Cat poo - I never thought I’d have to think about it this much!!

[ItchyChins]

Posting about cat poo on a Saturday night - what has my life come to??!!

Anyway we adopted a lovely rescue last September named Mop. She’s settled in beautifully and is a lovely girl but ever since we got her we’ve had problems with her poos. For various reasons we don’t know too much about what she was like before we got her. They’re not awful but mostly fairly solid and then a little bit runny at the end. Which would be ok except she’s long haired and usually ends up with some of it on her fur. Plain chicken is the only thing that seems to make them completely solid but that’s not a solution long term? Or is there a way to add the right nutrients to that?

She’s fine in herself, we’ve tried all kinds of
food, introducing it slowly each time but don’t seem to have found the magic formula. We have been to the vets, they don’t seem to think it’s an infection although will book another appointment next week and look at doing the full poo test.

Any ideas? Anyone had anything similar and found a solution?

Find a groomer and get her fur trimmed for a temporary solution to the hair problem?

She sounds lovely. Have you tried feeding raw? I purchase locally and its full of everything my boy needs. I think you can buy online as well. He had the same issues, cant tolerate anything, but with raw he has no runny tum and his poo has hardly any smell.

I realise its not for everyone, but I have done alot of research and as I have experienced the same issues thought it was worth a mention.

Good luck with your lovely girl.

When it happened to my boy it was cereals like maize and corn in the food setting him off.

What food are you giving?
Some cats can't tolerate grains at all

Ask the vet to give her a hygiene trim.

Same with Cheddar, it made her really sick. Swapped her to Iams vitality and she's much better. Though for some reason the senior one gave her colitis. Which was odd as she's fine with the other varieties of it.

And yes to a hygiene trim. I feel your pain with loose ooo and long hair. I'm very careful about what else they get fed!

It just sounds like a minor food intolerance. What food are you giving her?

She can't just be given plain chicken as cats must have a good amount of taurine in their diet or they will eventually go into organ failure and die.

Raw feeding will sort this. Small, smell free and a lot less poo.

Thanks for all the replies, really helpful.

I do think it’s some intolerance rather than anything more sinister. We have tried various grain free foods. She has been eating natures menu which was making things somewhat better but is currently refusing to eat it! Cats!!

Am going to have a look into raw food- it’s about the only thing we haven’t tried. Katkin which I had high hopes for made things much worse.

And will be booking in for a hygiene trim asap!

I've just been told by the Council that Cat litter- biodegradable wooden pellets/sawdust remnants are not acceptable in brown/green bins as well as biodegradable doggy bags for cat waste is not acceptable. They wouldn't collect my brown bin and want me to remove the sawdust/ pellet remnants and biodegradable bags from my bin to put in my black bin. This sounds daft to me as I bought eco friendly litter that would go in a brown bin as I do not have a compost heap in my garden. What can I do ? Since I live with my cat there is at least 1 months of food/ cat waste/litter degrading in it ? Would you dig through it and retrieve it to put it into a different bin ?

@mariabmccoi the litter isn't the issue, its the faeces. Waste from carnivores (i.e. cat and dog poo) can't be safely composted at home as it needs to be broken down at much higher temperatures to prevent the spread of parasites, unfortunately. You'll have to use the black bags for litter waste.

I compost the rabbit & guinea pig waste but that's no issue as they are herbivores.

The litter is eco friendly, but cat poo isn't as it can contain toxoplasmosis. It's also why you shouldn't flush cat poo down the toilet - it needs to be disposed of in normal black bins.

The council don't know whether the litter in your bins is just litter or whether it contains poo, so it's easier to just have a blanket ban on it. Ours just goes in the black bin with our normal rubbish and it's never been an issue.

How would an indoor cat have toxoplasmosis as my kitten has never been in contact with another cat she's a house cat and only eats kitten food and the odd bit of boiled/steamed chicken I cook for her?

But the council don't know whether your cat is indoors only or not, so it's easier to just have a blanket ban on cat litter in brown bins.