Could the sardines be doing this?

Archie is my problem poo poster child. The new vet I took him to took him off the metronidizole and I am giving him 1/4 tsp of Metamucil daily to help suck up the liquid in his gut.

When she examined him, she said that his anal glands were fine "today."

In the last week and a half - he has had three distinct (with emphasis on STINK) episodes of what I can only describe as horrendously smelly butt! I mean bad!!! This morning trumped them all. He ran upstairs and then ran back down, plopped his backside onto the kitchen floor to eat. And then the stench crept in. It forced me to step out of the kitchen. And I went on a poop hunt. The stool was fairly well formed, but reeked like it had a lot of bile in it... that sour, putrid smell you get with diarreah.

So I called the vet and she wanted the stool sample. The only thing the smear showed was too much undigested FAT in the poo.

So... now we are discussing more complicated issues, like pancreatic insufficiency and feline triaditis. And of course, IBD. Archie doesn't present with many of the clinical symptoms of these conditions. He is FAT and has a great appetitie. He had a wonderful coat and loves to play and wrestle. (Energy).

Her next recommendation to me was - eliminate ALL GRAIN and see if that helps. She wants a LID food trial but that is nearlhy impossible with the living arrangement. He would have to be isolated for 8-12 weeks.

I also went around and sniffed kitty butt this morning to see if anyone else had this terrible odor. Prowler did a little bit. So this got me thinking ... could the sardines be causing a problem? They are a very rich fish... They get a little bit every day b/c they beg, beg, beg for it... and I need SOMETHING to get Arch to take his nutraceuticals.

Perhaps I should stop feeding them this.

The vet also didn't rule out that Arch just cannot digest SOMETHING in his diet. Hence the reco about grain.

But the fat in the fecal smear has her concerned.

Sigh.........

We may do the high-end blood test for EPI after the first of the year, but first I am going to transition them to all grain free. Or I may give him boiled chicken for a couple of days.

If anyone has any advice, suggestions, etc... I would love to hear them. I am very distressed that something could be seriously wrong with Arch. I love him dearly and want him to be happy and healthy. Also - He will be impossible to adopt out if he is sick....

Hummm Addie... Not here.... as you know here the diet is mainly fish based for all, due to Bugsy's allergy to chicken.
I used to feed Bugsy a lot of Tiki Sardine cutlets (he grew tired of it), and had no problems whatsoever...
The only times I have stinky butts are during food transitions, like right now... My three kitties are stinking a bit now, but hope fully not for long!

One thing to think about it: The fiber you are giving him can be taking stuff out of his gut that was stuck in there for a while... and that can stink - moving things along, per se, kind of doing a colon cleansing of sorts...

Since you just started giving him fiber a week or so ago, why not wait a little and see if the stench goes away? Seriously, I do think that could be a possibility...

Maybe in a couple of weeks you can do another fecal to see if the fat is still a problem in feces?
I don't think the sardines are a problem, unless you are giving a lot of it.

Originally Posted by carolinalima

Hummm Addie... Not here.... as you know here the diet is mainly fish based for all, due to Bugsy's allergy to chicken.
I used to feed Bugsy a lot of Tiki Sardine cutlets (he grew tired of it), and had no problems whatsoever...
The only times I have stinky butts are during food transitions, like right now... My three kitties are stinking a bit now, but hope fully not for long!

One thing to think about it: The fiber you are giving him can be taking stuff out of his gut that was stuck in there for a while... and that can stink - moving things along, per se, kind of doing a colon cleansing of sorts...

Since you just started giving him fiber a week or so ago, why not wait a little and see if the stench goes away? Seriously, I do think that could be a possibility...

Maybe in a couple of weeks you can do another fecal to see if the fat is still a problem in feces?
I don't think the sardines are a problem, unless you are giving a lot of it.

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I don't know. I know you were feeding Bugsy the Tiki cat Sardines every day. Archie may just not be able to handle it. The stinky butt is intermittent. And he had that problem when he came to me as a foster- stinky butt, horrible gas and loose stools. It was terrible over the summer... He has been on metronidizole 3x now... As I said, I just want him to be happy and healthy!!!

since he is on what I call long term metro ... has the vet suggest digestive enzymes or probitic??

Originally Posted by AddieBee

I don't know. I know you were feeding Bugsy the Tiki cat Sardines every day. Archie may just not be able to handle it. The stinky butt is intermittent. And he had that problem when he came to me as a foster- stinky butt, horrible gas and loose stools. It was terrible over the summer... He has been on metronidizole 3x now... As I said, I just want him to be happy and healthy!!!

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I know.... It's a tough one.... Here nobody eats grains, except for a little rice once in a blue moon... but that is very very rare...
When I was feeding grains to them their poop was very stinky...
I hope he gets all better soon

Originally Posted by sharky

since he is on what I call long term metro ... has the vet suggest digestive enzymes or probitic??

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She took him off the metro... doesn't agree with it as a long term, maint. therapeutic treatment. She said the probios and dig. enzymes are fine... but she is not sure just how fresh the off-the-shelf stuff is ergo - how much good it would do. but it cannot hurt, she said.

I think they were doing better with the enzyme/probiotic blend than just the benebac powder which I switched to a few weeks ago for cost.