A very smelly concern

[Cinafina]

I replied to another thread with this but Yoda mom advised I start a new one. So, over the last few weeks my 7 month old Butchie's poo's have been getting increasingly stinky, loose and very light brown in colour. It seemed to start about the same time as the very hot weather and he has also been completely off any wet food. He still happily eats his dry food and drinks plenty of water, and he's very active and playful, same as ever. He was weighed at the vet a week ago before given his worming tablet and he's a normal healthy weight. I figured it was just the heat and the vet said every cat owner said the same thing - their cats were eating a lot less! I'm just concerned now after reading that the consistently loose stool can be a sign of infection or inflammation. I really wouldn't call it diarrhea, and I found this chart (link below) that I think is really good, and I would say it's between pictures 3.5 and 4. Has anyone else experienced these or similar symptoms in their sphynx? I usually give him a daily spot clean with a wet wipe after he's done a poo, and sometimes there is a tiny bit of blood (bright red) on the wipe, which I read is common in cases of either constipation or diarrhea... Any thoughts or advise is welcome! I should perhaps also mention, that this is my first cat and there's been a lot of new stuff. I don't want to be overly worried, rushing to the vet at the first sign, but...

https://www.waltham.com/dyn/_assets/_pdfs/resources/FaecesQuality2.pdf

 

[MollysMom]

Go get s. Boulardii from a health food store (it is usually rerigerated). They give it to humans to help clear up diarrhea and c. Difficile infections. It is safe, relatively cheap, and will do the trick. I swear by it now. Directions and info are here:
My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do?
A long read but completely worth it. Written by people who know what they are talking about

 

[4Beans]

Is there a reason he’s off wet food?

 

[Toa and Ross]

My girl Jade has soft smelly poo now and then too. With this warm weather it's worse. My vet also says it's due to the warm weather.
As long as Butchie is playful, active and drinking enough I would wait to see if it gets better. You could try give him some canned pumpkin (not thd pie filling), that can firm up his poo.
If you keep worrying you can ask the vet to test on giardia and other bacteria.

 

[Cinafina]

Is there a reason he’s off wet food?

My girl Jade has soft smelly poo now and then too. With this warm weather it's worse. My vet also says it's due to the warm weather.
As long as Butchie is playful, active and drinking enough I would wait to see if it gets better. You could try give him some canned pumpkin (not thd pie filling), that can firm up his poo.
If you keep worrying you can ask the vet to test on giardia and other bacteria.

Yea, I wouldn't be concerned if it was just occasionally but it's been every day for weeks. When it comes to his wet food, he was fussy with it from when I got him; he was given kitten pouches by his breeder, but when I tried him on them he would just lick off the jelly or gravy and not touch the rest of it.

I tried another couple of types and seemed to finally find one he would actually eat (Lily's Kitchen) so I've been sticking with that for the last 6-7 weeks. Now he won't touch it at all though, and he's even off some treats that he used to love, like Dreamies. I know it's bad changing diets so I don't want to mess about with it any more... Hoping it's just been the heat and that his appetite will improve when it gets cooler again! He just eats plenty of dry food every day now.

Considering taking him to the vet next week if there's no change, to check if it could be an infection or inflammation, bacterial or otherwise. sometimes with the vet though, I feel like they love overly concerned pet owners and encourage it. I did read some of the My Cat Has Diarrhea - What Do I Do? thread, but I'm not sure I want to try him on something like the S. Boulardii until I've been to the vet. Maybe I just fret too much being a new sphynx mum...

 

[denise irwin]

I would give him lysine chews mine had that for a few days too and i had the poo tested and was negative for everything. The lysine chews really helped.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

 

[Yoda mom]

You can ask you vet if it could be a food intolerance ? Food maybe too rich ? I know some kitties amd dogs eating Orojen can't handle the richness of the food. Sometimes kitties can't handle the very high protein foods or high fiber .

mention to the vet the sometimes tinge of bright red blood -
The color of the blood tinge can help the vet


How much fiber % is in the food ?
Fwiw , I took mine off grain free - went grain inclusive
Amd bumm issues resolved

Fwiw , I have two kitties that Absoutely refuse all wet food - tried high end low end brands -
Amd refuse 100% pure canned pumpkin - no spices - be sure to read label of you try the pumpkin

I gave up on wet food for tow of them
They sniff it and run away chirping in disgust

I free feed Nutrisource cat and kitten (guarantee specifically mentioned for issues )
I provide lots of water - I keep the water dishes aways from the food dishes - they seem to drink more ! They have 3 water bowls I freshen several times a day

I gave up on water fountains - they have to be completely taken apart - motor parts inside and all or slim builds up quickly - not visible to the naked eye - I was cleaning their water fountains completed apart motor and all 2x a week .
Now I just rotate xtra bowls into the dishwasher lol

They prefer the small raised dishes with stainless bowls for some reason .

If the issue isn't food related definitely vet check to rule out giardia , tritrichomonas or other parasites .

Please keep us updated often

 

[Silke]

Pixie is a fussy eater. But she loooooooves the Purina Gourmet Cat Broth/Soup -- but it has to be the fishy variety.
Jez will eat anything that's not locked away.
Livvy is picky, but again, "Feeeeeeshhhhh" (as we call it here) usually works with her too. (That soup is EXPENSIVE)
When I first got Jez and Livvy, they were on Carny tinned food -- or so I was told by the foster mum.
Holy HELL.
Jez had explosive diarrhea (all over the bathroom wall, the tray, the floor and herself -- at 1:30am) and Livvy wasn't much better either.
So I stopped the Carny -- and hey presto. Bye bye runny poo, and no more frantic bathroom scrubbings at o'Dark Thirty in the morning. (Pixie won't touch the stuff with a ten foot pole.)
Believe it or not, mine get the odd pouch of Felix now (Fish...) and aside from having the occasional soft poop...they seem to tolerate that best.
They also have free choice kibble. (Perfect Fit Turkey and *cough* Fish... *cough*) That one seems to be tolerated well too.
The RC Sphynx is horrendously expensive here, unfortunately, and with 3 cats... I go through that in a heartbeat. But it IS tolerated very well by all three of them.
Oh I also sprinkle Lysine on the wet food, and Livvy gets to lick the honey melons when I am done eating them...

 

[Cinafina]

I would give him lysine chews mine had that for a few days too and i had the poo tested and was negative for everything. The lysine chews really helped.

I've been giving him lysine paste almost since we got him, and he loves that stuff, will come running when I get the tube out!

 

[Cinafina]

@Yoda mom I didn't consider a food intolerance, maybe it could be The food I give him is grain free, and all I keep reading everywhere is that cats don't need fiber, but then again others say they shouldn't eat any raw food (which I think is nonsense), so it gets confusing. The last few days he's been eating his wet food again, maybe 2/3 of what I serve up, but there's no change in the loose, smelly poo. He drinks a lot of water and I give him water from the same Brita filter jug water that I drink, and change it a couple of times a day.

About the possible parasites; he was wormed just over a week ago, and I thought (possibly naively) that would kill off parasites too?

 

[Yoda mom]

You can call the vet and ask if the dewormer can be causing a temporary poo issue ?
I tend to feed what works for my crew - I found my 4 would have looser stool on high protein foods like Orijen

I switched to Nutrisource cat and kitten dry food amd no more poo issues - they still get Sphynx stinky butt but not nearly like they did on Acana

Fwiw, Sphynx have been commented to have the worst smelling poo lol
I read when I got my first Sphynx
So I found a food thst works, and scoop the litter box 2-3 items a day

We have many raw feeders thst say it helps Sphynx stink

Also , do you feed bagged treats? Too many treats can give poo issues

Keep us updated with what your vet suggests

Good he is eating his canned food! I have ome of mine that literally runs aways from any look of wet food !


Good job with your water routine!
I found out that if I put the water dish away from the food dish about 5 feet they drink more

Head smooches sent ! Your avatar pic is adorable!

 

[Silke]

I found out that if I put the water dish away from the food dish about 5 feet they drink more

Most cat owners don't actually know this, but cats -- being hunters -- don't like water anywhere near food.
In the wild, food will contaminate a water source, so they go by instinct and don't like water near food.
The further away from food you place the water, the more happily they will drink it.
I actually only figured that out when we were staying at my parents two years ago.
My mum uses an old metal/enamel milk pot on the radiators to keep some moisture in the air, as it gets very dry up in that apartment.
Well, Pixie constantly drank all the water in that pot -- even though there was perfectly fine fresh water in her bowl. However, that bowl stood next to the food.
My mum commented that she constantly had to refill that radiator pot, because Pixie kept drinking the water down to the last drop. I couldn't figure out what's going on, why THAT water was better than the sparkling, cool, clean water she had in her bowl. So I googled -- and found out.

Now I actually have 2 big 1 liter bowls of water (Old, repurposed, Milk Pots) of which I have 1 by the stairs going up to the bedroom, and one on the window ledge in the bedroom. Both are routinely decimated, especially in this hot weather. (There is no A/C in Europe, usually)
Both of those pots came from the recycling yard in Germany. One was near perfect (A small chip in the enamel) and just needed scrubbing, the other was discolored, but the enamel was intact. I've sprayed it with food safe paint inside and out, and now it looks like new.
I also have a water fountain, but not enough sockets atm to plug it in.

So... do your cats a favor, and move the water bowl.

 

[Yoda mom]

@Silke, thank you for the great information
Ps ... Love your avatar picture!

@Cinafina , checking in on handsome Butchie

 

[Cinafina]

@Yoda mom Thanks for the advice and for checking in! We're going to the vet on Saturday though, because there was quite a bit of bloody mucus (bright red, not dark) in his poo this evening. I'll be taking a sample with me and hope they can help figure out what's going on. He doesn't get a lot of treats, maybe one of those stick treats every few days, and usually a liquid snack for lunch. Its a low calorie one with inulin or beta glucans. I keep his water next to his dry food, and he drinks plenty, so if it aint broke don't fix it!
Also, the issues started before the wormer, so it doesn't really make sense that it's linked to that.

 

[Cinafina]

We went to the vet yesterday and he said it's colitis and we got an 8 day course of antibiotics. It's hard to pinpoint what's caused the colitis though, as I read online it can be a whole list of things. Hoping the antibiotics will do the trick!

This morning I thought we would be back at the vet though, as Butchie climbed to the top of the screen door and then couldn't get back down and tumbled all the way down. He gave us a right shock and himself too! He almost knocked himself out and has bruise on the back of his ear... He's not climbed back up the screen door though, so hoping he learned a lesson there! There's a reason mummy and daddy always tell him off and get him down...

 

[Toa and Ross]

Hope the antibiotics will kick in and the colitis will be gone soon.

What a scare! Butchie, don't climb in the screen anymore. Or at least if you do so, then don't fall down.

 

[Cinafina]

I wanted to come back to this thread because Butchie started having diarrhea about 10 days ago, for no apparent reason. No change in diet or anything else! It was the same messy, stinky poo every day, and he even went twice one day, which he'd never done before.

Now he's back to firm, healthy looking, and much less smelly poo and I thought I would share the supplements I started him on about a week ago now, in case it can help someone else!

I got a probiotic which contains both Bifidobacterium and Enterococcus faecium, the first helping in the smaller intestine and the second for the colon. I was searching for s.boulardii but struggled to find any specifically for cats (worried about giving him human grade supplements...) and I came across this article online, which I thought was very helpful;

Best Probiotics for Cats - Cat.Reviews

The below was the only type of probiotics for cats I could find that contains both bacteria, but it wouldn't need to be this make of course (I think it's a UK company):

I also started giving him the below paste (which he absolutely loves!!), and combined with the probiotics it has worked wonders!!!

It contains:

• Montmorillonite - Coats and protects the intestinal lining and absorbs toxins
• Sodium, Magnesium & Potassium - Help to restore electrolytes lost through diarrhoea
• Dextrose - Provides an energy source for the small intestine
• Prebiotics (FOS – fructo-oligosaccharides) - Help to restore the normal bacterial flora

 

[Yoda mom]

@Cinafina , checking in for updates on Butchie poo patrol ?

Just saw your update
Thanks for sharing the product info
Helpful to members thank you!