Cat not eating properly and foul smelling poo

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I’m only 4 weeks into having a cat and so I’m not sure whether to be concerned or not.

Last couple of days the cat has been doing awful smelling (and large) poos, and not finishing bowls of food when previously he would have eaten a pouch of wet food for example in about 12 seconds flat.

He had also been a bit jumpy and stand-offish with us.

He has only been going outside for 2 weeks and usually hasn’t gone far or out for long, but on Wednesday evening he went out and didn’t come back for about 3 hours despite us calling him. It was the same time as the heavy rain so assume he was sheltering somewhere and came back when he wanted to, although I am also a bit concerned that apparently someone round here has been poisoning the foxes and Wednesday night was the night before bin day and some twats insist on putting their bags out and dousing in bleach etc to deter foxes rather than wait til the morning like a reasonable person.

Am minded to give it a couple more days and see if it settles down as he seems otherwise ok but just wanted a sense check really.

Thanks

Cats protection recommend keeping a new cat inside for at least 4 weeks. Is he neutered? Does he have a collar?
If he’s not eating as much and his poop has changed maybe someone else is feeding him if they think he’s a stray.
If he’s jumpy it could be that someone has tried to grab him or pick him up. I adopted a skittish cat, previously not treated very well so she is very jumpy. It took several months of calm and slow movements, she still doesn’t let anyone pick her up but is snuggled up next to me on the sofa and will happily be stroked.

Awful about people poisoning foxes and putting bleach out!

Yes neutered and chipped. No collar. We were told to keep him in for 3 weeks but he was so keen to get out (and accidentally did) we resigned to letting him out as soon as his chip was registered to us, so just over 2 weeks.

He is (was) a very settled cat, very relaxed with us. Sleeps on the bed, up on laps of an evening on the sofa etc. He came from another family and as far as we know not mistreated, just unwanted

If his poo and eating habits have suddenly changed I would call your vet for advice. It could be he is being fed elsewhere, has eaten something bad or a tummy upset. Hope he gets better soon.

I was just thinking intact males wander but it’s obviously not going to be an issue. I know collars aren’t popular but you could print out and stick a paper collar on so, wherever he is going, they know not to feed him or try to grab him.
I hope he resettles back to a cuddly cat.
If you are still concerned then it would be worth a telephone call to the vet to see if they can put your mind at rest.

Thanks both. He has just eaten his dinner And almost cleaned his plate. Might see how he is tomorrow and then call the vet if he doesn’t eat again/still has really smelly poo.

I might stick a post up on the estate FB group and ask if anyone has fed him. Not expecting anyone to own up but if they did it might deter them from feeding him again!

Has he been wormed.

Sorry @HappyHammy just seen this yes he was worked before we got him not due again til August.

Seems all back to normal now. Poo back to barely smelling and climbing back into laps for cuddles again. Must have had a dodgy snack when he was out and about last Wednesday. Will mention it to the vet though when we take him for his check up and vaccination next week.