Help with my cat
#172342 - 04/21/05 05:28 PM
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Vicam
Reged: 02/24/04
Posts: 1955
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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Hey Guys,
I'm hoping someone can give me a suggestion for a problem I'm having with my cat. IT's kinda gross, so forgive me if it's TMI  Whenever he goes to the bathroom lately, he's leaving behind a terrible smell...it just seems unnatural. He has a covered litterbox and we haven't changed the litter or anything, but the smell is so much worse. Also, he keeps having poo left behind on his bottom which he then proceeds to drag through the apartment...my bf has to clean his bum after every trip to the litterbox. That doesn't seem normal to me. He's fairly young and we've never had this problem before. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Kelly
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Hm. Does he get any milk? Sometimes milk can cause some intestinal issues with cats, just like with us humans. (My cats, for example, get diarrhea from milk)
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Nope, no milk
#172349 - 04/21/05 06:57 PM
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Vicam
Reged: 02/24/04
Posts: 1955
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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He eats Fancy Feast, which I know isn't the most healthy food out there but he won't eat anything else...my bf suggested we try and get him to eat a special gastro food but I don't know if he'll touch it 
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Oh dear. My Siamese gets like that. I give her alfalfa--natural deodourant. You can break caps. into your cat's food, or just mix in some sprouts with the food. The stink goes away quickly. Chlorophyll works for pets.
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Both my cats have had this and it was worms. I had wormed them but apparantly the stuff you buy from the supermarket doesn't do it's job very well. If you can see fingernails in the poo then that's probably what it is. Otherwise go to your vet and request some good worming tablets and see if that helps.
Oh the other thing that can cause major D for mine is cat crunchies (the dry food). Too much of that and I'm mopping the laundry for days - ewwww.
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Amy
Edited by doubletrouble (04/21/05 08:51 PM)
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My cat was having problems with constipation, poor thing. I took her to a vet, who gave the diagnosis (she had poo sticking to her bottom and would spend a long time in the litterbox). I don't know if this is the problem your cat is having. My cat only eats dry food, so that's probably why she has troubles going. For the smell, the vet recommended yogurt (a spoonful) and, for the constipation, canned pumpkin (about a spoonful) and hairball remedy. However, because your cat's dragging his bottom on the floor, you do want to get him checked out for worms; you'll probably need to take in a fresh stool sample. Sometimes, with cats with worms you'll find little rice-like white things clinging to the fur around their bottoms or actually see the worm hanging out of their bottoms! Ewwwwww. 
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I don't know from cats since I'm allergic. But I hope your cat feels better soon *hugs*
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Formerly known as Ruchie
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...but maybe you should try him on Acacia and/or probiotics! If he's properly wormed, then it could well be GI issues.
Btw, my old dog has been on the "IBS" diet for ages - no red meat, no dairy, low-fat, etc, etc!  And whenever the dogs are ill, they go straight onto the Breaking the Cycle diet. It's what the vet suggests!
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Try to change his food to either Iams or Eukanuba. I used to work for the company and when I switched my cats over it was absolutely amazing. You can't even tell there is a cat in the house. Try slowly switching the food as to not make the situation worse.
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lovejoy_22
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Pet food
#172491 - 04/22/05 05:17 AM
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Linz
Reged: 09/01/03
Posts: 8242
Loc: England
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I've found with our ultra fussy old dog that he'll eat anythin if I put some warm (not hot) bouillon on it...it's the only way he'll eat his boring (but neccessary for his health) dry food.
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You say the kitty eats fancy feats but does he get any hard food as well?? I just switched my kitties to a special hard food from the pet store and it has really helped them. I have two cats and they share I small can of fancy feast soft food but than they eat hard food the rest of the day.
Personally, I'd try adding some hard food first. If that doesn't help, than take the poo in for a worm check. Does the kitty have any other problems? As long as it seems healthy otherwise, its probably a food issue. I had a kitty die of intestinal cancer a few years ago and that made her poo stink worse than anything I'd ever smelled but she also wasn't acting right and we had taken her to the vet to get the diagnosis.
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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I have a few suggestions...
First of all, you need to get your kitty on a healthier food. IAMS or Euckanuba are good and aren't too expensive. I know you're worried that kitty won't eat it, but, and this might sound crude but it's true, have you ever seen a dead kitty next to a full dish of food? Eventually your furbaby will eat, it just may take some time.
Second, are the bm's solid or liquid? If they're not solid, you should have kitty checked and rule out the possibility of parasites or IBS.
Third, I went through this with my kitty. Without having a proper test done (a colonoscopy), my vet was willing to try an alternative to an expensive diagnosis... if you're considering the possibility of IBS, and don't want to pay the large sum of money it will cost to have kitty checked, like me, one thing you could do is try putting about an 1/8 of a teaspoon (not sure if you need a conversion for that) of Benefiber (Acacia will work too) in some canned food once daily and see how it goes.
Good luck... I hope kitty feels better soon.
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~ Rachel (IBS-C)
If life hands you lemons, make lemonade!!
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My picky eater
#172688 - 04/22/05 10:49 AM
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Vicam
Reged: 02/24/04
Posts: 1955
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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I've tried to get him on to hard food, we bought good stuff that the vet recommended, he went 3 and a half days and wouldnt' eat anything  It was so frustrating! He was also underweight at the time so he couldn't afford to be doing that.
I tried everything to get him to eat the better quality dry stuff, I tried mixing various amounts with the wet food, I tried putting hot water or a hot broth on it, if he sees wet, he won't touch it.
I want to switch his food because I know the fancy feast isn't good for him, but I'm just afraid he'll starve himself. How long could I let him go if he wasn't eating? Anyone have any other suggestions?
Thanks!
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Have you tried the better quality stuff in the can yet? Another thing you could do is combine the two... start out slow and work your way up to just the new stuff. Try starting out with most of the old and little of the new, and gradually increase the new while you gradually decrease the old.
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~ Rachel (IBS-C)
If life hands you lemons, make lemonade!!
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Rachels right, mix them to start and than keep increasing the amount of the new food into the mix! Another trick to get them to eat is drain a bit of tuna juice on it!!
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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Yeah you could even mix the canned stuff into the healthy dry stuff and slowly increase the amount of dry food in there.
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