I've decided to start a new thread even though I know there are thousands of posts about smelly poo and dry food, but I'm completely lost when it comes to my cat's diet....
He's an 11-month-old Abyssinian. I started him on the same dry food his breeder was using, which was a grain-free kibble for neutered cats from a brand called Ultra Premium Direct.
A month after he arrived last year, I noticed there was always a bit of blood in his stools. After several trips to the vet and some tests, it turned out he'd picked up two parasites at the breeder's, which we then treated.
However, even after that, there was still some blood in his poo. We did more tests to make sure he was clear, and he definitely didn't have any parasites left. The vet advised us to put him on a specialist digestive dry food for a few weeks because his gut might have been irritated by the parasites and the treatments. The digestive food in question was Royal Canin Gastrointestinal (which is quite rich and contains grains).
As soon as we made the switch, everything got better. No more blood, the poo didn't smell anymore, etc. We were so relieved. He’d been on that food for two and a half months, so we started transitioning him back to his old dry food to get him back onto a grain-free diet. But right from the first day of the transition (mixing 75% digestive food with 25% grain-free), his stools started smelling really bad again...
I don't know if this is normal or if you think I should try a different brand of dry food? Royal Canin Gastrointestinal seemed to fix the issue, but it only seems to be recommended for short periods to help settle the digestion...
Has anyone else dealt with a similar situation?
Thanks a lot for your help, and have a lovely day.
Best wishes,
Amandine
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Hi everyone. I’ve been having the same issue for four months now with my 9-month-old kitten. He’s on a grain-free dry food that contains potato starch (Pure Life kitten), and he’s struggling with diarrhoea and soft stools—especially towards the end—and a really strong smell. The only thing that seems to help is giving him some digestive support paste. My other 7-month-old kitten doesn’t have soft stools, but they still smell really bad! I also feed them Bubi Nature wet food morning and night. @Landoras, could you please let us know the brand of grain-free and potato-free dry food that sorted your cat’s tummy out? Thanks in advance!
My kitten, who was being fed grain-free dry food, suffered from chronic diarrhoea and soft stools for six long months, and I just couldn't seem to fix the problem.
Finally, I switched him to a range of grain-free dry food that contains almost no potato. It really was a potato intolerance! He’s had no issues at all since; his stools are well-formed and hardly smell.
I even treat him to pieces of raw organic chicken now—he absolutely loves it and his stools stay perfect! Just a few weeks ago, nothing agreed with him at all, and even the tiniest bit of wet food (even grain-free) made his diarrhoea worse. The difference is incredible!
Hi,
I definitely agree that "grain-free" shouldn't become a bit of a religion. Personally, I feed high-quality grain-free dry food to my three cats, and their poos are a thing of beauty (even if I have to air the room out for ages afterwards!). They also get one big wet food meal a day—grain-free for two of them, and then the standard stuff for my Siamese, who’ll only eat Gourmet.
If a cat consistently turns their nose up at grain-free food or ends up with runny stools, I think it’s more sensible not to force the issue. That said, experts are pretty much unanimous about the benefits of a daily wet food meal.
Did your cat eventually get used to the grain-free dry food?
My cat, who I adopted a month ago, is having the same issue...
At the rescue, they were feeding him grain-free so I kept him on it, but his poo smells reeeeally strong and is very soft, sometimes even ending up as a bit of diarrhoea. The ones I first bought had 17% fat, so I quickly switched to Purizon grain-free for neutered cats (it's been about 10 days now). Taking the transition period into account, I'm trying not to worry too much, but... how long should I wait before getting concerned about the diarrhoea and thinking about switching his dry food again?
Hi there, I agree with @blue. Grain-free dry food is definitely richer because it contains more meat, and switching brands often leads to a bit of diarrhoea. It usually clears up once the transition is finished, but if it carries on for too long, then don't stick with it.
Pretty much all vets only sell Royal Canin; they're basically sponsored by them and likely make a bit of money by prescribing it.
Mind you, sometimes it is actually necessary for things like diabetes or kidney issues (even if there are other brands out there), but for other cases, I’m not so sure.
I hope your cat is feeling better!
Hi again!
Don’t worry, I’m a real cat lover and replying isn't a chore at all, especially when I can tell the owner is responsible and really cares for their cat.
Personally, I’d get another bag of the Gastro food and give the Purizon Sterilised a go. Start the transition again, just like you did before, with 3/4 Gastro to 1/4 Purizon and so on. There won’t be any negative effects if your cat stays on a majority of Gastro for a while. If he digests the Purizon well, that would be ideal as it has a good nutritional profile.
If he really struggles with "grain-free", try a third transition attempt using the Gastro food mixed with a low-fat dry food that does contain grains. In the past, I used Royal Canin Light for a cat prone to diarrhoea; it worked well for transitioning to grain-free, with no issues even right at the start. But every cat is different.
Diarrhoea (at the end of a movement) is often simply caused by the fat content in dry food. Some cats will just never digest grain-free food properly, and in that case, there’s no point forcing it. Plenty of cats have lived very long lives eating good quality dry food with grains.
Thanks for such a detailed explanation, you can really tell you know your stuff when it comes to these little ones 👌
I’ll stop the ultra-premium food then, as it doesn’t seem to agree with his tummy. Regarding the Gastrointestinal food, I was mainly thinking of stopping because they seem to be recommended for short periods to sort out digestive issues, and also because they're quite high in calories, which might not be ideal for a cat who's a bit of a greedy eater... But maybe that's not a huge deal.
I’m going to try wet food as well, I'm sure that'll do him some good 😌
Since I’m nearly at the end of the bag of Gastrointestinal food, do you think I should try the Purizon you mentioned or just stick with the RC? (Sorry for all the questions, but I’m making the most of your expert advice 😳)
Hi there,
First off, you shouldn't confuse having a bit of diarrhoea at the end of a bowel movement with actual blood in the stools. Blood should always be a cause for concern and is almost always down to parasites.
Diarrhoea at the end of a movement is a sign that the cat is struggling to digest something. In my opinion, there’s no point in persevering with a dry food that’s upsetting the cat’s tummy, even if the ingredients seem good. I don't think there’s any reason to stop the Gastrointestinal food for now if your cat digests it better than the Ultra Premium brand.
It's always recommended to give one (or two) wet meals in addition to the dry food, but there's no need to mix them. When a cat eats a wet meal, they take in a good amount of water; this is less effective if the wet food is mixed in with the kibble.
Just for info, I feed my three cats Purizon Grain-Free Sterilised (which you can get online). It's 46% protein and only 11% fat. I’ve noticed that low-fat dry foods are generally better digested by cats prone to diarrhoea. They also get a large grain-free wet meal every day (they absolutely love the Almo tuna one).
It often takes a long time to find the brands that truly suit our cats. But once you’ve found the right one, whatever you do, don’t change it!
Hi there,
Oh dear, I didn't get any notifications at all, thanks a lot for your reply!
The main issue is indeed the smell and the fact that he seems to have diarrhoea at the end of his stools (when I first started giving him this dry food, some would occasionally get stuck on him when he left the litter tray, and that’s starting to happen again now, even though the transition to the new food is well underway and he wasn't doing it at the beginning...).
That’s why I’m a bit lost; I don’t know whether I should see the transition through to the end to see if it improves over time, or if I should stop it right now.
I’m questioning his diet quite a bit at the moment, and also, for example, the need to mix dry and wet food. I often see this recommended for cats that don't drink much, but mine drinks regularly and stays well-hydrated. What do you think?
Thanks a lot and have a lovely afternoon.
