# Smelly poop on new food?



## Nature Freak (Jul 1, 2010)

Hi, I recently switched my 2 6 year old cats to Chicken Soup for the Cat lovers soul dry food from Purina Indoor cat chow. Well they have been on it for about 2 or 3 weeks and their poop just smells something terrible. On their old crappy corn food their poo didn't stink but now it smells so bad that my parents (I'm 19) want to switch them back to the crappy food which I don't want to do at all since they are doing SO much better on the new food. Does anyone know if this will pass with the switch or if their poop will always smell bad enough to clear a room? My cat's don't cover their poop for whatever reason and because of my fixed male cat I had to give them a tall storage tub for a litter box as he won't squat to pee. This box isn't covered and I'm not sure if that contributes to the smell or what. Does anyone have any ideas on how to control the smell better or what I can do? With my smelly dwarf hamsters I put a drop of pure vanilla extract in their water and it gets rid of their smell like 100%, can I do this with the cats, although I think it only work for urine. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I want to avoid switching them to the crappy food at all costs. BTW I switched them to this food because it's the only reasonable quality food that I can afford as I'm currently unemployed and don't get any money.


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## Smudge&LBC (Jun 30, 2010)

I can't tell you if the smell will go away, but I can say that a covered box will most likely help block a lot of the odor. Also. putting Arm & Hammer Baking Soda in the litter also helps to kill the smell (kinda like they do in refrigerators). A lot of covered boxes also have filters in the top of them that you change every so often, and that helps filter the air, I think they may even be making scented filters now, but someone else will have to tell you if that's for certain.

I can also tell you that I feed a high protein, grain-free food (Natura Instinct in Chicken), and my kitty, Smudge, has some HORRIBLE smelling poop! lol I have a little can of Cinnamon and Clove Buds "Concentrated Room Spray" and one of "Spiced Cider" and if I am nearby when Smudge poops, I just squirt a few little sprays over/in front of the litter box, and it covers the smell nicely. lol I got it at Bath & Body Works in the local mall. I think the Cinnamon and Clove Buds might be discontinued though.

Link: http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/product ... Id=3020843

Good luck! I'd be interested in seeing if it's because it's a less "grainy" food too!


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## laurief (Jun 22, 2008)

If you made the food switch too rapidly, you may have upset the balance of flora in their digestive tracts. Food switches should always be made gradually over the course of a week or two. A probiotic may help get their digestive tracts back on track. Go to a health food store and pick up some acidophilus. Sprinkle a tiny bit (about 1/10 of a human dose) over each cat's food once daily for a week or so.

If that doesn't resolve the problem, take a fresh stool sample to your vet to check for clostridium. If the fecal test shows no problems, then try starting over with the Purina food and make the food switch much more gradually.

Laurie


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## ~Siameseifuplz~ (May 6, 2007)

Different foods work for different cats. My guys poop was much better on Felidae than on Before Grain for example. We decided that they might not do well on a food with potato (the only big difference between the foods) so I switched to California Natural and it got much better. Willie's poop smells bad on all dry food, wet food it smells much less and on raw food it doesn't smell at all.


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## Nature Freak (Jul 1, 2010)

Thank you everyone, I plan to cover the box today. They were switched way way too fast, actually they completely ran out of the Purina and since I don't drive I couldn't pick them up a bag to gradually switch them, I was lucky enough to get a ride to the pet store to buy them the chicken soup food. Anyway I begged my mom to take me to a store so I can mix the foods so they don't get upset but she wouldn't and the pet store didn't have any Purina so they were switched over night. I was surprised when no one puked or had runny poops, they both seem to be doing excellent on their food but I will try to make it to a health food store and get stuff to feed their gut so to speak. My parents are very very closed minded and don't really like the cats to begin with so they could care less about how healthy their food is, my dad is convinced that the other food was the best food because they didn't puke and their poop didn't stink. I would love to feed raw but that would never ever pass in this house but once I move out I plan to. Do you think buying like a plug in oust fan or such would help cover up the smell also? Thanks again for all the advice.


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