A question about poop (sorry!)

[AmandaHugenkiss]

Hello all,

We rehomed a 4 yr old cat about two weeks ago. He’s settled in very well, only hid for two days and is now sleeping on the bed at night and following us round chatting away like mad. We are in love 😻

Since day one, he’s used the litter tray great. However he’s very loose; first few days very runny which we put down to stress, it quickly improved and is now more of a “firm soft scoop” ice cream consistency (sorry for ruining anyone’s dessert!). Hasn’t got any firmer since about day two.

He’s on Iams vitality chicken which is what they were feeding him. They also said they were giving him wet kitten food once a day; we gave him a few tins of Applaws Chicken instead which we had but stopped after day 3 as we thought that might be causing it, and he’s happily crunched away at nothing but the Iams since. No improvement.

We’ve wormed and flead him, he’s eating and drinking, loads of energy and bright and inquisitive. We’ve got a vet appointment next Friday, the earliest we could get, but if they rule out anything medical any suggestions? Could it be his food, or still stressed from the move?

I almost forgot the rules: picture!

He’s got a bit of Maine Coon in him apparently, don’t know if they are prone to delicate stomachs.

Ohhh looks like my girl! I'm not sure if it is a thing but she gets a runny tummy quite a lot. She's an indoor cat so don't know if that's anything to do with it or just that we never see our outdoor cats poo to know if its any different!

Your girl must be a pretty one! He definitely knows he’s handsome 😂

Our last old boy was indoors mostly, and he was very firm with virtually no smell unless he was unwell. He ate Canagan dried and cheap Sheba wet, as it was all he would eat the fussy monster.

Guy at work with a MC has suggested switching him to Orijens to see if it helps, but that’s a pricey experiment!

My girl with a very sensitive tummy is on Iams vitality. As it's the only thing that doesn't upset her.

If he king haired get a hygiene trim. You really don't want poo sticking to his bloomers!

@Toddlerteaplease

If he king haired get a hygiene trim. You really don't want poo sticking to his bloomers!

He’s been remarkably fastidious so far, scrupulously clean thank god!

@Toddlerteaplease

My girl with a very sensitive tummy is on Iams vitality. As it's the only thing that doesn't upset her.

Ah really. Hmm. Possibly not the Iams then 🤔

What were his poos like in his old home (and why were they feeding a 4yo cat kitten food)?

I would get him booked into the vet for a general health check and assuming that goes okay I would look to switching to a different brand of food - maybe with a different protein. I think chicken is something that many animals are intolerant to unfortunately.

I have a cat who can't eat tuna (yes, really!) as he gets the most horrendous tummy. He also can't have cheese dreamies for the same reason!

We have to be really careful what flavour food we buy him - at the moment he's on Harrington's salmon and potato biscuits and meat flavoured wet food to avoid the tuna issue!

OP my 4 year old newly adopted cat is the same. Also on IAMS Vitality chicken. I didn't know that chicken can upset some cats stomachs. I am going to book her into the vet.

@icedcoffees no idea why they were feeding an adult cat wet kitten food, and don’t know what his stomach was like previously. Wasn’t part of the info we got. I think we will try to switch him; my very lovely colleague appeared yesterday with a small bag of Orijen for me to try (“too expensive to buy yourself if he turns his nose up” was what he said) so I’ll start gradually mixing that in. He’s going to the vet on Friday so will discuss with them.

Interesting you saying about the cheese dreamies as we have a bag of those he’s been eating too!! I will definitely stop all dreamies, if that’s the culprit then I’ll be very relieved!

@BatshitCrazyWoman yep we’ve got the vet booked too, can’t be too careful, but my feeling is it’s food related in some way. Icedcoffees has me suspecting the dreamies, I didn’t even think of them!

[quote AmandaHugenkiss]@BatshitCrazyWoman yep we’ve got the vet booked too, can’t be too careful, but my feeling is it’s food related in some way. Icedcoffees has me suspecting the dreamies, I didn’t even think of them![/quote]
My cat doesn't have Dreamies 😬

You can add psyllium husk to his food as well as getting probiotic paste for cats.

And he is a very handsome sweetheart.

I would recommend Thrive dry over Orijen.
If you buy it from Amazon and he doesn't like it, you can return it also. One bag lasts my two boys 3 weeks alongside two pouches each a day of Sheba.
Sheba wet is known to be good for tummy issues.
The jelly over the gravy, and poultry selection rather than fish.
I would always recommend keeping wet food in the diet, especially for males.

Forgot to add.....HE IS GORGEOUS

I was recommended psysillium husk for Cheddar. I do think it helped a bit.

Interesting you saying about the cheese dreamies as we have a bag of those he’s been eating too!! I will definitely stop all dreamies, if that’s the culprit then I’ll be very relieved!

It's definitely worth a try! Two of mine LOVE them and can tolerate them just fine - the little one loves them but they don't love him, lol.

I wouldn't swap and change food yet. He's already changed once when you stopped the kitten food, again when you added the wet food, again when you removed it.....

Stop the dreamies and see how he goes. Then make a decision after a few days.

Our kittens/cats went a bit lose when we stopped the kitten food and went full in adult. Even though we did it gradually. It also co-oncided with a visit to the cattery so could have been that. A week later they were back to normal. Two weeks later and there poos are hard with minimal smell. (Till the other day when DH gave them a 3rd pouch of wet food by mistake....)

Thanks all! I’m going to keep him on the Iams until I’ve spoken to the vet, but his dreamies have been quarantined.

He’s such a sweet little boy and he’s been so good at settling in.

He is 😻

Iams doesn’t agree with my cat, she’s fine with the Zooplus version of Dreamies though. She’s on Purizon from Zooplus now and tolerates that really well. For wet we use Blink, Rosie’s Farm and occasionally Applaws (which isn’t a complete food so not suitable on its own)

I have a new Shelter cat (1 week with me), and he had diarrhea for a few days, before turning into ‘soft serve’ style, then firming up. His Shelter food was pretty low quality, so I am now doing a 10 day food change over to Hills and it’s back to ‘soft serve’.

I have 2 close friends/family who are vets, who put up with my daily reports (and photos!) and who say this is all normal, both the upset stomach for stress and then again for the food change over. Both times they said keep it simple - no treats and no wet food, just the dry food to settle his stomach and get him on an even keel, then add later.

Is he still bright and alert, otherwise? And not off his food?

Obviously it’s best you keep your vet appointment, but I think it’s a combination of the Dreamies treats, and a bit of moving stress. Cut him down to the basic food and wait (don’t try changing food just yet). But invisibly the vet knows best!

*of course, not invisibly!!

@FollowYourOwnNorthStar

I have a new Shelter cat (1 week with me), and he had diarrhea for a few days, before turning into ‘soft serve’ style, then firming up. His Shelter food was pretty low quality, so I am now doing a 10 day food change over to Hills and it’s back to ‘soft serve’.

I have 2 close friends/family who are vets, who put up with my daily reports (and photos!) and who say this is all normal, both the upset stomach for stress and then again for the food change over. Both times they said keep it simple - no treats and no wet food, just the dry food to settle his stomach and get him on an even keel, then add later.

Is he still bright and alert, otherwise? And not off his food?

Obviously it’s best you keep your vet appointment, but I think it’s a combination of the Dreamies treats, and a bit of moving stress. Cut him down to the basic food and wait (don’t try changing food just yet). But invisibly the vet knows best!

This is so reassuring thank you. He needs to be vaccinated and chipped anyway so the vet will still happen, and I’ll mention it, but we will stick with plain dried Iams until then.

He’s very perky and an absolute chatterbox, shouts at us all the time and trots round the house watching what we do or rolling all over DPs lovely new couch 😂

So, vet yesterday: he’s been vaccinated and chipped, and she’s given him the once over. Says he’s generally in good fettle. He’s smashed two of his canines at some point, and she thinks he’s quite gassy in his abdomen. Otherwise perky (and apparently a sweetie to handle, she said he purred through his jabs daft cat).

As I’ve already wormed him, she’s suggested just start with trying a different food as he may be sensitive to the Iams. If no change in 3 weeks when we go back for jab 2, she will check for other parasites and then if negative look at trying some sort of dried food for sensitive cat tummies.

So I’ve got a decent sample of Orijen that I gave him a few bites of when we got it, and I’ll try transitioning him on that.