Cheap cat food and stinky poopies.

Has anyone noticed a link between cheap dry cat food and very smelly cat poopies. I'm not talking the occasional smelly poo (as we all have that once in a while)...It is the kind of cat poo that can clear out a room and you have to open the windows and use Fabreeze. Waking up to that smell at 2 am is not very pleasant. My 78 year old mother is feeding her cats the cheap dry food, and cheap wet food. I just started to switch them over to Science Diet today so we will see. Yes, I am making the gradual change so as not to upset their tummies. The problem is that I had done this before for mom and I told her that she cannot keep switching brands of cat food just because of the price!  I cant seem to get through to her. She is very stubborn. She has one senior cat that I feel is too thin, and I want weight on him...at least 2 pounds. He is about 9 or 10 years old.  One brand makes them vomit, and another brand makes their poop smell bad. I had ALL 4 cats on Science Diet and I bought the food for her cats, but while I was in the hospital for 16 days and undergoing multiple surgeries during that time (due to a riding accident)  she decided that 30 dollars a bag was too expensive. I was very upset when I got home and found out. I am NOT concerned about the price as I want all of them healthy.  I just cannot seem to get through to her that  she can't switch foods like this constantly. Any suggestions on HOW to get through to her? Please help.

I don't know how you can convince someone who doesn't want to be convinced.  The only thing I can think of is to just have her read up on cat food and see if anything will sink in.  But  I'm guessing if she's had cat's her entire life, she will never be convinced. 

But you are absolutely correct in that "bad" food equals stinky poop.  Raw food actually produces nearly stink free poop, and very little poop, to boot.   But not too many people are willing to feed raw, although more and more people are going that route than ever before.

Next to raw is low carb, canned, with few to no questionable ingredients.  That will also decrease the stink in the box, and cut down on the amount.  Carbs are the main culprit of smell and amount.

We have lots of articles on food in the "articles"section.  Just click on "articles" at the top of any page, then select "cat health", then "cat nutrition" for short articles to read and have her read.  BTW, many of us don't even think Science Diet is a good food to be feeding.

Here is one article to get you both started:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/choosing-the-right-dry-cat-food

What the heck, here's another:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/choosing-the-right-food-for-your-cat

Have you tried the brands Taste of the Wild or Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul? They are high quality but good for the budget. Maybe try convincing her to try those. It can be very difficult to get through to people, especially when they're older. Maybe in a nice way, tell her that "the vet" told her that she needs to only eat this food (and point to Taste of the Wild or Chicken Soup) because she's allergic to other foods. It's lying, but at least it'll make her switch? Older people usually blindly trust whatever the higher authority has to say (like doctors).

Cheap doesn't always mean bad, and more expensive or name brand doesn't always mean good.  Science Diet (Hill's), especially their dry kibble, isn't good food.  It's usually full of vegetable/carb fillers.  However, many pate varieties of Friskies and Fancy Feast Classics are great for cats while not being too hard on the budget.  www.catinfo.com has a list of many low carb options that might fit your mom's budget.

The older cat, when was his last blood work done?  He might be hyperthyroid in which no amount of food is going to put needed pounds on him.  He's going to need medication.  Of all the cats, thyroid issues are priority.  Well, if that's what it is.  In any case a senior panel should be run and see what's going on so you can best help him.

As others mentioned, it's hard to make change in a person of any age.  If they don't want to be convinced, they won't be.

I haven't seen those brands available where I live. She grew up during the war so she doesn't like to spend money on anything. But, you are right she does seem to 'trust' the opinions of folks higher up. I will continue to buy good food for the cats. Just because mom is stubborn doesn't mean the cats should have to suffer the consequences.

Just "blame" everything on the doctors! LOL, everyone trusts doctors.

My parents and boyfriend are the same way - except it was in the case of my pets or shared pet, so I was able to usurp their duties (for which I was thankful regardless because they wanted to do well, but our standards of "well" are different). My boyfriend's cat used to eat Whiskas and his poop STANK something fierce. My cat was fed grain-free food in her foster home, and now eats Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul, in addition to wet food (they both do now) and her poop doesn't smell at all.

I totally agree with the above though - cheap isn't always bad, and expensive isn't always good. If you're trying to break through with price, print out a page of cat foods that are readily available to her and calculate the actual cost of each food per pound - lay it out in its simplest form. I did this when I was looking into better foods because my boyfriend is cheap (hence the Whiskas) and I needed something solid to get him to say "alright, that's reasonable". Chicken Soup was the second least expensive non-Whiskas food that didn't contain corn and had meats as the first three ingredients. The first thing I did was toss all the foods that had lots of fillers like corn (which makes poop bulkier and likely stinkier since the cats' bodies can't really use it), or had non-meat sources within the first three ingredients, and then I went and mathed it out. This is just a list I compiled based on the options at the Canadian Pet Valu stores we frequent (so depending on where you live, the brand names and prices may not be applicable, but it's ballpark), but when you lay it all out like this, it can be a little more convincing:

solid gold = $5.50/lb

rocky mountain taste of wild = $4/lb

grain free indoor hypoallergenic surf formula wholesome blend = $4.50/lb

nutro natural choice = $5.67/lb

performatrin ultra = $6.07/lb

pronature = $5.33/lb

nature's variety instinct = $5.91/lb

holistic select = $5.67/lb

lifetime = $2.55/lb

earthborn holistic = $3.33/lb

chicken soup for cat lover's soul = $3.17/lb

whiskas = $2.73/lb (for comparison)

Where I am, Science Diet is $5.57/lb, which is pretty expensive, and all of their formulas have corn within the first line of ingredients... there's only one actual meat source listed before them. For its price and contents, I would agree that it's not worth the money. There are probably better brands you can get for much cheaper. If she does the scooping, let her know that the better foods make smaller and less frequent poops that don't smell as much (or at all - but that might be jumping the gun, since you can't guarantee poop won't smell. it's poop, after all). Additionally, higher protein food means cats don't need to eat as much of it, so you save money when you're buying less food to constantly satiate their hunger when they're not processing tons of useless carbs.

britishbluefan said:

 
I haven't seen those brands available where I live.

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My understanding is that in Europe, Fancy Feast is called Gourmet.  It only comes in 3 oz cans (converted to grams I'm guessing ), and the only type of this brand that is actually decent is CLASSICS (that's what it's called here in the U.S.).  Not sure what it's called in Europe.  If you look at the ingredients, you won't see anything like wheat gluten, corn starch, rice, anything that sounds like a grain.  It does have by-products, but that isn't necessarily bad. And, IMHO, is still better than dry food. 

First time I also was thinking that this is an effect of a cheap food (wet Friskies after dry Science  Diet). After the same with the second cat, only it was the highest quality canned food available from pet store (highest protein per calorie intake, less than 10% carbohydrates), I came to conclusion that stench  is because of high protein content comparing to dry food. And wilder genes (brown tabby with no white medallion) and more active metabolism result the stinkier poop.

This is a bother to ventilate afterwards, especially if house has forced air heating, but there is no better alternative. Trying homemade diet now, introduction stage.