Stinky cat- anal glands?

[sarah ann]

One of my cats is starting to smell. Usually when this happens a hot bath takes care of the issue.  Only it didn't work for him. I'm thinking maybe he needs a change in cat food. Right now he is on IAMS hairball.

I gave him a bowl of peas this morning for fiber. At first he was shocked but after a few minutes he ate them all up. I think he likes peas.

Nothing looks infected so I am pretty certain this was caused by the food. I've had this happen before with hairball foods.

Anything else I can do to help clear up the issue?  I don't really want to have him expressed if it is something that will improve with a diet change.  Maybe keep giving him hot baths since it has helped before?

 

[ritz]

By stinky, do you mean his poop smells or just the area around his anus?  I assume his breath smells okay.  And his penis looks normal.

If the anal glands are the problem, you can usually see black dots, roughly at the 4 and 8 o'clock position. And there may be some butt scooting.   Ritz needs her anal glands expressed about twice a year.  For cats to express the glands naturally, i.e., without any help from a human, the consistency of the poop needs to be firm (but not too firm as in constipation).

If the feces are stinky, then, yes, some ingredient(s) in food is the likely culprit.  IAMS has a lot of corn, not a great ingredient.  And dry food actually contributes to formation of hair balls.  Have you tried feeding your cat wet food?  Much better for cats.

I'm not surprised your cat likes the peas--it's a carbohydrate, kind of like junk food to a cat.  Cats have no need for any kind of carbohydrate.

An alternative to specially formulated hairball food is egg yolk lecithin.     As I understand it, the EYL dissolves the protein.  You could also simply give your cat some egg yolk, mix it in wet food.  Some cats love the taste, some don't.  (Ritz doesn't, she does like the EYL and I occasionally give her cooked egg yolk.  Here is a thread discussing EYL and other hairball remedies.  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/266178/...using-egg-yolk-lecithin-to-dissolve-hairballs

Good luck.  Ritz had a problem with hairballs this summer for the first time since I adopted her.  EYL seemed to help, as did brushing.

 

[cprcheetah]

Have you had his teeth checked?  Dirty or bad teeth is the #1 reason why cats smell, if they have a dirty mouth and clean themselves the smell spreads all over them.

 

[ritz]

I *knew* I forgot something and cprcheetah reminded me what it was:  how does her breath smell?