Cat Poop Question

[Redcatcher]

I adopted a retired stud cat over two years ago now and my experiences with cats (mostly bad ones) go back 40 years. I subscribe to Cat Fancy magazine so that I could learn about them, starting all over again. Now all of a sudden I am finding out that his poop is not normal...Or is it? There was a humorous article where they were described as "tootsie rolls" and that brought back some memories (well, I just have not been around cats at all). My cat's look like dark brown cow patties. No matter what diet he is on. They have always been like that so I never thought much of it. When I got him he was certified as healthy and seen by a vet. Does anyone have a healthy normal cat that is like this or does he have something wrong with him? He is strictly an indoor cat and spent his former life in a large cage, away from other cats.

 

[sfw2]

I'm no expert, but our cats' poo has always been of the tootsie roll variety, unless they were sick. Does he seem healthy, otherwise?

 

[Imp]

That doesn't sound normal. Might want to mention to the vet.
You could try mixing in a little canned pumpkin into his food, for the fiber.

Imp

 

[debilorrah]

What are you feeding him?

 

[hcppam]

mine only do that with a change of diet.

 

[Redcatcher]

He was on the thin side when I got him and even thinner now. He acts fine but he vomits pretty regularly, ever since I got him. I attributed that to having hairballs. He is Himalayan.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Sounds to me like he's got an undiagnosed issue. Could be something with his digestive enzymes, gall bladder, liver, stomach. Cats do puke quite often if they have a lot of hair in their stomachs and you can give them hair ball remedy. I would take him to the Vet and have a full panel of bloodwork, specifically for kidney and digestive system, bring in a stool sample and make sure they know his poo always looks that way.

 

[AinaWGSD]

No, that's not normal. Could be caused by a number of things from allergies to a digestive dysfunction to irritable bowel disease. If he's loosing weight but eating normally your cat has an issue that really needs to be diagnosed. I would start with a thorough fecal exam (float to look for worm eggs, gram stain to see if the bacteria is normal or if there is abnormal bacteria present, and a giardia check to rule out these parasites as they often are not seen on a fecal float) and a thorough blood panel including a thyroid check. These are the cheapest tests and they thankfully reveal the most common causes of diarrhea. If those are all normal, then you need to talk to your vet about what other tests you can run (such as a culture, additional blood tests, etc) and go from there. Good luck, it can be very frustrating diagnosing chronic diarrhea if it is not caused by one of the more common diseases/parasites. Unfortunately "certified as healthy and vet checked" can mean a lot of different things. Usually it means that a vet did a physical exam and didn't find any obvious signs of disease before the cat was sold. Unfortunately, many diseases are not immediately apparent with a physical exam alone and purebred cats are more prone to them than your run of the mill domestic shorthair "mutts."

 

[NellaBean]

Yes, I have never known a cat with non-tootsie roll poop unless something was wrong with it. I adopted an old geezer cat a few months back. His pee and poop smell weird....he definitely was a late neuter, has some tomcatty tendencies. But his poops are normal shaped.

 

[maple]

Plus he could have an intestinal blockage from his hair....needs a vet check again.