How do I stop my female cat pooing in the yard

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Are poops meant to smell? Both Burns and JWB contain loads of grain (IIRC rice and maize), whereas wet is usually low in cereals. IMO cats that don't smell on the kibble you mention are more likely to be chronically dehydrated or sensitive to one of the meats/ fish in the wet.

It is actually the meat content in food that produces the smelliest faeces!! Animals fed on wet food are by far much smellier than their counterparts fed on dry food!

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Is he having any fibre in his diet? If his faeces are so small you will need to keep an eye on him to ensure he doesn't end up with impacted anal glands.

This is a problem commonly seen in some cats/dogs that are on premium dry diets such as Hill's which is designed to produce less faecal matter and reduce odour. It's probably an indication they're not drinking sufficient water to sustain a dry diet.

Out of my two cats, who are both fed RC dry food, one drinks a large quantity of water and produces normal sized sausage shape faeces. The other drinks less water and produces smaller, pellet like faeces such as you describe. I have to empty her anal glands frequently otherwise they'd become impacted.

Thanks for your professional input, I will ask the vet to check his glands next time. :T Noah has only has max. 50g kibble per day (2.5% fibre), most of his food is commercial wet or raw: I am lucky that he is a good drinker regardless of what I feed him.

He is definitely not straining and I have taken his toilet habits to be normal going by what other raw feeders report - someone on here said their Bengals only go every second day! :eek: They are not rabbit droppings in the sense of exactly the same shape, but the fact that they are not squishy, small and do not smell at all.

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

It is actually the meat content in food that produces the smelliest faeces!! Animals fed on wet food are by far much smellier than their counterparts fed on dry food!

That isn't my experience and it isn't the experience of many raw feeders. :huh: The two kibbles that made Noah stink the entire flat out were both designed for indoor cats and contained a high percentage of rice and fibre; he also can stink if given wet cat food with a high tuna content. Perhaps it is the denatured proteins in cooked meat that produces the smell?

Thanks again!

Fire_Fox wrote: »

He is definitely not straining and I have taken his toilet habits to be normal going by what other raw feeders report - someone on here said their Bengals only go every second day! :eek: They are not rabbit droppings in the sense of exactly the same shape, but the fact that they are not squishy, small and do not smell at all.

Straining is caused by constipation. I wasn't suggesting he was constipated and it wouldn't necessarily be a symptom of impacted anal glands. This usually manifests itself in the cat over-grooming the area around the lower back area and base of the tail, often producing sores/scabs that can initially be mis-diagnosed as flea dermatitis.

The contents of the anal glands are naturally emptied each time the cat/dog passes faeces. For this to happen the faeces have to be sufficiently large enough to exert the required pressure on the glands. When fed on diets that produce a smaller faecal volume this can cause a problem for some animals.



That isn't my experience and it isn't the experience of many raw feeders. :huh: The two kibbles that made Noah stink the entire flat out were both designed for indoor cats and contained a high percentage of rice and fibre; he also can stink if given wet cat food with a high tuna content. Perhaps it is the denatured proteins in cooked meat that produces the smell?

Thanks again!

You can't make such a blanket statement based on your experience with one cat. There could be any number of reasons why Noah produced smelly faeces when fed a particular food, some of which wouldn't necessarily be food related!

I've seen literally thousands of cats/dogs over the years and you get to recognise size, smell and shape of faecal matter, to the extent I used to be able to tell you exactly what that animal was fed on based purely on it's faeces

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

You can't make such a blanket statement based on your experience with one cat. There could be any number of reasons why Noah produced smelly faeces when fed a particular food, some of which wouldn't necessarily be food related!

I've seen literally thousands of cats/dogs over the years and you get to recognise size, smell and shape of faecal matter, to the extent I used to be able to tell you exactly what that animal was fed on based purely on it's faeces

As I said it's not only my experience "... it isn't the experience of many raw feeders." This issue is discussed regularly on many feline and raw feeding forums, no doubt in itself that makes us pretty weird! :rotfl: If you have a moment to explain why Noah stank the flat out when on two particular foods for a few days, then not at all when taken off, then stinking again when put back on, as I have said before I am very keen to learn.

I was aiming not to go from a high meat to a high grain and back again, as I guessed that would not sit well with the gut flora and enzyme activity? If it helps, Noah reputedly stank and went three times a day when on JWB dry/ Felix wet long term at his foster home, so it isn't simply a case of how much wet/ dry or too much changing of brands.

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

You can't compost the faeces of any meat eating animal due to the bacteria content. It's also this bacteria which causes smelly faeces, as you were asking earlier

Thanks, I couldn't remember if it was a bacteria or parasite or other 'nasty'.