Solid poop with soft stool at end of bm

Ogcatlady

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Hey there! I’m wondering if anyone has experienced this before. My male cat age 5 (or possibly both him and his brother) has been having normal poops with loose stool at the end of the bowel movement. I’ve run a fecal (only result was positive coronavirus) and have been giving them Proviable probiotics and s bouliardi but it keeps occurring. It doesn’t seem to happen with every bm but a few times a week. Both cats are very sensitive in terms of allergens and foods so we’ve tried switching proteins (they eat only wet food) but just haven’t been able to figure this out.

It began around the time my husband and I left on a short vacation so we thought perhaps it was stress, but it’s been nearly 3 months and numerous vet calls and we’re at a loss as to the cause.

Both boys have been eating and drinking as normal and have not exhibited any signs of illness. They’ve even gained some weight (whoops!) after switching to a fattier duck diet to see if changing foods helped, so I’m less concerned with IBD then I initially was when this began. There’s also been no blood/noticeable mucous in the stool. Of course it’s impossible to know for sure without an ultrasound/biopsy.

They have always tended to be a bit more on the constipated side of the spectrum (firmer dryer poops) but they do not seem to be straining at all. We used to give one of them metameucil once a week to provide a little fibre but stopped when the soft stool issues began. I’ve now started up the metameucil again in case this is being caused by mild constipation but I’d really appreciate any insights from people who may have experienced this strange issue.

I should note that it initially seemed to be both cats having this same issue with occasional soft stool but I’ve been sick the past week with a cold and have not seen them going to the litter so I can’t be sure whose poop is whose.

apologies for the long winded and confusing post. Please let me know if any of you have experienced something similar in a healthy young cat!
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. Since it isn't happening with every BM, can you tie when it does happen to certain foods you are feeding them - if you have a variety of foods you feed?

I have had Feeby do the same thing, but personally I never worried about it because it was not a recurring, continual thing. She is on a whole host of different foods, so I suspect one or more of them probably were the culprit.
 
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Ogcatlady

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Hi there! Thanks for your reply! I have been feeding him exclusively one food since switching to try to get everything under control. I did however give them a few treats yesterday (some kibble) as I had to get them to come in from their catio. I’ll need to monitor if there’s any relationship to the treats. Thank you!!
 

LocosMom

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This has been happening to my guy as well for the past 3 months so curious to see what potential causes may be.
 
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Ogcatlady

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This has been happening to my guy as well for the past 3 months so curious to see what potential causes may be.
Omg no way! Out of curiosity, what do you feed him? When this all started, we were feeding (all wet) natures logic rabbit and koha duck to one and Purina EN naturals veterinary to the other (not what I wanted to food but unfortunately what he was tolerating at the time). I initially thought it might be a good issue but it hasn’t stopped since switching (although perhaps has improved a bit?).

does your boy also have sensitivities and allergies?
 
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Ogcatlady

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Omg no way! Out of curiosity, what do you feed him? When this all started, we were feeding (all wet) natures logic rabbit and koha duck to one and Purina EN naturals veterinary to the other (not what I wanted to food but unfortunately what he was tolerating at the time). I initially thought it might be a good issue but it hasn’t stopped since switching (although perhaps has improved a bit?).

does your boy also have sensitivities and allergies?
Sorry for all the typos. I meant food issue. Not good issue.
 

gabicards

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Happening over here too to an otherwise healthy 7 month old kitten.

First thing I noticed was the soft stool happening at the end of the bowel movement... and then some days he'd poop more than once and it was very soft (not exactly watery, though). Differently from yours, though, mine does bleed a little bit, also at the end.

No parasites or viruses, and I'm waiting on the results of the test for bacterias. I've switched to gastrointestinal kibble and wet food, added some probiotics, it hasn't really improved much. I've been wondering if it could be some type of intolerance, maybe to chicken since every food he's ever eaten seems to have it.

It doesn't change according to what food he eats, though (as in, wet or dry, treats, probiotics or not) but it seems to get slightly worse when he eats a lot. It's so hard to figure out what it is, isn't it? And since it isn't a full blown diarrhea it seems like it concerns the vets less too. Which I get, to some extent, but I want him to be well.
 
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cataholic07

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My boy has that. If he gets a certain food he either vomits or has diarrhea. If he gets a single treat he will often have poop thats normal then the last bit of it super soft. He was diagnosed with either mild ibd or pancreatitis from the gi 2 panel. It's most likely food related (which is something that happens with ibd cats). Fynn can't have any fish, gums, carrageenan, or dry at all. He couldn't even handle the zd lol. My one girl who does have food allergies gets constipated on the ZD. Constipation can also be from an allergen.
 

gabicards

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The results from the panel we did with my kitten's stool samples came out negative for everything but coronavirus (is it even avoidable?) so now we'll try hypoallergenic food.

Vet says the next step to understand what causing this would be a colonoscopy, but she doesn't think it's necessary now, so we'll try the new food. She seems confident that the partially soft stool is indeed related to some kind of intolerance - at this point, I'm crossing my fingers that's what it is so that we can solve it sooner rather than later.
 
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Babypotato

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The results from the panel we did with my kitten's stool samples came out negative for everything but coronavirus (is it even avoidable?) so now we'll try hypoallergenic food.

Vet says the next step to understand what causing this would be a colonoscopy, but she doesn't think it's necessary now, so we'll try the new food. She seems confident that the partially soft stool is indeed related to some kind of intolerance - at this point, I'm crossing my fingers that's what it is so that we can solve it sooner rather than later.
Hello, how is your cat now? my cat has solid stool with slightly softer end occasionally, as the soft part still has shape, vet is less concerned and let me keep monitoring, check in if get worse. Same as you, I want my cat to be good,
 

gabicards

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Hello, how is your cat now? my cat has solid stool with slightly softer end occasionally, as the soft part still has shape, vet is less concerned and let me keep monitoring, check in if get worse. Same as you, I want my cat to be good,
Hi B Babypotato ! My cat stopped having this problem when I gave up on following vet advice about gastrointestinal/hydrolized kibble, which was all they would let me try with him, and transitioned him into wet food only. Soft stool, or hard stool that seems softer at the end, tends to happen to him if he eats kibble, regardless of the amount.
 

Babypotato

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Hi B Babypotato ! My cat stopped having this problem when I gave up on following vet advice about gastrointestinal/hydrolized kibble, which was all they would let me try with him, and transitioned him into wet food only. Soft stool, or hard stool that seems softer at the end, tends to happen to him if he eats kibble, regardless of the amount.
Thank you for your response. My cat is on wet most of the time but I gave her kibble when I can't be home for the day. I will keep the all wet diet and monitor.
 
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