cat food & the residual effect

Time & time again, I have seen members post on TCS about the odor coming from the litter boxes. I have seen people respond and state that the better the quality of the food, the less it will smell. In other words, cheaper food will smell worse in the litter box. It sounded logical, but then I thought of humans. The opposite is true. I have recently completed the week long process of switching 2 of my cats over to a food that is of a much higher quality than they were previously eating. Deuce was eating Purina kitten chow and Zan was eating Science Diet adult light. Both are now on Diamond Naturals chicken & rice formula. Bella is being transitioned right now....we're halfway through her week transition. When Deuce or Zan have a bowel movement......I can not stay in the room if I happen to be in there. It is BAD!!!!

No question here.....just an observation!

My experience is similar. When I switched my cats to Wellness, mostly grain free, who actually makes the claim that their food makes less odor in the litter box, I discovered yet another lie by Wellness. The poops smell just as bad, if not worse. And it LINGERS, even after I've scooped.

OTOH my cat who is on the Hills Prescription c/d, which supposedly is not as "good quality", has relatively low odor poop, and it is fleeting, does not linger.

I think it has more to do with the cat's own unique digestive systems than the food. But the bottom line is...poop, any poop, smells bad. LOL!

Not ANY poop. For example all mine who are fed raw have smell less poop. You can put it right next to your nose and you still don't smell a thing (not that I've done that....)

It depends on the cat.. it seems we now have cats who digest things that they should not ..

Many foods contain prebiotics which help with odur control...

In my experience raw can cause no odur or high odur depending on the cat ...

Milo was originally fed Science Diet by the place I adopted him from. His poop was fairly normal and bearable on the SD, but I wanted him to have good quality food, so I switched him to Wellness canned and a dry food mix of Natural Balance and Nutro Naturals.

WHEW!

His poop stiiinnnnks. I may try the probiotic solution, but he doesn't have too much tummy troubles except on initial food transition. Anyway, I think it's more to do with the cat and how they process the food. At least his stinkies encourage me to fully clean/scrub/bleach out his litterbox more often

I notice that since I've added raw twice a week there is very little odor in the box - only when they first go. We use the wood stove pellets for litter and maybe that has something to do with it.

Raw feeder here and almost no odor in the litter box--in fact people have commented on the fact that there isn't an odor because d/t our move the boxes are in our dining room.

LEslie

Whenever I refer to higher quality equating to lower odor, I always mean from dry to wet to raw, never within a specific food type, especially when it comes to kibble - by virtue of the manufacturing process, it's going to have stuff in it that cats don't need and can't properly digest, so there's going to be a higher quantity of poo, with a higher stinky quotient.

Way, way back, when I didn't know any better, I fed dry foods... but only the "best" grain-free varieties. I had three cats and if any of them poo'd - it was enough to make your eyes tear.

A year ago when I was fostering and had 11 cats in the house, all on canned foods, the smell was present, but tolerable.

Now, with five cats on raw, you can't even tell I've got any cats in the house, even right after a deposit is made.

It totally depends on the cat in my opinion, an then in the quality of the food, meaning the ingredients, and only then if the food is wet or dry...

In my house the cat who sticks the LEAST is Lucky, who eat ONLY DRY.The one that stinks the most, is Bugsy, who today eats mostly wet, but has digestive issues.
The middle of the road is Hope, who eats 2/3 wet and 1/3 commercial raw.
All of these foods are grain free and very high quality.

Now, when I fed Purina or Nutro, but mainly Purina, yes... then I could say it was bad... But after I changed them to a high quality grain free diet, I can honestly say that having three different diets in my house that I truly think the difference is in their digestive system.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I notice that since I've added raw twice a week there is very little odor in the box - only when they first go. We use the wood stove pellets for litter and maybe that has something to do with it.

Click to expand...

I use wood pellets too but it seems the general consesus from us raw feeders is the raw fed cats poop doesn't smell.

The farm cats used to be able to clear the barn just by one of them pooping Now no stink whatsoever