food = stinky poop

hi there,

i have two kittens currently on dine or fancy feast wet food as well as friskies kibble and i notice their poop is soooooo smelly!! does anyone have any advice on what i can feed them that will make their poop somewhat less smelly, as they are indoor cats and i'm always paranoid about my house smelling. i have the little box's in the laundry but the smell seems to still travel around the home even though i scoop numerous times a day!

i'm in australia if this makes any difference in regards to brand of food etc.

please keep in mind i can't afford "premium" food as i have a morgage, two kittie's, a puppy and a grown man LOL

As a rule, the better the food, the less smelly the poop is. Your kibble may have a lot of grains in it, which also causes a lot of waste. Cats don't need or digest grain, so more poops. An all wet diet is actually the best, so if you can, cut out the kibble. Or only offer high grade kibble.

My cats poop smells awful when they eat fish, so they only get chicken or turkey.

There are good foods that don't cost too much. Fancy Feast classic is fairly good. Their grilled has gravy (made with flour, so not so good)

I think ur cat is just a stinkier like mine.

When I first got my cat I fed him wet canned food and we went through tons of brands with no significant reduction in his stinky poop level.

After a lot of research and my cat puking wet food often no matter what, I decided to use dry food: Blue Wilderness is a great IMO although that didn't solve the stink up issue. What did solve it was a covered litterbox with a flap and clumping Everclean litter. I know Everclean is expensive but, we have a small place and he really made it smell otherwise.

My parent's cat, Ari, doesn't stink up as much as my Shadow does.

A high quality grain free wet food will decrease the smell. Cats are obligate carnivores and either a good wet food or raw food will be the best thing for them. I would advise you to read catinfo.org which is written by a vet who knows a lot about cat nutrition. If you decide to go the raw food route they will defecate a lot less and it will not smell as much. 

Hi Louiseg...I have to say from everything I have read, and from my own experience, it is definitely the food.  Raw food equals NO smell.  I have even had my squeamish husband stick his face down to the poop and exclaim 'it doesn't smell!' and I was astonished myself.

I'm also in Australia - 'premium food' often is about cost, not quality, and you'll like this, feeding raw is actually far cheaper than friskies, or fancy feast canned!  I second the catinfo.org site as brilliant.  Then check out http://catcentric.org/nutrition-and-food/raw-feeding/a-frankenprey-and-whole-prey-feeding-guide/, if you don't want to do the ground raw diet.  

Sadly, I can commiserate with stink at the moment - my cats have a tummy upset, and have been a bit off their food, hence I've given more canned to 'tempt' them.  Can't wait for well days, raw diet, and no more stink!  We normally have a home where it's 'you have cats? there's no smell!' and its all about food and cleaning the box.  Our litter boxes are uncovered and in the living room.  Just remember you can't 'disguise' or 'fragrance' the stink (or if you do, it can be dangerous for their health and behaviour).  All you can do is prevent and immediately remove.  IMO closed boxes make things a lot more stinky (and imagine what it smells like to the CAT!).  We use breeders choice cat litter.

And one word of 'sensible'.  I am often astounded at the claims pet food manufacturers make like 'has X for lower smell'.  If they have to say this, or add something even more not part of a cat's diet, you will know that what is in the food just aint fit for a cat.

I'm reading all this stuff about Blue now. It seems to be a recent thing. Fortunately I bought 2 big bags back in april. My cat is seems fine, and I checked the bag for any signs of mold and everything looks good. Since I'm mid-way through of my second bag, I guess I'll skip blue and go find me some Wellness as soon as that's over. 

I don't feed my cat raw food because there are a lot of things to keep in mind before switching to a raw diet to ensure full nutrition. I'm also not sure its the right thing for my cat.

I believe Shadow gulps down his food when its wet and or when I give him a small piece of cooked chicken or salmon, which causes him to vomit after 5-10 mins. I've read online about how to make him stop gulping down his food but none of the methods worked for me. I used a ball on his food, and once he figured out how to take the ball out, well that was that. I also started to basically spoon feed him, by just putting really small portions, and then waiting a full minute before giving him another bite, and still got the same result. So I switched to dry food, problem over. Just about a week ago, I made some salmon, so I saved a small piece without seasonings to give to him. I thought everything was fine, but then he just vomited it all over his bowl.   

What's up with Blue? I just bought two $20 bags!

This: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/258997/blue-buffalo

I am definitely having poo odor issues from my cats, and I feed them premium cat Petcurean can food, Fromms kibbles, and Primal. These foods suppose to be superior yet my cats poo twice a day, "large" very thick very smelly ones. HELP!