The Scoop on Cat Poop
Your cat’s excrement might reveal a lot about their health. When you scoop out the litter box, whether you’ve just acquired your first kitten or have lived with cats for years, keep an eye out for a few crucial indications.
What Is Normal When Cats Poo?
At least once every day, most cats will poop. When they’re well, their feces should:
Be deep brown in color
Feel neither too mushy nor too soft.
smelling rather unpleasant, yet some odor is usual
Diarrhea
Cats frequently experience diarrhea, and there are numerous causes for this condition. It occasionally comes and goes swiftly. Other times, it may just last a few hours, days, weeks, or even months, or it may recur frequently.
Unless you have an elderly cat or a kitten, 24- to 48-hour bouts of diarrhea are probably not going to be a problem. However, if it continues for too long, your cat could become dangerously dehydrated.
Cat diarrhea has a number of typical causes, such as:
dietary modifications, food allergies, or intolerances
Colitis of the bowels
Colitis
Worms (intestinal parasites)
a pancreatic condition
Cancer
Hyperthyroidism
Consult your veterinarian to determine the cause if your cat has diarrhea that persists for more than a day or two. If the diarrhea is black or red, or if it is accompanied by a fever, vomiting, sluggishness, or loss of appetite, call your veterinarian straight away.
Depending on what is causing your cat’s diarrhea, a specific treatment may be required. To control inflammation, some people will need prescription drugs like metronidazole or prednisolone. Your vet may offer a specific diet if they think a food allergy or intolerance, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), or colitis is the problem. Probiotics or a deworming treatment might also be required for some cats.
Give your cat no dairy products, such as milk or yogurt, to stop diarrhea because many cats can’t digest them effectively. Additionally, if you change the food you give them in terms of brand or type, make sure to introduce the change gradually over a period of days by combining the new food with progressively less of the old food until they are only consuming the new food.
Constipation
When a cat is constipated, they’ll strain a lot when they try to poop or won’t be able to produce anything for the litter box. You don’t need to worry if it only happens sometimes. But if it’s more common for your pet, you should contact your vet.
Cats can get constipated for a number of reasons, including:
- Over-grooming, which leads to extra hair in the digestive tract
- Kidney problems
- Feline megacolon — when the colon gets very large and its muscles no longer squeeze, making hard, dry stool build up inside
- Something blocking their colon, such as string or bones
- Diets that don’t have enough fiber
- Problems inside the colon, such as tumors or narrow places
- Spine problems or pain
To ease your cat’s constipation, your vet may suggest that you give them more fiber, such as by adding canned pumpkin to their regular food. Or they might tell you to change to food that’s easier for your pet to digest. HAirball medications might also help.
You should talk to your vet about any poop problems your cat has, but this chart may help you figure out what may be causing them:
| Symptom | Appearance | Frequency | Possible causes |
| Constipation | Small, hard, dry poop | Less than once a day | Dehydration, megacolon, dietary issues |
| Constipation | Small, hard, dry poop that has a lot of hair | Less than once a day | Hairballs, over-grooming |
| Constipation | Thin, ribbon-like poop | Less than once a day | Colon problems, like a tumor |
| Diarrhea | Black, tarry, runny poop | It varies | Stomach or intestinal bleeding. Call the vet right away |
| Diarrhea | Smelly, pudding-like poop | 2-3 times daily | Food intolerances, inflammatory bowel disease |
| Diarrhea | Gooey poop filled with mucus | It varies | Too little fiber; colitis |
| Diarrhea | Can vary, sometimes soft, frothy, greasy poop with mucus and/or blood | It varies | Parasites |
