Loose, stinky stools & pooping outside the box, on paws

My mom is threatening to throw the cats out even though I'm moving out of the house with them in just a few months. I really need to fix their issues asap, also so it won't be a problem with future roommates.

I have three cats, all of them eat the same food (grain free, dry). One cat has regular, solid stools and no issues, while the other two (who are siblings) have messy stools. Its been getting on their paws, and they'll miss the litter box and poop gets on the floor. It's kind of a nightmare and really unsanitary. Vet says they're healthy though.

They've been on grain free for a long time, the brand Luvsome. I used to give them 2-3 cans of Soulistic wet food per week as a treat but I thought that was the cause of the bad poop. Eliminating wet food from their diet hasn't changed anything either. Then I thought it was because I'd give them a little bit of milk leftover from my cereal but after quitting this treat, their poop STILL hasn't improved.

Would putting them back on commercial dry food stop this? I really wouldn't want to since I prefer grain free for its nutritional value, but I can't have them getting poop everywhere. A friend says it might be because they drink too much water thus making the stools loose. He gives his cat more solid treats during the day to combat this but isn't that also unhealthy?

Has the vet done fecal tests? You also might try a food that has a totally different protein base (like, if their food is chicken-based, try a lamb- or beef-based food). It could be a food intolerance. But my first guess would be a persistent parasite like giardia or coccidia, so have the vet run a fecal test first.

It doesn't have anything to do with how much water they drink. It's best for them to stay well-hydrated!

It's probably the food. "Grain free" doesn't really mean that much when we're talking about kibble because all companies do is replace "grains" with other starchy ingredients that can cause intolerance issues. Remember, cats are obligate carnivores, so nothing belongs in their food other than meat and vitamins. The fact they've been on the same food for so long can also be the issue, as some cats will develop allergies to foods they are fed exclusively for long periods of time.

I'd encourage you to transition them to an easy to digest wet food and eliminate the kibble. If they do well on Soulistic you could go with that, but I'd avoid the fishy ones. I have an outside cat that gets terrible diarrhea on Soulistic foods, for whatever reason. You could also add in some lower quality wet foods that are decent like Fancy Feast classic line, chicken and turkey are both decent. Sheba pates are also okay. At Petco they also well Merrick LID wet foods, which are also good for the price.

I just took a look at the ingredients in Luvsome food and it's terrible. I don't see anything that says it's grain free food, because it's loaded with grains. In fact the second ingredient on all the formulas is corn, and the first is a by-product. I would get them off that ASAP. 

Okay. I can check the stool samples at the vet but I do really think it's the diet.

The bag said grain free ugh I just always figured grain free meant healthy but I feel bad now lol. They are on the sensitive systems luvsome but it probably isn't much better. And yeah I never give them fish flavored anything, mainly because I know tuna can become addictive and also just how unregulated seafood is. But I will start them on what you suggested and see what happens.

a028 said:

Okay. I can check the stool samples at the vet but I do really think it's the diet.

The bag said grain free ugh I just always figured grain free meant healthy but I feel bad now lol. They are on the sensitive systems luvsome but it probably isn't much better. And yeah I never give them fish flavored anything, mainly because I know tuna can become addictive and also just how unregulated seafood is. But I will start them on what you suggested and see what happens.

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Don't feel bad, we all have to start somewhere. I fed some really bad kibble before I learned about cat nutrition. Here's a list of some better kibbles. While I'm not a fan of kibble, especially if you have cats that will eat wet food happily, these ones are better choices. 

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2011/08/best-dry-cat-foods-so-far/

Hi a028 ! Welcome to TCS

The food may very likely be the cause of the loose stools, but (as others have said) it's important to get them thoroughly checked by a vet to be sure that there is no physical cause.

If it IS the food, they're most likely sensitive to one (or more) if the ingredients in that particular recipe. For example, my girl is sensitive to guar gum (found in some wet foods), so I avoid all gums and carrageenan just to be sure she doesn't have any problems. Sometimes a food sensitivity is obvious, other times less so. You vet should be able to help you on this score too.

In the meantime, these articles may clarify things for you a little [article="29707"][/article][article="31167"][/article][article="31127"][/article][article="31120"][/article][article="33544"][/article][article="32765"][/article][thread="307130"][/thread]

a028 said:

The bag said grain free ugh I just always figured grain free meant healthy but I feel bad now lol. They are on the sensitive systems luvsome but it probably isn't much better. And yeah I never give them fish flavored anything, mainly because I know tuna can become addictive and also just how unregulated seafood is. But I will start them on what you suggested and see what happens.

Click to expand...

I agree with missmimz about getting rid of the ingredients like corn and soybean that are in the Luvsome food. My first step would be getting the cats off those grains (and wheat, too) so they're getting more meat protein, which is the type of food cats' bodies are best able to process. (That's what our vet always stresses: feeding wet foods with lots of meat!)

Many of us seem to have cats whose systems can't handle certain ingredients: for one of ours, it's potato, which makes her barf. Since these cats have sensitive systems, I avoid a lot of ingredients: potatoes, peas, and other carby ingredients, as well as the carrageenan and gums that columbine mentioned. Even foods like Fancy Feast Classics, the pates, are a very decent choice: they have very low carbs and quite a bit of meat. (I'm not a fan of Soulistic because so many of those foods have lots of tapioca and/or gums. Though our cats love some of their foods...)

And don't feel bad about feeding bad food: I've done it, too. I think many, if not most of us have. It's hard not to know better and most of us seem to switch foods when our cats have health problems. I hope you're able to resolve yours fairly easily with some new food.