Kitten stool has foul oder!!!

Marty2021

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Hello folks!
I am new to the forum. This is my first post! So, for 4 weeks now my now 24 week old kitten has had foul smelling stool. I’m going to be descriptive here. It smells like bacteria, sewage and for anyone who knows what periodontal disease is, that’s the identical smell. Halitosis at its finest! I was waiting it out, as there has been a food change, and initially chalked it up to that. He is otherwise normal. He’s eating and drinking normally. He’s using the box normally, and very active. He has zero signs of illness, other than this overly foul stool. I’ve googled everything I can think of, but have come up with nothing. I haven’t even found any articles online that are similar. Overgrowth of bacteria in the gut? I’m going to take a stool sample into the vet tomorrow. I don’t see anything odd in his stool either. I’m hoping someone here has some in site.
Thank you all!
 

TardisDance

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I’ve been experiencing similar issues with my 1.5 year old’s foul smelling stool but it’s a mix of solid and soft/diarrhea. I tried some leftover fortiflora I had on hand, but it made things worse. I’m waiting for results on the fecal sample to rule out parasites, but vet prescribed a Nutramax Proviable kit which contains 15 capsules of probiotic and a paste thats a stool hardener/probiotic. The paste is 1 ml serving given 2 to 3 times a day for 48 to 72 hours and 1 capsule daily. I am erring on the side of caution and give the paste just twice a day (too much can cause constipation). I have been mixing both in his wet food. It’s helped the foul smell so far, though there is still some soft stool (it’s only day 2 though). He does have some bad gas now, but he’s probably getting used to the new bacteria.

Maybe you can ask about a probiotic? Proviable is also sold with the capsules only if diarrhea isn’t an issue.
 

Talien

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What are you feeding him? If it's kibble or low quality canned food with lots of plant based ingredients it's likely the food itself that's causing the smell. A general rule for Cat food is the more plant based ingredients in it, the worse it smells coming out.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi! If your cat's stool is of normal consistency, it is highly likely the food is the culprit for the smell. If nothing comes of having his stool tested (hopefully for bacteria as well as parasites), then it might be time to do another change in food to see what happens.

I did find a couple of articles, just in case you might find them helpful.
Why Does My Cat's Poop Smell So Bad? Causes And Remedies - Guest Blog Courtesy Jackie Johnston, Cat World | Pet Perennials
Why do My Cat’s Stools Smell so Bad? (pethealthnetwork.com)
 
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Marty2021

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What are you feeding him? If it's kibble or low quality canned food with lots of plant based ingredients it's likely the food itself that's causing the smell. A general rule for Cat food is the more plant based ingredients in it, the worse it smells coming out.
Hi! I have switched them to Purina Beyond grain free. I have a 10 year old who had some digestive issues and the vet had him on a RX high fibre diet, so I was mixing it with the Purina. I’ve been sampling other foods to ween the big boy off the expensive RX diet. I first tried Kasiks grain free (Made in Canada), but they did not like that stuff. I had them on PC brand wet food, but they discontinued it. I noticed the smell after switching to Kasiks which they were only on for a few days, because they weren’t eating it.
 

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Poor quality food = super stinky poop :barfgreen: Dry food especially causes smelly poop.

What brands of food are you feeding? Your kitten's tummy may just be sensitive to certain brands / proteins.

Internal parasites can also cause smelly poop. If your kitten has had a vet check up yet, schedule that right away as many vets are booked weeks in advance right now and have limited staff. Your kitten will need to be dewormed (most kittens do) and given the basic vaccinations.
 
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Marty2021

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Hi! If your cat's stool is of normal consistency, it is highly likely the food is the culprit for the smell. If nothing comes of having his stool tested (hopefully for bacteria as well as parasites), then it might be time to do another change in food to see what happens.

I did find a couple of articles, just in case you might find them helpful.
Why Does My Cat's Poop Smell So Bad? Causes And Remedies - Guest Blog Courtesy Jackie Johnston, Cat World | Pet Perennials
Why do My Cat’s Stools Smell so Bad? (pethealthnetwork.com)
Thank you so much! Yes I have read those! Can’t seem to find this particular smell that I’m concerned about. It smells like decay/rot. I’m going to look at the ingredients of the Purina Beyond grain free, but it was smelly before this switch. I’ve never smelled anything like this. I even tried my cure all remedy, diluted ACV in their wet food to try to irradiate any bacteria that may be there, counteracting that with the Healthy Gut probiotic in their night time meal.
 
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Marty2021

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I’ve been experiencing similar issues with my 1.5 year old’s foul smelling stool but it’s a mix of solid and soft/diarrhea. I tried some leftover fortiflora I had on hand, but it made things worse. I’m waiting for results on the fecal sample to rule out parasites, but vet prescribed a Nutramax Proviable kit which contains 15 capsules of probiotic and a paste thats a stool hardener/probiotic. The paste is 1 ml serving given 2 to 3 times a day for 48 to 72 hours and 1 capsule daily. I am erring on the side of caution and give the paste just twice a day (too much can cause constipation). I have been mixing both in his wet food. It’s helped the foul smell so far, though there is still some soft stool (it’s only day 2 though). He does have some bad gas now, but he’s probably getting used to the new bacteria.

Maybe you can ask about a probiotic? Proviable is also sold with the capsules only if diarrhea isn’t an issue.
What does it smell like? Marty’s smells like decay/rot. Sorry to be so graphic lol.
 

Talien

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Hi! I have switched them to Purina Beyond grain free. I have a 10 year old who had some digestive issues and the vet had him on a RX high fibre diet, so I was mixing it with the Purina. I’ve been sampling other foods to ween the big boy off the expensive RX diet. I first tried Kasiks grain free (Made in Canada), but they did not like that stuff. I had them on PC brand wet food, but they discontinued it. I noticed the smell after switching to Kasiks which they were only on for a few days, because they weren’t eating it.
If you can afford a good canned food like Tiki Cat (especially the after dark varieties) that would all but eliminate the odor. That and it's got almost no junk ingredients so it's a better food overall.

Fancy Feast classic is decent if you're on a tight budget.
 
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Marty2021

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What does it smell like? Marty’s smells like decay/rot. Sorry to be so graphic lol.
Please let me know how you make out with the stool sample results!! Xo
 
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Marty2021

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If you can afford a good canned food like Tiki Cat (especially the after dark varieties) that would all but eliminate the odor. That and it's got almost no junk ingredients so it's a better food overall.

Fancy Feast classic is decent if you're on a tight budget.
I will hit the pet food store tomorrow and see about the Tiki. I started the year with 4 fur babies. I lost 3 in a 4 month span. Too much for one person to take that’s for sure. Farley, my 10 year old orange tabby (last of the original 4), went into a deep depression. Stopped eating and using his box and was very lethargic. Almost lost him too. Vet gave him an enema and put him on high fibre food. I got Marty in hopes to bring some joy to the household again. I’ve been a paranoid basket case since losing the others.
 
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Marty2021

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Poor quality food = super stinky poop :barfgreen: Dry food especially causes smelly poop.

What brands of food are you feeding? Your kitten's tummy may just be sensitive to certain brands / proteins.

Internal parasites can also cause smelly poop. If your kitten has had a vet check up yet, schedule that right away as many vets are booked weeks in advance right now and have limited staff. Your kitten will need to be dewormed (most kittens do) and given the basic vaccinations.
Hi! Marty has had all his vaccinations and 5 rounds of deworming. I adopted him from our local shelter and they put him through the rounds of dewormer. Since I’ve had him (July), he’s had 3 trips to the vet to complete all of his shots. Im wondering about a parasite still though. I’ll keep everyone posted about the results of the poop test! I wish it was about poor quality food, then I’d have an easy answer. :)
 

TardisDance

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Please keep us posted. I just received my cat’s fecal results and it turns out he has giardia. He had a dewormer too prior to adopting him and normal dewormers don’t treat this. He’s on liquid metronidazole now that I mix in his food a twice daily. Thankfully it’s chicken flavor and he eats his food without issue.

I’m going on a whirlwind cleaning and quarantining him from my other healthy cat. He used one of her litterboxes a few times but thankfully I always scoop immediately because it smells so bad, so I think exposure risk is minimal. Eeek!

Edit: His poop smelled like decay/rot too but it started smelling better with the probiotics. I am taking him off those for now since metronidazole is an antibiotic and it’s going to cancel the probiotic out.
 
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Talien

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Please keep us posted. I just received my cat’s fecal results and it turns out he has giardia. He had a dewormer too prior to adopting him and normal dewormers don’t treat this. He’s on liquid metronidazole now that I mix in his food a twice daily. Thankfully it’s chicken flavor and he eats his food without issue.

I’m going on a whirlwind cleaning and quarantining him from my other healthy cat. He used one of her litterboxes a few times but thankfully I always scoop immediately because it smells so bad, so I think exposure risk is minimal. Eeek!

Edit: His poop smelled like decay/rot too but it started smelling better with the probiotics. I am taking him off those for now since metronidazole is an antibiotic and it’s going to cancel the probiotic out.
Actually it's best to keep him on the probiotic to help counteract the antibiotics killing off his gut bacteria.
 
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