Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
deeeeeleeeeete

Super smelly cat poop - what to do!

Debbie Downer
12 years ago

Warning: sorry this post is not for the faint hearted!

My 4 & 5 year old boy cats have the worst smelling poop in the world. Sometimes I come home and the air throughout the entire house reeks, emanating from the litter box in the basement. I've had cats all my life and this is quite beyond what I would think is normal.

I want to give them pro-biotics (acidophillus etc.) but am not sure if cats would have the same "friendly bacteria" in their guts that humans have? Would it be safe to give them a bit sprinkled on their food (they dont like yogurt).

Im not sure if its one cat, or both. One of them has much mushier poop than the other one. And one is kind of a chronic puker as well, but Im not sure if its the same one whose poop stinks.

They did have a vet check up recently and got a clean bill of health - but pls let me know if theres anything specific that yall think should be looked at. Yeah I'll talk to vet again but would appreciate some suggestions as well.

Comments (12)

  • phish_gw
    12 years ago

    I thought it might be a sign that we were at the end (maybe the body shutting down causes much smellier poop). It turns out it was a bout of diareah and the vet gave me a week of meds and it has done the trick. I would try experimenting with your food and talking to your vet.

  • annzgw
    12 years ago

    Food usually causes my cat's poop to smell bad. I kept trying different brands until I found one that didn't make the poop stink. It took awhile since I had to find a brand/flavor she liked!

    Did the vet run tests on stool samples?

  • quasifish
    12 years ago

    What kind of cat litter do you use? They are not all created equally when it comes to these things. We have a box with Swheat scoop, which is great with urine, but does nothing for poop. If boy poops in the box, you need to go scoop it right then...

    Yes, you can give your kitties probiotics. Mine get some everyday- one marketed for people that has 6 strains or so, and it is very similar to that marketed to cats and dogs with kidney disease. A word of warning though, when I started giving my healthy young male cat probiotics each day on his food, his poop got stinkier. We had to back off the amount he gets each day.

  • pamghatten
    12 years ago

    I give my dogs probiotics, so assume there would be feline ones too. That might help .. though I would also try to change their food and see if that helps.

  • Debbie Downer
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Have been using Feline Pine - so going back to clay might be more odor absorbent?

    I see there's a clump-able pine litter - maybe I'll try that.

    Probably does not help that one cat does not bury his poop - isnt that something the mama cat should have taught him?

  • annzgw
    12 years ago

    I use two types of litter. One is World's Best, which is corn based, and I mix in Everclean to help hide odors. I've thought about using Everclean by itself but I find the 'unscented' Everclean to have too strong a scent.

    WB and EC are more expensive than other brands, but I find they last much longer and clump better than others I've tried.

  • moorpheus
    9 years ago

    I found World's best litter the worst. It held odor. It covered everything with a very fine dust. My cat decided he hated inhaling all that dust and refused to use it. Soon I discovered Dr. Elsey's litters and have used his Cat Attract now for years. I use a deep plastic box (from Walmart) and fill with a couple of bags (probably 40 lbs) and I'm ready to go -- well, the cats are. The tall litter bin is because one of my cats has an elevator butt and this is perfect.

    I have a new, year-old Manx stray who hung around my house for a month. Had him neutered. Now he's living here. Never knew a cat with such a reeking stench. Regular poop is bad enough, but this is unbearable. It penetrates everything and reeks for hours.

    Probiotics didn't help. I just started him on digestive enzymes and will report back. Meanwhile, although he was treated for worms, and tested for various things, I'll consider other problems if necessary. The stench just isn't a normal smell.

  • mdln
    9 years ago

    Did vet do fecal testing? Would first make sure there is no medical reason.

  • sylviatexas1
    9 years ago

    Gillardia (sp?) is a horrible disease that makes cats' poo smell foul, like rotting dead bodies in a septic tank.

    seems like it's caused by a microbe (don't have the stomach to look it up right now!), but it does take a fecal test to find it.

    If untreated, your cat can die.

  • annzgw
    9 years ago

    Interesting to see this old thread pop back up. Since I last posted I found that World's Best litter does indeed create a lot of dust. I offered my cat a litterbox of Petco's bulk litter and she never went back to the WB litterbox. Can't sing enough praises about Petco's litter!
    I agree with sylviatexas that your cat may have Giardia. When I took in my stray kitten (also a Manx) she had a bad case of Giardia. Basic tests do not include Giardia, so ask your vet to run a test for it.

  • Rudebekia
    9 years ago

    One of my two sibling cats can really stink up a room. They eat exactly the same thing every day, and the other one does not make stool that smells so bad--so I really think it is genetic. When I lived in a condo (litter boxes in bathroom on same floor as the living space) I did a diligent search for the best odor protection litter. Hands down, it was Everclean. I switch between the unscented and scented--both do the job well. More expensive, but worth it.