Sprout's poop problems

[ninacaliente]

I didn't think of that! Maybe Fleet Farm would carry it. I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

 

[sharky]

feed stores often have another good probiotic called probios in granules and paste form

 

[meowers]

Just an FYI, I just bought some Bene-Bac at Pet Food Express for Kitty. The feed store near me doesnt carry it.

For us both

 

[piikki]

Thanks for this thread from me too. Of course our vet never has mentioned Bene-Bac either. I find that idea very much worth trying, and will look for that.

Wonder what's the name of the hypoallergenic food you are trying?

We use very much the same foods as the OP's household. Our pooper boy's problems aren't as bad and never were but he still is a stink butt. Originally vet gave him antibiotics but I found that it did not improve issues too much. He never had anything detectable in his poop samples either.

It is very obvious that the Innova the other cats love (and do well on) is way too much for him. He loves it and HATES it when I try to sneak it to his brothers and give him other stuff. It makes his stools stinky and gluey (can you say ring-around-the-butt-area). I tried other stuff and what seems to work for him is Premium Edge. He likes it (not as much as Innova), and it also has improved his fur in addition to his smelly butt issues. The other improvement has been grain free Wellness wet food.

We have the same problem as you do that we have been free-feeding and stinky-butt is overeating (maybe because of the poop problems?) He has gained weight and he should actually be on light diet. When I try something lighter, he just gets more obsessed about snacking, and more poopy... It's incredibly hard to feed different things because he is all over his brothers, towering over their cups.

The worst thing is one of his brothers cannot eat Premium Edge, he likes it but gets totally blocked with constipation. Thus I cannot have either food freely available in large quantities without causing someone a tummy issue. An then there is the skinny brother who suffers if food is not available!

But I digress! Just thought I'd bring up what has worked for one stinker after I tried dozen different things that kept him stinky (especially in wet foods). Premium Edge really solidified his gut. Both regular and fat-boy version seem to help, regular has been better.

 

[ninacaliente]

Originally Posted by piikki

Thanks for this thread from me too. Of course our vet never has mentioned Bene-Bac either. I find that idea very much worth trying, and will look for that.

Wonder what's the name of the hypoallergenic food you are trying?

We use very much the same foods as the OP's household. Our pooper boy's problems aren't as bad and never were but he still is a stink butt. Originally vet gave him antibiotics but I found that it did not improve issues too much. He never had anything detectable in his poop samples either.

It is very obvious that the Innova the other cats love (and do well on) is way too much for him. He loves it and HATES it when I try to sneak it to his brothers and give him other stuff. It makes his stools stinky and gluey (can you say ring-around-the-butt-area). I tried other stuff and what seems to work for him is Premium Edge. He likes it (not as much as Innova), and it also has improved his fur in addition to his smelly butt issues. The other improvement has been grain free Wellness wet food.

We have the same problem as you do that we have been free-feeding and stinky-butt is overeating (maybe because of the poop problems?) He has gained weight and he should actually be on light diet. When I try something lighter, he just gets more obsessed about snacking, and more poopy... It's incredibly hard to feed different things because he is all over his brothers, towering over their cups.

The worst thing is one of his brothers cannot eat Premium Edge, he likes it but gets totally blocked with constipation. Thus I cannot have either food freely available in large quantities without causing someone a tummy issue. An then there is the skinny brother who suffers if food is not available!

But I digress! Just thought I'd bring up what has worked for one stinker after I tried dozen different things that kept him stinky (especially in wet foods). Premium Edge really solidified his gut. Both regular and fat-boy version seem to help, regular has been better.

The food the vet gave me is an Iams veterinary formula; I think it's labeled "Skin and Coat Formula" or something similar. It's basically a lamb and barley based food. Apparently lamb is typically the first protein they recommend to try for food sensitivities.

I can relate to your issues with feeding multiple cats! This situation with Sprout has finally given me the motivation to switch to almost all-wet, since I can't free-feed right now with Sprout eating a different food. I have to put Sprout in a different room at mealtime, or mine wouldn't eat their "assigned" food either. I'm hoping Piper and Blue will slowly lose a bit of weight with rationed meals, but I am also trying to give extra meals (usually dry snacks) to my skinny Adam and young Bastian and Griffin.

Tomorrow I am going to try feeding Sprout the NV Instinct lamb formula. Fingers crossed that he does well on it! If so, the next step will be to see if I can get all the cats switched over to that food. That will make my life a lot easier!

 

[ninacaliente]

Update: I think the switch to lamb-based food is helping! I decided that I wanted to feed part dry if at all possible; it was just too difficult trying to make sure Adam, Griffin, and Bastian were getting enough to eat without leaving food out for them. So right now, they are all eating Nature's Variety Prairie lamb formula dry and Instinct lamb formula wet. Sprout's tummy got a little upset with the initial switch, but seems to have settled down now. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will work!

I was disappointed that I could not find a dry that was lamb-based and grain-free; apparently NV does not make dry Instinct in lamb? But honestly I will be happy to just find anything at this point. Lamb formulas are not easy to come by in cat food!