parents. A kitten or young cat that becomes wobbly, trembles or loses coordination needs a veterinary neurological examination.

An inherited cholesterol variant

A second, more recently described variant affects the LDL receptor gene, which helps clear cholesterol from the blood. Korats with two copies have developed atherosclerosis with severe cholesterol abnormalities. A 2025 study of 76 adult Korats with known LDL receptor genotypes looked at the carriers. Owner health surveys showed no signs of heart or lipid disease in them, and their blood cholesterol was only slightly higher than in cats without the variant, a difference the authors did not consider clinically relevant. Unlike people with one copy of a similar mutation, carrier cats appear healthy.

When a Korat stops eating

Any cat that goes several days with little or no food is at risk of hepatic lipidosis, or fatty liver. Fat is moved out of the body's stores faster than the liver can process it, the liver cells fill with fat, and the liver stops working. Korats are often said to be at extra risk because they carry little body fat. The pattern described by the Cornell Feline Health Center points the other way. The disease occurs in cats of every age and body condition, but the Cornell specialist quoted there says it seems much more common in obese cats. In more than 90% of cases it follows another illness, such as diabetes, pancreatitis, hyperthyroidism, kidney disease or cancer.

So a lean Korat is likely a lower-risk Korat, and the real warning sign is the loss of appetite itself. A cat that avoids its bowl, drools at the sight of food, hides, or shows a yellow tinge to the gums or inner ears needs a vet promptly. Cats treated early can often go home within days, though they usually need tube feeding for about a month. Without prompt treatment the condition is likely to be fatal.

Korats are also described by some owners as sensitive to anesthesia. Published evidence for a breed difference is lacking. The ordinary precautions are enough: follow the clinic's fasting instructions exactly, tell the vet how much the cat usually eats, and call the clinic if the cat has not started eating again within the time they give you after it comes home.

Teeth and gums

Gum disease and tooth resorption are common in adult cats of every breed, and nothing suggests Korats are worse off. Mouth pain matters mainly because it puts cats off their food. Dropping food, chewing on one side, drooling, pawing at the mouth or bad breath are the signs to act on.

• Brushing does the most good. Use a small soft brush and a toothpaste made for cats, starting with a few seconds on the outer surfaces of the back teeth and building up over weeks.
• Dental diets and treats vary a great deal. Products carrying the Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) seal have been tested for their effect on plaque or tartar.
• A mouth check at every annual visit, with cleaning and dental X-rays under anesthesia when the vet finds tartar, inflamed gums or a painful tooth.

Coat and grooming

The Korat has a single coat with no undercoat. Each hair is blue with a silver tip, which gives the sheen the breed is known for. According to the CFA, the coat sheds only lightly and weekly brushing keeps it in good condition. The hair also tends not to float off when the cat is stroked, which may keep airborne allergen lower for a visiting allergic guest, though the CFA says plainly that the Korat is not a low-allergen breed.

A short single coat shows changes in health quickly. Merck describes a dry, scaly, lusterless coat as a sign of essential fatty acid deficiency, and notes that cats need arachidonic acid, an omega-6 fat found in meat, poultry and eggs but not in vegetable oils. Such deficiencies are extremely rare in cats fed complete and balanced diets. A Korat on a good commercial food whose coat turns dull or scurfy should see a vet before any supplement is added, because the cause is more likely to be an underlying illness than the diet.

Sources

1. Korat breed profile and standard. The Cat Fanciers' Association.
2. Nutritional requirements of small animals. Merck Veterinary Manual.
3. Characterization of a new model of GM2-gangliosidosis (Sandhoff's disease) in Korat cats. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 1985.
4. Characterization of the molecular defect in a feline model for type II GM2-gangliosidosis (Sandhoff disease). The American Journal of Pathology, 1994.
5. Identification of Bangladeshi domestic cats with GM1 gangliosidosis caused by the c.1448G>C mutation of the feline GLB1 gene. The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science, 2013.
6. Beta-galactosidase deficiency in a Korat cat: a new form of feline GM1-gangliosidosis. Acta Neuropathologica, 1998.
7. Heterozygous Korat cats with LDL receptor mutation are asymptomatic and normolipidemic. Research in Veterinary Science, 2025.
8. Hepatic lipidosis. Cornell Feline Health Center, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.