Cat with smelly poo issues...

[lillyorchid]

I no longer know who to turn to or what I can do for my cat named Peeker. Since she was a kitten she has had the worst diarrhea, and worst smelling poo I've ever seen come from a cat. She's now a year and a half old and has been switched from all kinds of foods from prescription foods to cheap junk foods to high quality expensive foods to raw. She has been tested for worms and other bugs along being put on antibiotics to see if that would help. Nothing has helped her at all. 98% of the time she had liquid diarrhea that smells so bad it will make you gag and clear out of the room. The other 2% of the time she has "normal" poo that doesn't smell as bad but still is bad smelling for a cat.

Like I said this has been going on for well over a year now and I've always just put up with it and clean out the litter box as much as I can daily. Now that I live in a finished basement of a house that we rent with 3 other room mates, they now are starting to get tired of having the entire basement smell of the cats poo & litter box. Like I said I clean it as much as I can daily and change out the little every 3 or 4 days, but there is always still a bad oder. My roommates are growing tired of the smell and keep telling me to "do something about it". I've tried everything I can think of with different foods and taking her to the vet and getting my vet in on it too. It's just that nothing ever seems to work or help her out. I know the entire basement smells of her and she too stinks just like the litter box. I give her a bath at least once a week because she smells so bad. I no longer know what to do and I know it's coming down to my roommates wanting me to get rid of her, but that just isn't going to be a option.

Has anyone ever seen or heard of this. Have you had a cat with issues like this? If so WHAT DID YOU DO?!
I need some help, my vet has pretty much given up and just tells me that she has a super sensitive stomach and I'm just going to have to live with a stinky cat and litter box.

[Rapture]

I would get a second opinion... try another vet with a good reputation?

[Kristy]

I don't have a cat like that but my dog is somewhat like that.

Not sure if this will help or not. Look back at everything you have been feeding her and see if there is ANY chicken in it at all.

My dog is highly allergic to chicken, she gets goopy eyes, horrible runny watery poop, and is just miserable.

I switched her to herring and potato, or venison and rice. She has made a 100% turn around.

With everything that goes into the meat now a days, beef, chicken and lamb are the most common allergens in pet food.

It may be worth a try.

SO look for something with herring, or anything without poultry or chicken.

[littleindiangirl]

Have you thought about shopping at any health food stores? I know my aunt feeds her dogs 100% organic food. I think it's all lamb and rice stuff in a can. It might be worth a shot?

[Michelle.C]

When I worked at the shelter, it became very obvious when a kitty had coccidia by the awful smell coming from their stool. Strong stool odors can be caused by excess bacteria in the stool. I'd have her veterinarian do a fecal and check for Coccidia and parasites.

Another thing you can do is switch her to a high quality cat food (I feed my cats Chicken Soup) and leave her on it. Continually switching her food to solve the problem, could be causing the problem.

Also, try adding Benebac or Petdophilus to her diet. It does wonders.

[slartibartfast]

There are quite a few minor intestinal parasites that are fairly uncommon and that don't show up on regular fecal panels. Examples would be giardia (rarely seen on floats), coronavirus, cryptosporidium, etc. If your vet has not yet sent out a fecal culture (this is not normally run in-house), then he should.

Have they discussed Inflammatory Bowel Disease with you? You would need an intestinal biopsy to confirm that, meaning an abdominal surgery. It's not uncommon in cats...look it up.

And of course, good old food allergies, while uncommon in a young kitten, could be a possibility and would require an exclusion trial on something like Hill's z/d Ultra with no other food sources.

You should also consider a consult with an internal medicine specialist. Ask your vet for a referral.

If they are not pursuing this agressively, find someone that will. Not all vets are equal, and there are way more diagnostic options than just running a fecal float and shotgunning antibiotics in the hope that one will work.

Good luck.

[lillyorchid]

Thank you all for the comments. Both of my cats are on Wellness cat food right now and have been on it for a few months. I've tried the organic foods and no improvement in her. My vet has run test for ciccidea on her and that came back -neg. I guess I will be looking around for another vet to get a second option. I've always taken my dogs and cats to this one vet since I was a kid and have never had a problem.

[frankykeno]

I'd look around and get a second opinion done hon. Not only to try and deal with the smell and all that entails but it just cannot be healthy for any animal to pass stools like that all the time. Poor kitten, sounds awful for her, awful for you and awful for the other cat that lives with her stinky potty buddy.

[Ginevive]

Does she have any sort of disease that speeds up her metabolism? I know from -ahem- personal experience that very strong-smelling fecal matter is sometimes forced out too early; the same is true of greenish feces. Of course this is in humans, and from my research into chronic, um, "upset stomaches." This could be due to a bacterial infection speeding up digestion.
Unless cats can have IBS?

[lillyorchid]

I will find out more tomorrow. I called my aunt who is a rag doll cat breeder and got a few good vet #'s from her. I called and made an appoitment with her favorite vet for tomorrow morning. I will let you all know how that goes.