The raw stool thread... WARNING: *GRAPHIC*

[ldg]

I was having a discussion with someone in the nutrition forum about stool size. Rather than take the thread off-topic, I figured I'd start this one.

Whenever people start feeding raw, the questions about stool size, frequency, and texture often come up, so maybe this will be helpful anyway. :lol3:

I think most people feeding raw find that the volume is considerably less; the texture is harder and drier, and for many, the frequency is less. Of 8 cats, I only have one that has a bowel movement every day, and his stool volume is less than the other cats, who now have bowel movements every 2 to 3 days. Yet they are not constipated.

The stool of my cats is not as dry as it used to be since I added egg yolk lecithin to their diet daily (to help prevent hairballs).

I don't know whose stool this is - I just know it isn't Chumley's. So this represents 2 or 3 days worth of eating. The last meal where they had red meat was Thursday, when the food was beef. Thus the stool is mottled - the light is poultry, the dark is beef.

I do give my cats probiotics and digestive enzymes.


So here's the size:

Raw fed poop 130817.jpg

• ldg
• Aug 17, 2013

Raw fed poop 2 130817.jpg

• ldg
• Aug 17, 2013

And there is actually not a lot of fecal matter in the stool. It's mostly a "poop crust" over hair. This is a close-up (sorry!)

Raw fed poop shell 130817.jpg

• ldg
• Aug 17, 2013

 

[mani]

It could only happen on TCS

Thank you, Laurie... very informative!

 

[ldg]

Yep, where we care about EVERYTHING cat!

 

[otto]

My cats get about 50 % canned and the canned does contain pea flour, so their stools are a bit more dense, and more frequent. Every 24-36 hours is average, though sometimes there will be a full 2 days with no poop in the litter box. They still have the canned fed type poops usually, with three section. When they poop every 24 hours the sections are smaller than when they skip a day.

I do get the marbled effect, which for some reason I enjoy seeing. :lol3:

Unless I am in a hurry I tend to poke the poop around a bit to see what's in it, make sure it is normal.

 

[ldg]

I forgot to mention, there is no smell. At all.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

As soon as I saw the thread title, I just had to chuckle.   But, Laurie , you know what would be really good would be if you went outside and picked up one of your feral's poops and put it side by side to show the DIFFERENCE!  That would really impress the folks who might be on the edge about whether or not to go raw.  It just might tip them over

 

[ldg]

:spit: Sally, that sounds like a dare. BUT... they eat mostly canned food!

Or is that why you suggested it?

Oh - I think Gary would have a heart attack, even WITH the gloves.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Sally, that sounds like a dare. BUT... they eat mostly canned food!

Or is that why you suggested it?

Oh - I think Gary would have a heart attack, even WITH the gloves.

Well, it would be more impressive if they were eating grain filled kibble

, but that WAS why I suggested it, so folks could really see the difference between raw fed and "the norm".  

 

[otto]

I sat for a friend's cat last winter. I went to her house once a day. I was shocked at the huge stool in the box every day. He eats a very low quality kibble, no meat at all in it.

 

[ldg]

I'm waiting for someone that feeds a home cooked diet to post pictures of cooked - but fresh food - cat stool. :nod:

 

[denice]

I hope you all know how this thread would appear to someone just seeing it completely out of context.

 

[otto]

Nah, poop is a common topic in any pet forum.

 

[ldg]

Especially a sub-forum where many members have turned to alternate forms of feeding because of kitty health. :nod:

 

[mani]

But TCS offers in-depth pictorial information.

We just go that step further in the quest for the perfect poo.. 

but Denise may have been referring to this:

I'm waiting for someone that feeds a home cooked diet to post pictures of cooked - but fresh food - cat stool.

which, read on it's own, out of context, does sound a little like cat stool is the food 

 

[ldg]

Yeah, OK, I can see that. :lol3:

 

[goholistic]

I don't feed my cats raw, and I really don't have questions about their stools right now. But I was so curious to see pictures of Laurie's cat's stool! 

but Denise may have been referring to this:

I'm waiting for someone that feeds a home cooked diet to post pictures of cooked - but fresh food - cat stool.

which, read on it's own, out of context, does sound a little like cat stool is the food 

Now that's funny. 

 

[andrya]

We used to have a PLA - Poop Lovers Anonymous support group, with our own motto!

l'm seeing a resurrection 

 

[mewlittle]

DANG that's allot of hair how often do you comb the cats? out of curiousity because of the hair in the stool

i want to feed raw can't at the moment lack of deep freezer and i have no idea were to buy meat good meat lol

 

[ldg]

:lol3: I think you're reacting to the close-up picture so it's easy to see how fibrous it is inside the stool. But as you can see in the first pictures, the entire stool is barely 3" long and 1/4" wide. So how much hair could be in there? ...especially as that's 2 or 3 days worth of ingestion of hair and food.

:dk:

Have you ever had a cat throw up a hairball? Have you ever brushed a cat with a furminator?

But in answer to your question, they all get brushed, pretty much daily as they love it. And I use a furminator on them every 3 to 4 days or so.

 

[feralvr]

   But, Laurie , you know what would be really good would be if you went outside and picked up one of your feral's poops and put it side by side to show the DIFFERENCE! 

OK - FIRST OFF................. OH LAURIE.................. This thread has me :rofl:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, Sally, :anon: Get this. I have seen Feral Cat Poop up close and personal. My Willow used to go in the woods behind the house and I decided to go and check it out one day after he pooped It looked pretty darn good, healthy and hairy to me. Although, he did eat regular cat food that supplemented his wild diet, so that won't help in this matter, but I just thought I would mention what I did. :anon:

p.s. I think Larry will think I have gone over the edge for sure now, but I think I will try to get Wendall's poop and compare to Perla's poop for you guys. :lol3: Perla does not eat raw and I have given up trying. and the difference in the poops are incredible. I can't believe the size of my little rincess: poops. They are nicely formed but LARGE!!!!!!!!!!!!! :shocker: My poor little girl, my princess rincess: Perla has the biggest poops of my six and she is the only girl. But, we won't tell her.