No one goes to the bathroom and has it smell like roses, but sometimes a cat suddenly has significantly worse-smelling visits to the litter box. If this has happened to your cat, there may be a significant cause behind it that needs attention. Here are three likely causes of your cat's poop smelling terrible.
Poor Diet
Having a poor diet can cause a significant impact on your cat's guts and how they work. There are several different ways that your cat might have a bad diet, so consider these factors:
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Cheap Food — Inexpensive cat food often contains fillers like corn meal, animal by-products, and others that cats wouldn't normally eat in the wild and can make them feel gassy or sick.
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Sneaking Snacks — If your cat regularly eats food that it shouldn't, like human food or dog food, that could impact their gut.
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Switching Brands — Although it may not necessarily be bad for your cat in and of itself, switching a cat to a new brand of cat food suddenly can throw their stomach into disarray. Try to gradually shift to a new variety to prevent this.
Any of these issues can make your cat's bowel movements smell worse and different than usual. Take a close look at what your cat eats on a daily basis, and consider whether you've made any major changes recently.
Gastrointestinal Disease
Gastrointestinal diseases can happen to anyone, including cats. Cats can develop everything from mild stomach bugs that lead to diarrhea to serious health conditions that change the way the digestive system works. Some cats also develop chronic gastrointestinal problems like irritated bowel syndrome that can lead to a shift in how their excrement stinks. It's impossible to determine exactly what's wrong with your cat at home, so you'll need to visit a veterinarian to have your cat examined and tested.
Parasites
Lastly, it's possible that your cat has picked up a parasite that's affecting their digestive system. Parasites like tapeworms can be ingested by any cat, as all your cat needs to do is swallow an infected flea. Once that flea reaches the intestines, the tapeworm larvae in them will thrive. This can obviously make your cat feel very ill, and it can trigger gas, bad-smelling poop, weight loss, and other serious health disorders. If you suspect that your cat could have a tapeworm or know that they've had one in the past, it's best to visit a vet who offers animal health services. Thankfully, tapeworm infestations are easily treated these days, so don't resist getting help.
Any of these conditions can leave your cat with significant gastrointestinal problems, even if it only manifests as foul-smelling odors from their litter box. If your cat doesn't normally produce stink bombs and suddenly is, talk to your vet to ensure that it's not something serious.
Do you remember the last time you really stopped to think about how healthy your animals were? Although it might seem like a simple task, keeping your animals happy, healthy, and well-adjusted can be difficult for just about anyone. However, with the help of a trained veterinarian, things become much more straightforward. I began working hard on helping my animals a few months back, and it was neat to explore how much better they were behaving. This website centers around identifying and resolving veterinary challenges one day at a time. Check out this website for great tips that could help you every day.