Horribly Smelly

[Alicia88]

Long story short, I've had Connor and Murphy for quite a while and just rescued Mickey a few days ago.  Mickey has the smelliest poops.  As soon as he goes, the smell permeates the whole apartment.  I use Fresh Step litter and that's always been fine for Connor and Murphy.

I've been giving them canned food twice a day and Purina One kitten formula dry food is available all the time.  I feed them Fancy Feast and Sheba canned food.  Connor and Murphy each get half a can, which they usually don't finish but I've been giving Mickey a full can because he seemed undernourished and was constantly hungry.

Should I cut down on the canned food a bit?  I scoop the poo as soon as I'm able but I work from home so sometimes I have to smell it for quite a while before I can go on break.

 

[mingsmongols]

Sounds like it's not the food but some type of intestinal parasites. It wouldn't hurt to have a fecal float done.

 

[Alicia88]

I'm going to get him to the vet as soon as I can.  He was an unexpected rescue so I didn't have the funds for the vet right away but I just got paid today so I'm calling for an appointment in the morning.  I'm gonna ask for worm meds for all 3 of them since they've been around each other.

I know you're supposed to keep them apart until the new one has been vetted, but I have a really small one bedroom apartment so that wasn't possible.

 

[DreamerRose]

It could be parasites like giardia, but when I first got Mingo, his poop smelled awful too and also permeated the whole house. It was very loose. I took him to the vet, and the fecal was negative. She gave me a probiotic to add to his food, and it worked just fine. It took it several weeks to clear him up. I've forgotten the name of it, but pet stores also carry it. You might try that and see if it works. Also, if you want the vet involved, you can take some of the poop in for testing. That's a lot cheaper than a visit.

P.S. I forgot to say, the diarrhea was caused by stress, and it's highly likely this is affecting Mickey, too. He's been handed around a lot.

 

[profdanglais]

 
It could be parasites like giardia, but when I first got Mingo, his poop smelled awful too and also permeated the whole house. It was very loose. I took him to the vet, and the fecal was negative. She gave me a probiotic to add to his food, and it worked just fine. It took it several weeks to clear him up. I've forgotten the name of it, but pet stores also carry it. You might try that and see if it works. Also, if you want the vet involved, you can take some of the poop in for testing. That's a lot cheaper than a visit.

P.S. I forgot to say, the diarrhea was caused by stress, and it's highly likely this is affecting Mickey, too. He's been handed around a lot.

I had a similar experience with Hugo, his poo was loose and smelly but the vet thought it was food and stress related rather than parasites, since Hester didn't have any symptoms. They both were dewormed, but it was the probiotic and the pumpkin in his food that sorted him out. 

 

[mingsmongols]

It definitely could be stress or even the new diet he's on. It's really common for 'newbies' to have diarrhea. Preventive worming though for all of them is a great idea.

 

[Alicia88]

I've seen people mention feeding kitties pumpkin.  How much and do I just mix it with the soft food?

 

[hellomisskitty]

I've seen people mention feeding kitties pumpkin.  How much and do I just mix it with the soft food?

I usually do about a teaspoon and yes just mix it right it. As I'm sure you've read, make sure it is plain canned pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling. The only ingredients should be pumpkin and water.

 

[Alicia88]

Yeah, definitely.  Even when I make pumpkin pie, I get the plain pumpkin.  I think it tastes better when I mix all the ingredients myself.  I'll have to pick some up - hopefully it will help.