Need some advice

Back in November (the 17th to be exact), after our oldest cat passed away, we adopted a 1.5-year-old female Maine Coon mix from our local shelter. She is such a sweet cat and is VERY playful and affectionate. She is the first long-haired cat I have ever owned. She is also the first female cat that I have had in about 10 or 11 years. The majority of my cats have all been boys. She loves to chase our 2 male cats around as well as our 2 dogs and has absolutely no fear. The only problem is that she is very gassy and almost always passes gas whenever you pick her up. It smells horrible! Also, her feces smell awful and have a very strange strong odor to them. It's so bad that we have to scoop them out the minute she goes or it will smell up the whole house. I have had cats my entire life and I have never had a cat who had bowel movements that smelled like this. I can't even describe it, but I know that it's definitely not a normal cat poop smell. It has been like this ever since we brought her home. I called the shelter and they said that she had a normal vet exam when they got her in and told me that she probably just needed time to adjust to her new environment and new food. I also called our vet and they told me the same thing. Well, a month and a half later, it's still going on. She was quite underweight when we got her, but she has gained plenty of weight since we brought her home with us. She is now a normal weight and has filled out very nicely. In fact, I think that she could even afford to lose a pound or two. This girl LOVES to eat. In fact, whenever she hears anyone going out to the kitchen she comes running and jumps up on the counter. We feed the Good Life Recipe chicken formula for our dry food and our other two boys do great on it and have normal stools and don't have any problems with gas. Could this food be causing this? Maybe this just isn't the right food for her? She acts completely healthy otherwise and has loads of energy and a huge appetite. She's almost always getting into something Should I try changing to a different food? I would hate to have to do that since our other cats do fine on this food, but I will do whatever I have to if this food doesn't agree with Abby's digestive system. I just don't know what to do at this point. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

In case this is relevant, all of our cats are indoor cats and never go outside.

It could be the food.
I have had cats like that and it stopped when we switched foods.
My Coco is allergic to alot of things and she would get that way from foods.
She also has ibs.
Try another food and see what happens.

Send a PM (private message) to TCS member Sharky. She is extremely well informed about food and nutrition and is sort of our resident food guru.

Thanks for the replies! I really can't help but think that it's the food. I mean, she acts completely healthy otherwise and has gained a ton of weight since coming home with us. She acts like she's a kitten most of the time! It's almost time to buy cat food, so I will definitely get something else. Can anyone suggest a good quality food that doesn't cost a fortune for a big bag? We used Iams a few years ago, but our cats vomited quite frequently on that stuff.

I think Sharkey can help you.
She has helped me with foods before.

Thanks....I'll have to see if I can figure out how to find Sharkey and send a PM to her....I am new to this site.....

Do you know how to go to private messenges?
Its on the top where you log in.

Due to the fact that kitty's poops smell so awful, I'd be inclined to obtain a sample and have Vet check it; for fungus, bacteria, parasites, etc. If she's been on your current food for this long and is still having this problem, I think the awful smell signifies something other than just her maybe having a digestive issue with the food. Usually if that's the case, the poops will be more on the soft/loose-ish side too. Infections in the stool/bowel can definitely cause poop (even in humans) to be exceptionally funky smelling. Ask the Vet if you can at least drop off a sample.

Originally Posted by the_food_lady

Due to the fact that kitty's poops smell so awful, I'd be inclined to obtain a sample and have Vet check it; for fungus, bacteria, parasites, etc. If she's been on your current food for this long and is still having this problem, I think the awful smell signifies something other than just her maybe having a digestive issue with the food. Usually if that's the case, the poops will be more on the soft/loose-ish side too. Infections in the stool/bowel can definitely cause poop (even in humans) to be exceptionally funky smelling. Ask the Vet if you can at least drop off a sample.

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Her stools are definitely soft and loose. They are also a little lighter in color.

Good Life Recipe has a lot of grains and vegetables in it. Cats don't really need those adn don't digest them well. I would definitely try different food. However, you don't want to wait until you finish what you have and then start on something completely different. You need to mix a little of the new food in with the old and increase it gradually until you've made the complete changeover. Any sudden change could cause new digestive problems for all your cats.

Originally Posted by GoldyCat

Good Life Recipe has a lot of grains and vegetables in it. Cats don't really need those adn don't digest them well. I would definitely try different food. However, you don't want to wait until you finish what you have and then start on something completely different. You need to mix a little of the new food in with the old and increase it gradually until you've made the complete changeover. Any sudden change could cause new digestive problems for all your cats.

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That's what I was planning on doing. I have done this with my dogs before. I just have to find a better food to switch to.

What is your budget and what size bag are you buying with the $$ spent??

What stores do you have access to ??

I also suggest the stool sample to the vet just in case it is a parasite ...

I'm pretty much willing to spend whatever I have to as long as it is an excellent quality food. Of course, I don't want to spend $50 a bag, LOL. We buy the larger bags since we have 3 cats and want it to last at least a month, which we have been able to do with the Good Life food. We have pretty much all of the stores, Petco, Target, Wal-Mart, as well as a few locally owned pet stores.

current food
INGREDIENTS:

GROUND CORN, least digestable grain and in this food the MAIN protein ... okay in some cats in small amount s...CHICKEN-BY-PRODUCT MEALHead , feet and internal organs of unknown Quality and WHat exactly is it ... also Far less digestable than muscle meat or NAMED organ meat , CORN GLUTEN MEALUTi health ingrediant but NOT great to have it and Corn in same formula , ANIMAL FATLow in fatty acids and COULD BE any Animal, CHICKENGreat but since the ingrediant list is raw this mostly water item is really 5 or 6 places further down in the ingrediants , WHOLE GRAIN BROWN RICEHard to digest as the grain is with the fiber hull, NATURAL POULTRY FLAVORCould be MSG or nearly anything , DRIED PEAS, DRIED BEET PULP, WHEAT FLOUR, RICE grains , BREWERS DRIED YEAST, SALT, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, WHEAT GLUTENokay for a bit of added protein but wheat is also in this , CHOLINE CHLORIDE, TITANIUM DIOXIDE, CALCIUM CARBONATE, DRIED SPINACH, DRIED TOMATOES, DRIED CARROTS, SKIM MILK POWDER, DICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, TAURINE, dl-METHIONINE, MINERALS (ZINC SULFATE, COPPER SULFATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE), IRON OXIDE, VITAMINS (dl-ALPHA TOCOPHEROL ACETATE [SOURCE OF VITAMIN E], FOLIC ACID, VITAMIN A ACETATE, L-ASCORBYL-2-POLYPHOSPHATE [SOURCE OF VITAMIN C], VITAMIN B12 SUPPLEMENT, NIACIN, RIBOFLAVIN SUPPLEMENT [VITAMIN B2], d-CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], VITAMIN D3 SUPPLEMENT, BIOTIN, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE [VITAMIN B6] ), VEGETABLE OIL (SOURCE OF LINOLEIC ACID), CHLOROPHYLL, NATURALLY PRESERVED WITH MIXED TOCOPHEROLS, MARIGOLD MEAL.
http://www.thegoodliferecipe.com/foo...icken-dry.aspx




well since the major gas causers are wheat , SOY and corn .... try to avoid those

Petco
Nutro natural choice
Natural balence - some have barley a wheat relative
Solid gold - has barley a wheat relative
Sensible choice
Wellness - some have barley

Thanks! I'll definitely have to checks those ones out! Is Purina One a decent quality food? I was actually looking at it at Target the other day. Should I also stay way from Iams products? I saw that they have a new digestive care formula out. I just don't know if I trust it.

One is decent but your going to run into loads of corn, wheat , soy and by procducts , Iams is a touch better... read the label it says lamb and rice yet lamb and rice IF memory serves are like the 5th and 6th ingrediants ... mostly chicken by product and other grains

Thanks so much for the help! My boys didn't do too well on the Iams Multicat formula when I used to feed that. They seemed to throw up quite a bit on that food. I have had my 2 boys on the Good Life food for approximately 2 now years and they have done fine on it, but it just doesn't agree with Abby for some reason. I just want to find one good dry food that they all will do well on. My parents feed their cats Chicken Soup For the Cat Lover's Soul and have had good luck with it. Maybe that's a possibility as well?