2 indoor cats - masses of poo. HELP!

[ClaireFromWork]

I have two indoor BSH cats. I feed them on dry food (Royal Canin kitten).

They poo non stop and it stinks. I am emptying the litter tray twice a day.

Is this a) normal and b) if not what can I do about it?

[LST]

Yes it's normal. My cats poo a lot.

I feed mine on wet food as well as dry though as when I fed them just on dry my 2 boys got a bladder infection.

The only way around the litter tray thing is letting them out I suppose.

[cozietoesie]

What kind of litter are you using ? If you use clumping, you only need to quickly remove the poo itself and parcel it up in newspaper for disposal. Not much work.

I wonder if maybe, as well, you should get an extra tray? One between two cats who are dutiful users seems too little.

[ClaireFromWork]

Using wood because I can then put it on the bonfire and burn it.

[Cailleach]

I use nappy bags and as soon as the cats have pooed I scoop out the poo, bag and bin it (in the outside bin, otherwise your kitchen bin will reek.)

Bicarbonate of soda sprinkled in the tray with the litter helps a lot, too. I have to say that I don't think wood litter keeps odours down like clay litter does....but that may just be my experience.

I also find how much the cat's poo smells is down to what they eat - some foods create hardly any odour, some produce loads. I try to stick to the less whiffy kinds of food!

[Thingymajigs]

I have 3 cats but during the summer they do most of their poos in the garden. As soon as there is a hint of Autumn chill they all stay inside though. I have two trays and during the winter when they stay inside I have to completely clean them out every other day. Little sandwich/nappy bags work quite well inbetween cleans to clear out poo. They eat Purina 1 Sensitive (as well as some Whiskers tinned food) which helps keep the mess solid and not smelling as bad as cheaper food. Catsan cat litter seems to stop a lot of the smell too but it's quite expensive if you have to clean out the trays every other day. We use a cheaper litter during the winter and put smaller amounts in as it needs cleaning out more often.
If any cats have watery stools I'd recommend Purina 1 sensitive.

[gingerpig]

I flush it down the loo

[Paiviaso]

It's "normal" for cats on a low-quality food. Royal Canin, despite the fancy branding, is full of stuff cats do not need in their diet, and this is reflected in what comes out in the litter box.

My cats were on Royal Canin 36 when I brought them home. I switched them over to raw after two months and the difference in the litter box was immense. Very little smell, and the poo is much smaller and tighter.

If you feed your cats the type of food they are designed to eat, you will have much better time in the litterbox.

[ClaireFromWork]

Interesting. I was advised by everyone I'd asked in RL to put them onto dry food and it hasn't worked. Assumed RC was the best.

before I had them on the RC dry I gave them Lily's kitchen organic cat food and the problem was the same.

When you say raw - are you giving them plain raw meat?

[Paiviaso]

I think the obsession with dry food comes from people believing it helps clean the cat's teeth. Perhaps it might - if they chew it. Some cats just swallow it whole (mine do!). The problem with dry food is that cats have a low thirst drive, and usually get most of their water from the food they eat. If you feed them dry food, they will increase their water drinking slightly, but not enough to make up the loss. This is believed to be why so many older cats are get urinary tract disease and renal failure. Dry food usually also has a lot of carbs and veggies in it that cats simply don't need, and comes out a stinking mess in the litterbox.

I had a glance at the Lily's kitchen stuff, it looks like its really high-quality stuff. Were your cats exclusively eating this or did they still have access to dry? I haven't ever fed mine tinned (one of my cats wont touch the stuff, annoyingly) so I don't know what poo is like when cats are on it but I would have assumed, if a quality tinned, it would be much better than if they were on dry.

Yep I feed raw meat, a mix chicken and lamb usually. You need a mixture of meat, organs, and bone for it to be a complete diet. It's just stuff I buy during my weekly shop, I chop it all up and put in tupperware in the freezer and voila a week's worth of incredibly high quality cat food. I got my recipe from here. My cats actually do chew this food, unlike the dry, and the bones get a good crunching! You can also buy pre-made raw online to pop into your freezer, but I do not have the freezer space to order this myself.

I do also give a little bit of dry food every few days in toy, just as a bit of variety and something to play with. I use Applaws dry now that I've run out of RC because that has a 80% meat content.

Anyway, lots to think about when feeding your cat. I think there is loads of confusion regarding feline nutrition, but I concluded I was just going to feed them the closest thing that matched what they would eat in the wild, which is meat.

[cozietoesie]

Just one point there Paiviaso. Do you use free range chicken? I only mention it because I found with my last senior boy that the bones in non-free range/organic were so splintery (due to bad rearing conditions I assume) that even cooked, they were a tad dangerous in terms of possibly getting splinters in between his teeth when he was gnawing. I had to move to free range for that reason.



My current old boy only has four teeth left - at the front - so gets wet glop, I'm afraid.

[Paiviaso]

Cozie, yeah I do use free range + organic. I have garden chickens and I can't bear to buy low welfare meat, since I know what lovely animals they are. It costs more but is worth it.

[cozietoesie]

I don't know as it costs that much more (if at all) when you consider the price of bought cat food !

[SimplyTes]

Hello, I have two bengals, indoor cats, and they are mainly on raw, posted about this not so long ago. Tearing the meat from raw chicken bones keeps their teeth squeaky clean..........I also (well I will when all arrive) add supplements to their diet.

This book is amazing "Raising Cats Naturally" by Michelle T Bernard and has a recipe in it and very detailed explanations

I use chick crumb for their litter - clumping / cheap / not dusty and it was reccommended by the breeder.

Paiviaso - I use that forum too! Excellent advice!

[ClaireFromWork]

Really interesting stuff - literally food for thought. I also think a raw food diet may work.

[NPPF]

Chick crumb? As in chicken feed? Why?