Cat Scat- Dark & Hard?

[Cat McCannon]

I've noticed Belle's scat has been dark and hard looking. At first, I wrote this off to the litter sucking out the moisture but today, I decided to put on a pair of gloves and break a few open to see what I could see. To my surprise, the inside of her scat was made up of fur.

Belle is fed either wet, raw or freeze dried raw and we always keep a dish of fresh water out for her. I don't see her drink very often.

I'm thinking the hair is normal. I brush her daily because she's shedding in this summer heat. She a short hair grey tabby and still get a good amount of fur when I brush her. We've had her nearly a year and have never seen her cough up a fur ball, nor have we found any around the house, so I don't think there's a problem. However, I'm wondering if there's something we can do to keep Belle regular and keep things from being a problem.

Belle has never missed the litterbox (except the time I took too long washing, drying and refilling the box).

Should I look into probiotics? Are there other things that would help? Or is this nothing to worry about?

Thanks!

 

[verna davies]

It's quite natural for cats to pass fur in the way you describe but it could help if you add a couple of tablespoons of water to her wet food. Also a pinch of psyllium twice a day mixed into the food, it's fibre and will help soften the stools.

 

[aleeming]

So I have a couple suggestions re hard stools and possible dehydration and small stools possibly needing more fiber:

You can give her some pumpkin (plain, canned, not any sort of mix) alone or in her food. I actually buy a few cans each year if organic and once I open one I freeze it in I've cube trays and keep for future use. I can't use a can fast enough for it to not go bad so that works for me. Many cats will eat it straight and it's a good source of natural fiber that has been shown to be effective and safe for years.

You could also get one of those fountain water feeders to encourage her to drink more. And possibly try putting out a glass of water full to the top to see if she prefers that to a bowl. I don't know why some cats like that but they do. We have one cat who likes to drink from a slightly running faucet so she gets to do that when she bumps her head on it if we're home. You could try different bowls right away depending on what you have to see if she drinks more out of a different bowl. Many cats don't drink as much as they should. Even raw diets are not juicy like fresh mice.

 

[aleeming]

Forgot to add: you might want to take a sample to the vet just to check there is no digested blood making it dark. I don't know HOW dark you are seeing, but black stools may have blood in them. This sounds unlikely but it wouldn't require a vet visit I would hope.

 

[Cat McCannon]

Belle had her first annual checkup yesterday. The Doc updated her shots and upon a thorough examination, gave her a clean bill of health. He said she's thriving and keep doing what we're doing. She's a small compact cat, weighing in at 9lbs 15oz. Doc said her teeth are in excellent shape and needed no cleaning. They verified her chip is still in place and working.

In my first post, I mentioned my concerns about her scats being normal. To my relief, Doc says they are. He said it's healthier for a cat to pass hair through its stools than hacking up hairballs. In the year we've had Belle, she's never had a hairball. She's kept indoors, so we'd know if she'd left any of these treasures for us to find.

Belle was anxious but not aggressive and made it clear she didn't like being handled by the Doc or his assistant. I could tell by the way the assistant roughly scruffed Belle, she was worried about being clawed or bitten. This escalated Belle's anxiety. I took over handling Belle to sooth her while being weighed and examined. This brought her anxiety down to a manageable level.

We've had no problem getting Belle into her carrier- up until it came time to take her to the vet's. I placed her dish inside. Normally, she'd go right in and eat. She sniffed, said "Nope!" and retreated to the other room where she ignored all offers of treats. Finally, I had to corner her and place her in the carrier myself. Fortunately, that standoff ended with little drama.

In typical cat fashion, she refused to come out of the carrier once we got in the examination room. But she was more than happy to go back in the carrier once the visit was over and dashed out once we were home again.