New cat - smelly poo

[lurchermummy]

We've recently adopted a cat, he has been living feral for a few months, was found but his owner can't keep him. He's lovely, very friendly and so far no bother. Only issue is he is doing massive smelly poos. I'm feeding him on the small trays of Sheba plus some kibble. I can't be faffed with raw, but any recommendations for decent food that doesn't cost the earth and is going to help his poo? I suspect his stomach is a bit unsettled because of all the change he's gone through.

Switch to a higher quality dry food and reduce the Sheba. Changeover gradually.

I wouldn't stop wet food though - male cats in particular aren't ideally suited to a dry diet

Yes he's not keen on the kibble - I've got him on Perfect Fit at the moment. I gave him a bit of chicken and he loved that - do you think chicken for now until his tummy settles?

Honestly raw is the only thing I’ve ever given my girl that makes her poos smell neutral.

I don't mind feeding raw but it's not as convenient and I worry about getting nutrition right.

We use Royal Canin indoor which has something in to reduce the poo odours. Cat goes outside now, but we have kept the same food as it is low calorie and she is exceptionally lazy, even by cat standards.

Here he is

I use Royal Canin vet gastro (wet and dry) for my sensitive guy cats and their poos are much better on it. They also do a sensitive food. You can get frozen complete raw if you want to try that instead. Has all they need in it and as frozen the bacteria risk is reduced.
Oh, he’s gorgeous!

Butchers cat food is totally grain free and not nearly as expensive as posher brands. When we adopted DCat she was on whiskers and stank the house out with acrid poo, she must have been in discomfort. Butchers sorted it right out

Dry food is meant to reduce odour but is not good for health, as mentioned by pp, particularly urinary problems, but also constipation and diabetes due to the high carb content.

A high meat content food would help, the most publicised and well known wet foods contain grain, also described as vegetable content to make you think it is healthy. It is infact just a way to bulk food out and make money for the company.

There are some good foods available which are a minimum of 80% meat, ideally higher, no added suger or grain and no potato. Work on the basis of what a cat would eat naturally, ie: animal protein and some grass or herbs and that is what you need, not maize, sugar, fruits, or carageenan which the colouring in gravy and is carcinogenic.

There are posts on here about good foods, some can be bought in shops, but Zooplus is a good place to start.

If you get him on a good, grain free diet he should settle down after a little while. It might look more expensive but the meat is more filling than added maize and rubbish so can work out the same or less.

You can buy ready made raw, if he will eat it. Problem is you need to store it and also be able to use the pack before it goes off, one company makes 'patties' which are smaller amounts.

DCat eats Katkin and occasionally Untamed. No dry food. Poos are almost odourless.

That is clearly one contented cat who has found his Person.

My recently adopted boy has had a few spells of extra smelly poo (male cats do seem to have smellier poo than girls), and it's usually when he's got anxious about something e.g. first week or so it was gross, then improved, then bad for the first few days he was let out into the rest of the house & met Girlcat.

As others have said, grain free is supposedly much better for poo smell (and better for the cat ofc). Mine are indoor only so have decent quality indoor only dry plus various medium range wet foods (Girlcat is a fussy little moo about what she eats, only certain Felix or Gourmet wets).

Some litters are also better than others for absorbing poo smells. I use wood pellets which are pretty good for this, but you do have to put up with sawdust being tracked round the house. I've been told that most cats don't like scented litter or litter tray sprays so won't use those.

@Allergictoironing thanks yes that's my daughter, she's the one who found him. Thanks all I'll look out for some grain free food and see how we get on.

Oh he is adorable!