Stool texture

[blumarine916]

I posted in a previous thread that my cat was having softer stools than usual. Last Thurday I noticed her stools looked like soft serve. I fed her some boiled chicken with pumpkin for 2 days (along with her usual dry food) which improved the stool to look like a log. I took her to the vet on Sunday. Vet suspected she may have worms or something bothering her digestion so she gave my cat a dose of dewormers to see if the situation improved. Her stools have been in log form but not as firm as it used to be. This morning when I scooped, I noticed it’s still kind of soft. Her usual is rather firm because sometimes I can hear the “thud” as it lands on the litter.

I’m wondering how long will it take for the stools go back to its normal texture? I know I’m being anxious but I can’t help worrying everytime any of my cats has problems. My cat is acting normal except for the haws that is yet to resolve. It’s been a week since.

 

[Mr. Meow]

Just about anything can change a cat's poop. Stress, anxiety, food, medication, etc. If feeding her boiled chicken and pumpkin helped her stool, and she's been given medication for a suspected bout of worms, would there be harm in making boiled chicken and/or pumpkin a part of her regular diet?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. So much, as said above, can affect their stool. Any addition of new food, change in food, litter changes, and even new scents (think sprays/aerosols/candles, as an example). I just recently found out that Feeby doesn't seem to tolerate salmon canned cat food, although she can eat human salmon with no issue. She took just a day to get her stool back to normal with the first time I did the salmon. However, unaware of the actual issue, I fed her salmon again and the loose stool lasted 3 times as long. She seemed fine otherwise.

Look for other possible causes, in addition to changes in the ingredients of her current foods. There seems to be changes made to the ingredients a lot.

 

[blumarine916]

She just went again and it’s softy. Hmm. I haven’t done any changes to their food for years actually. They’ve always been fed a half a can of wet food (3 different brands) and 2 tablespoons of RC every 12 hours. I leave the food out since I work all day. No changes to my home lately. Only me and my bf live in this apartment so the cats are not exposed to other people or animals.

FeebysOwner Yes I think it may be the change in ingredients. Sometimes she throws up less than 5 minutes after eating. My other cat sometimes just sniffs and chooses the kibbles instead so there are days when I come home and wet food is not finished.

Mr. Meow I can make that food their regular but it won’t be as convenient since it has to be cooked and can’t keep more than 1 day. I usually make enough to last 3-4 meals, which is just 2 days. Both cats love it and they can eat a LOT of it.

 

[blumarine916]

Her stool is still soft like toothpaste as of this morning. This will be a week since it started and 6 days after deworming. It improved a bit after the boiled chicken for 2 days but now that I’ve given back the normal food it’s back to toothpaste form. Could it be the food?

 

[FeebysOwner]

You can try something as simple as plain puree pumpkin (no additives). Or, perhaps psyllium (Metamucil). Both are adding fiber. But, it wouldn't hurt to consult with the vet as well, given the de-wormer she was given.

 

[stephanietx]

You don't want your kitty to have hard, dry stool. Formed, but soft is ideal as it passes much easier than hard dry stool.

 

[blumarine916]

You don't want your kitty to have hard, dry stool. Formed, but soft is ideal as it passes much easier than hard dry stool.

I know. But this one looks like toothpaste

 

[stephanietx]

You can try adding saccharomyces boullardi to wet food to help firm up stool. We use that with my kitty who has a sensitive tummy and it works like a charm. We take it when we have tummy and GI issues as well.

 

[blumarine916]

Is this contagious? I’m not sure if my other cat is affected since her poop is usually smaller sized. They share a jumbo litter box and I scoop once a day.

 

[stephanietx]

It's not usually contagious, especially if you're not seeing more loose stool in the litter box. What are you currently feeding her? Wet? Dry? Mix?

 

[crouton]

Has it gotten softer after trying pumpkin? One of my cats can’t tolerate pumpkin or sweet potatoes and if he gets these his poop is really soft too. I would stick to feeding her only one type of food now and see if the situation improves then slowly add back in the others. Keep a log (not that kind ) and write down all her details from the deposits and what she ate.

 

[Mrsty1203]

If one cat has worms the other very well could also. Did you bring the vet a stool sample? I just found my new cat has worms and giardiasis, which is what is causing the smelling diarrhea. That information came from the lab the sample went to.

 

[blumarine916]

Has it gotten softer after trying pumpkin? One of my cats can’t tolerate pumpkin or sweet potatoes and if he gets these his poop is really soft too. I would stick to feeding her only one type of food now and see if the situation improves then slowly add back in the others. Keep a log (not that kind ) and write down all her details from the deposits and what she ate.

Well last week when it was soft, I tried feeding her pumpkin mashed with some boiled chicken. The stool had better shape right after so I went back to her normal food. Again it’s

It's not usually contagious, especially if you're not seeing more loose stool in the litter box. What are you currently feeding her? Wet? Dry? Mix?

I feed both cats a mix of wet and dry food. They usually eat the wet one first and then slowly eat the dry for the rest of the day until the next feeding 12 hours later

If one cat has worms the other very well could also. Did you bring the vet a stool sample? I just found my new cat has worms and giardiasis, which is what is causing the smelling diarrhea. That information came from the lab the sample went to.

The other cat was dewormed late November when she got her yearly shots. No the vet didn’t mention anything last week and just told me to monitor her condition to see if it improves after deworming. I thought it was getting better after I saw the improvement in the stool texture. But after I went back to the normal food, it was again. It’s not diarrhea or watery. Just softer then usual.

 

[blumarine916]

I made a batch of boiled chicken with mashed pumpkin again for my cat. Stool texture improved today. It is not and it’s a firmer log texture. So I guess it was really the canned food affecting her because she also ate the dry at the same time with the chicken/pumpkin.

Now I’m not sure how long to feed her this. I don’t mind making this regular but will she get sick of it? She still gets her usual kibbles.

 

[crouton]

This is why my cats can’t eat canned food safely. We’ve tried many kinds, always very soft bordering diarrhea stools. You could try getting the applaws or other branded plain chicken topper and feed her usual dry food.

just wondering if the wet food is royal canin? My cats have the worst reactions to their food

 

[FeebysOwner]

It isn't so much whether or not she gets sick of it, it is a matter of it not containing nutrients/vitamins that she needs long term, such as taurine for example. If she is getting a fair amount of the dry food - at least half of her daily intake, you should be OK for a while.

You will probably need to chart all of the wet foods you have tried with her and see if there is an ingredient or two that is consistently in all of those foods. The key is to try to identify possible 'offending' foods and then buy others that don't contain the identified ingredients.

 

[crouton]

You will probably need to chart all of the wet foods you have tried with her and see if there is an ingredient or two that is consistently in all of those foods. The key is to try to identify possible 'offending' foods and then buy others that don't contain the identified ingredients.

this is exactly what I had to do for a long time, I kept a very detailed log of what all the cats ate and the ingredients in each as well as what the poop outcome was. When I had it narrowed down a bit to some suspects I paid for a test for food sensitivities for all of them. The suspects matched up with what was reported as sensitive for them.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Have you gone to the foods that were not on the list - maybe something like venison, lamb, or rabbit? Just trying to come up with some other options you could try. But, for now, yeah, you want to keep her on food that will let her digestive tract settle down a bit before experimenting again.

 

[blumarine916]

Have you gone to the foods that were not on the list - maybe something like venison, lamb, or rabbit? Just trying to come up with some other options you could try. But, for now, yeah, you want to keep her on food that will let her digestive tract settle down a bit before experimenting again.

Those are rather expensive. Even I haven’t eaten them myself

I’ll get some probiotics for her as well. Do you usually use the powdered? Will cats eat the food with the probiotic powder mixed in?