A question regarding stool sizes

Hello, all! I am a long-time lurker, but a new member of this site. And my first question is about cat poop (and what a "normal" stool should look like).

My long-haired boy just recently came off a bout of loose stools that began after I gave him a hairball remedy (of a different brand than usual and containing white petrolatum, soybean oil, and mineral oil as opposed to the usual brand, which contains vegetable oil). I spoke with a vet on the subject, who agreed that this change could have led to some GI upset. He is doing better now and is passing solid stools again, though his dietary indiscretion was quite unpleasant for all those involved (his loose stools had a large volume of mucus in them and had me worried for a bit).

He's doing well and passing normal stools again, but now that I've been paying an obsessive amount of attention to the litter box as of late, I had a question about "normal" stools. Of course, every cat is different in terms of the amount and consistency of their stools each day, but I was wondering if there's a "bare minimum" amount or size that should be expected each day. To clarify, were not currently having any issues with any of our cats as far as production is concerns, but it's something I wasn't really giving much thought to before, and something I'd like to address in case I begin to notice any sudden changes in the future. So I guess my question is, what is a "normal" stool in your opinion?

Below is a picture of Rusty Jones, the one who just got over his bout of soft stools.

What a gorgeous boy!

Let's put it this way...the same as yours, only cat-sized.

Normal healthy cats should defecate at least once daily - think of a tootsie-roll segmentation, with 3-5 separate segments (with color similar to the color of their food).  Consistency of a soft Vienna sausage (a cocktail sausage), for lack of a better term.  The size of the cat's colon's passageway will determine the size of the stool.  For example, my siberian could produce a hotdog size in diameter and more volume, but my petite torti could produce a tootsie-roll size and less volume.

When you start observing your cats' litterboxes, you'll learn what "normal" is for each of your cats.

cat-tech said:

tootsie-roll segmentation, with 3-5 separate segments (with color similar to the color of their food)

Click to expand...

Would you say these segments should be of any specific size? Should each segment be the length (approximately) of an actual tootsie roll or just have that smooth, tootsie roll appearance? My cats tend to have the segmented stools like you describe, but the segments themselves vary in size day-to-day.

Your cats will generally, from day to day, produce the same size segments, and it will differ between cats due to their individual weight and size.  That said, they can change slightly depending on how long after a meal they eliminate, water consumption, exercise, canned food vs dry food being fed etc.

Similar in shape to a tootsie-roll segment, and yes, as smooth as one - but not necessarily as long as one, since the "volume" of the stool will be different for every cat.

Spend a few days observing the litterbox, you'll find what will tend to be normal for each cat.

Thank you, C cat-tech ! I appreciate your insight. [emoji]128522[/emoji]