I am needing some advice regarding tummy issues with my kitties. I have 2 rescue kitties, Toffee and Mittens, who have been with us for about 6 weeks now. Both lived a hard life before they came to us, but they are the sweetest, most loving cats! They are around 1 year old (but possibly a little younger), spayed, and indoor only. They are littermates and they adore each other.
Somebody (not sure who) is having litter box issues, but I think it is more tummy troubles than behavior. Every morning for the last week or so, shortly after I feed them and clean out their litter boxes, one of the kitties is having very soft, near liquid poop on the carpet. They both use the litter boxes all the rest of the time (we have 3 boxes). And since it always happens right after I clean out the litter boxes (usually between 8 and 9 am), when the house is fairly quiet, I don't think it is due to them being persnickity about the litter or stressed out about noise. I think someone is just not making it to the box in time.
I took stool samples to our vet today and they are clear for parasites. And otherwise they are very healthy-they have great appetites, tons of energy, gleaming coats, and seem to be gaining weight. So I suspect the issue may be food related. Both of these kitties are hungry ALL the time and will absolutely try to eat "people food" at every opportunity, but we try to prevent that as much as possible. Mittens in particular will dive into trash cans if given the chance, so we try to be very diligent about taking out garbage, sweeping floors, etc. It's possible somebody has had a dietary indiscretion, but how long would soft poop from that go on?
I don't know what their early life was like, but I know they were surrendered and ate dry food only at the pound and with the rescue. I have since added wet food (2 Sheba Perfect portions per cat, per day) and, most recently, I switched them to a grain-free dry food (Redford Naturals Chicken Recipe) about 3-4 weeks ago, when the leftover food from the rescue ran out--that was Authority Chicken and Rice.
I am waiting on a call back from the vet to see what they advise, but I am curious if anyone here has experience with this? Do you think I ought to take out the wet food for a few days to see if that helps? This has been going on for a week or so, and we started wet food after they had been with us for just a few days, so I am not sure it's related, but maybe it would help? Or should I switch them back to a regular kibble and mix in the grain-free stuff slowly? Try a new protein? Add pumpkin to their diet? Help!!
Maybe I should also add that Mittens caught and ate a mouse last week. I was horrified and tried to get the mouse away from her before she ate it, but she growled at me like a wild beast so I let her keep it. Did that mess up her belly?
Thanks in advance. Here's a picture of my sweet kitties, curled up in a heart.
Somebody (not sure who) is having litter box issues, but I think it is more tummy troubles than behavior. Every morning for the last week or so, shortly after I feed them and clean out their litter boxes, one of the kitties is having very soft, near liquid poop on the carpet. They both use the litter boxes all the rest of the time (we have 3 boxes). And since it always happens right after I clean out the litter boxes (usually between 8 and 9 am), when the house is fairly quiet, I don't think it is due to them being persnickity about the litter or stressed out about noise. I think someone is just not making it to the box in time.
I took stool samples to our vet today and they are clear for parasites. And otherwise they are very healthy-they have great appetites, tons of energy, gleaming coats, and seem to be gaining weight. So I suspect the issue may be food related. Both of these kitties are hungry ALL the time and will absolutely try to eat "people food" at every opportunity, but we try to prevent that as much as possible. Mittens in particular will dive into trash cans if given the chance, so we try to be very diligent about taking out garbage, sweeping floors, etc. It's possible somebody has had a dietary indiscretion, but how long would soft poop from that go on?
I don't know what their early life was like, but I know they were surrendered and ate dry food only at the pound and with the rescue. I have since added wet food (2 Sheba Perfect portions per cat, per day) and, most recently, I switched them to a grain-free dry food (Redford Naturals Chicken Recipe) about 3-4 weeks ago, when the leftover food from the rescue ran out--that was Authority Chicken and Rice.
I am waiting on a call back from the vet to see what they advise, but I am curious if anyone here has experience with this? Do you think I ought to take out the wet food for a few days to see if that helps? This has been going on for a week or so, and we started wet food after they had been with us for just a few days, so I am not sure it's related, but maybe it would help? Or should I switch them back to a regular kibble and mix in the grain-free stuff slowly? Try a new protein? Add pumpkin to their diet? Help!!
Maybe I should also add that Mittens caught and ate a mouse last week. I was horrified and tried to get the mouse away from her before she ate it, but she growled at me like a wild beast so I let her keep it. Did that mess up her belly?
Thanks in advance. Here's a picture of my sweet kitties, curled up in a heart.
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