Very crumbly poop on raw diet

[harrylime]

Hi guys

So my kitten is almost 14 weeks old, and is on the raw diet. I feet her ground chicken from Hare-Today, with Alnutrin (with no added calcium), mixed with water (obviously) and a squirt of unscented salmon oil before it's served. We have an automatic litter box so I don't always get to see her poops as they happen 

 since they usually get swept away fairly quickly. 

Anyway, yesterday my girlfriend called me into the bathroom to take a look at the poop that kitty had just had. It was completely crumbly to the point where I had to stare at it for like 20 seconds just to confirm that it actually WAS poop and not just crushed up pine kitty litter, because it was basically the same color as that.

Normally her poop is small and dry, and I've never seen her have one like this before. It was crumbly enough to where the automatic rake in the kitty litter couldn't even move it, just went right through it. The only thing that changed about her diet recently is we've been giving her two types of medicine orally via plastic syringe... a medicine for coccidia isospora (a common parasite in kittens) and amoxicillin for a tiny upper respiratory kitten issue. 

Any ideas?

 

[tiliqua]

Coccidia can cause runny poop same as any changes in the diet.  If she has coccidia I'd assume that and / or medicines are causing runny poop if nothing else has changed.  

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Raw poop is really basically just a shell with fur inside it, so I guess it could have something to do with the meds and parasite she's picked up.  Is she going more frequently or less frequently or anything like that?  You're feeding her the ground chicken mix, right?  Do you add any additional plain meat to that?  I ask only because it's fairly high in calcium, which can cause constipation, but I wouldn't think that would actually change the consistency to crumbly, just make it harder for her to expel the stools.  As long as your don't see her really straining, then I don't think that's an issue. 

So...I don't have any idea why it would be crumbly

 

[harrylime]

Yes I feed her the ground chicken mix, but I don't add any additional meat. Do you think I should? I have no evidence that she's constipated, but I suppose it's possible. I just poked the poop that was still in the litter (the things I do for this cat) and it basically crumbled...imagine how cigarette ash would crumble if you just let it burn without flicking it... like that, and there was indeed hair inside.

 

[cprcheetah]

Crumbly poop usually means too much bone content in the diet.  I would try to add more meat.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I don't see any need to add any plain meat to her mixture UNLESS you see her really straining to go or other type of evidence that she might be constipated.  I just wanted to mention that the ground chicken (and turkey) mix is higher in calcium than other mixes, so some cats get constipated on it.  ONE of mine does, but not the others

.  when that happens, I just give him some extra meat once in awhile and he gets back to normal. 

I still don't know why suddenly her poop is crumbling like that, but am betting it's the medications.  BTW, I think all of us raw feeders have checked their poop at least once

.  Every day I ask my hubby (who cleans out TWO of the boxes "how many poops were there?", simply because I want to know if someone gets off schedule.  'Course, if they do, then it's another issue trying to figure out who it was

 

[jclark]

Crumbly poop usually means too much bone content in the diet.  I would try to add more meat.

^ This.

OP: It could just be a little too much. Raw food in general appears to give low odor, dry stools.

 

[obzilla]

^ This.

OP: It could just be a little too much. Raw food in general appears to give low odor, dry stools.

Triple this.

 In general it's going to be dryer, firmer, and smaller (and far less stinky).

As said, if you see them straining, or not going at all, or it becomes white-ish, you have too much bone content and should tip the ratio back with a bit more meat/bone.