How to solidify poop?

I am so happy it was all it took! A little bit goes a long way, as you already found out :nod: so the key is to find out just what she needs, as too much is not good either....
Stick around, would love to have you and your baby on tcs! :rub:

Have you tried plain canned pumpkin?  My 3 cats love it by itself and would eat the whole can if I let them!  Canned pumpkin (not pie filling but plain pumpkin) is great for both firming up the stool and loosening hard stools. It's nutritious and high in fiber, much like the oat bran mentioned.  The fiber is what makes it work both ways even though that seems counter intuitive.  I have also had success with organic brown rice baby cereal,  just mix a little with warm water and serve it along with their wet food.  

Nope, haven't tried either of those, glad it works for your cats. Since the eggshell powder seems to be working I'll stick with it, especially since I just bought a bag and paid for the shipping.

Both of these items are readily available in any supermarket for well under $5 and you don't even need to pay for shipping  

This is only a suggestion on something that works on firming up soft stools in general.  I was not thinking of the raw food diet when I left my post.  If the eggshells add calcium to this diet and it works for you that's great.  My cats are not on a raw food diet.   I thought the thread was about 'How to Solidify Poop' and these items are inexpensive, nutritious, easy to obtain, and they work! 

TobyTyler said:

Both of these items are readily available in any supermarket for well under $5 and you don't even need to pay for shipping :cat:

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Toby, the OP feeds a raw diet, and in a raw diet, soft poop usually means not enough bone/Calcium in the diet. She is using the eggshell powder to increase the percentage of Calcium in the diet, and it has solved the issue.....

Who knows, maybe canned pumpkin might work for my cat, but I'd better stick to one experiment at a time. The eggshell powder is actually very inexpensive too, so I'm wiling to pay for the shipping when I run out if I want to continue using it.
 

Toby, Dr. Pierson is telling me that adding calcium to my cat's balanced diet of Instinct's frozen rabbit is dangerous because he's getting enough calcium from the rabbit already. How much pumpkin do you give your cats to firm up their stool?
 

When I was giving pumpkin to Bugsy, his vet told me 1 TBSP a day, divided in between the meals.... But to start with less....
Since 1 TBSP = 3 TSP, and he eats 3 meals a day, mixing 1 tsp per meal was his dosage :nod:
On his case, was to bulk up his poop to help with IBD, or to help with constipation (pumpkin works both ways :nod....

I would not start with that much though, I would probably start with 1/2 as that, then work my way up to it

Another fiber Dr. Pierson has tried, you might want to think about, is Psyllium (sp). She used that and Guar Gum. The reason I am mentioning Psyllium is because it bulks and dries more than guar gum, so it might work well for your little one. It is used quite a bit for kitties with IBD. Some use Metamucil, but there is a veterinarian brand called Vetasyl, which you can buy on Amazon, that has a little maple (I think?) taste - kitties love it, much easier to mix into the food. The dosage is on capsule a day. You have to mix a bit of water into the food though.

If pumpkin doesn't work, you might want to give that a try.... It might work better on your case - Very popular for IBD as well.

I'll try canned pumpkin and let you guys know what happens. I wonder how long it'll be good for in the fridge since I'll be going through it slowly?

I used to make ice cubes out of it. Make an entire tray out of a can, freeze just until solid, and put the cubes in a freezer safe Ziploc bag.
Each cube is roughly 1 tbsp.
Take a cube out and put it in a baggie in the fridge to defrost, or run the baggie
under water. This way you don't spoil any.
Ps. Buy a bunch of cans now as they are easy to find during this season, but very hard to find throughout the year....

I use about a tablespoon a day divided as well.  Same for the organic baby rice cereal.  Part of the BRAT Diet (Banana, Rice, Applesauce,Toast) for babies, I tried rice when my kittens had loose smelly stools and it solved the problem very quickly.  My kitties will eat the rice cereal by itself as well.  Again, I don't know how this fits into a raw food diet, which I am now considering after finding this site.   I actually found out my cats liked pumpkin when I was cooking with it and they showed interest.  I gave them just a bit and they couldn't get enough of it!  Freezing in ice cube trays is a great idea.  I personally love pumpkin and use up the rest of the can by making it into pumpkin soup or muffins. 

Well, I just gave our cat canned plain pumpkin tonight and he ate it up without any hesitation at least. I think it would be fair to give him a full 24 hours for him to poop out any previous meals. I'll definitely report back.

Now that it's been a bit over a week of our cat eating plain canned pumpkin, I think it's safe for me to report that it's really helped him!!! It helped me to know that your cats liked it and that it did help solidify their stool. Thank you so much for suggesting it!!

chowchow said:

Now that it's been a bit over a week of our cat eating plain canned pumpkin, I think it's safe for me to report that it's really helped him!!! It helped me to know that your cats liked it and that it did help solidify their stool. Thank you so much for suggesting it!!

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I'm so glad   Do you know I actually saw canned pumpkin 'FOR CATS' lol, at Vitamin Cottage the other day!   Dang, why didn't I think about that? It's like triple the price for the exact same thing you get at the grocery.  It is organic, but I'm now seeing organic canned pumpkin at safeway.  I have never had an issue finding it year round, although last year there was a shortage. I always have some on hand, but then I like it too. 

Now that I know that it's helping our cat's chronic problem, I'm going to stock up on it!!! I bought the organic canned pumpkin from Trader Joe's.
 

chowchow said:

Now that I know that it's helping our cat's chronic problem, I'm going to stock up on it!!! I bought the organic canned pumpkin from Trader Joe's.

 

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:bigthumb: Do it! It is SOOOOO hard to find when this season is over You go everywhere and just can't find it wherever you go...... Stock up and freeze it so you don't spoil any!
Glad it worked!

Out of curiosity, and because it might be useful in the future, has anyone ever seen plain canned pumpkin in the UK?

OrientalSlave said:

Out of curiosity, and because it might be useful in the future, has anyone ever seen plain canned pumpkin in the UK?

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That's funny that you would ask that, I was just reading a recipe for pumpkin, and someone mentioned not being able to find it in (I think it was France).  She posted that she has to stock up while in the states.  Can you find pumpkins at this time of year there? You can bake the pumpkin whole, and then scoop out the flesh and freeze it in ice cube trays like Carolina mentioned,  It will be a little more watery this way.  (By the way, I have a yummy recipe for a savory stuffed pumpkin).

I've been lucky to be able to find it locally year round, and the shelf life of the cans is a few years at least.  We are getting a Trader Joe's in Denver soon. 

By the way chowchow, my kitties start raw yesterday!!!!!   The pumpkin suggestions was one of my first posts on TCS, and your post and Carolina's responses were in many was a catalyst for looking into raw again. 

Toby, Dr. Pierson would be proud of you! Have you ever gone to her website, catinfo.org? She has provided the whole world with a BOATLOAD OF INVALUABLE FREE INFORMATION that can save all of us thousands of dollars in vet bills!

I'm glad you're jumping up and down with joy about Trader Joe's opening up soon in your area, I can't live without Trader Joe's!!!
 

No, not yet but thank you and I will definitely check it out. 

If my memory serves me correctly, again this was like the mid 1980's, it was Dr. Pierson who was the only resource I could find on feeding raw back then.  I think I got a book by her, but don't remember for sure if it was even the same person.  The name rings such a strong bell I'm pretty sure it was though.

I am surprised that in this short amount of time I have switched.  There is no way I would have even considered the switch had it not been for TCS.  I have learned more here in the past few weeks than I have in the last few decades caring for cats.