Help with smell cat poo!

[frawri]

HI Group, just wanted to see what others are feeding their cats. Mine are being fed a high qulity food. But it still doesn't stop them from having some pretty bad smelling poo. I have heard the better the food you feed them, the better their poo will smell. Is that only true in other animals and not cats? Because cats need meat in their diet, is that the reason for the smelling poo problem? Please let me know what you all think.



Francine

[Traci]

What is the diet you're feeding?

[frawri]

Nutro Natural Choice, hard cat food, and can cat food.

[Traci]

I personally prefer Hill's, Iams or Eukanuba, I am not a fan of Nutro products.

Canned food can often cause this problem, no matter what the brand. Also, digestibility and metabolism play a part in the individual.

[frawri]

Cats need some kind of real meat in their diet, not just dried cat food. Even if it is 100% naturel. So if you don't feed them canned cat food, would it be good to feed them chicken meat? I also think it is the Canned cat food that is making their poo stink. But the real question is will fresh meat cause them to have stiny poo?

[Tambrey]

a good quality cat food will have ALL the nutrients that a cat needs...remember, our domestic cats are no longer the same as their wild cousins, and if fed a proper diet, dry food alone is fine for them...

[ladybug31]

I have to agree with Traci on this. I would pass on Nutro. Science Diet products are what I have always used.

[kehorner]

Just to put in my two cents, I've had no problems with Nutro.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the possibility of intestinal parasites. Sometimes those can cause funky smells. Have they ever had a fecal exam?

[frawri]

I have had them in for there check up and shots. They both have had fecal samples done on them twice to rule this out. They did have worms about 6 months ago, but I had that taken care of. And then did another check up on them. My husband and I rescued them as 12 week old kittens. They had a few fleas on them, and when we did a fecal study, they had worms. As I said we took care of that, and then had another test done, they were free of any parasites. I have noticed that when I stop feeding them the nutro wet food they don't have the bad smell as offten. I think I am going to stop using the wet food. But I don't want to stop them from having a good diet. What should I do? Should I feed them raw meat?

[slvrwhispr]

No, no, no! Don't feed your cats raw meat; they are susceptible to parasites and bacteria living in the raw meat just like humans, and even moreso because they are smaller and they digest food in their own unique way.

Please understand, what your cats need are nutrients, not necessarily the meat itself. They need the vitamins that the meat provides, which a good dry food like the ones that people have listed will provide. Your cats do not need wet food to be happy, healthy, or satisfied. They can receive a balanced diet from a high-quality dry food.