Do cats poo smell really bad?

Answer 1

The smell of a cat's waste depends mostly on the food it is being fed. Believe it or not, a cat's stool should not stink up the room (or whole house)!

A lot of brands of food (particularly low quality foods found on superstore shelves) are packed with corns and grains. This is cheap carbohydrate filler that the food manufacturers use as its a cheaper source of protein than meat is. Cats are strict carnivores, so can only get their nutrients from meat-based protein, not plant-based protein.

Sadly, it is all this carbohydrate filler or even poor quality meat sources in the cat's food is usually the reason for waste to smell so bad. To a cat's digestive system, this is indigestible (cats find it very difficult to digest grains and cereals) and is passed straight through the digestive system - and ends up in the litter box.

Simply put: A cat's litter box will reflect its diet. If you find your cat's stool incredibly smelly and/or runny, it may be ideal to seek out a better brand of food which has plenty of meat in and is free of grains.

For high-quality Cat food there is: Blue Buffalo, Felidae, Weruva, California Natural, Instinct, Prairie, Natural Balance, Eagle Pack, Wellness, EVO, Bozita (the canned stuff is 90+% meat and can be bought from zooplus.co.uk), Applaws (70+% meat and comes in both tinned and dry), HiLife (60% meat), Feline Fayre, to name a few.

Answer 2

This really depends on how well the cat is looked after. A cat with a poor diet (usually food that has lots of cereals in) will smell as grains are not digested properly - resulting in terrible-smelling stools and possibly gas. Bad breath is usually a sign of a dental problem such as gingivitis. Also, a healthy cat will groom itself many times per day, although it is always a good idea to groom long-haired cats to keep the fur clean and free of matts and tangles.

A healthy cat should not smell at all. A cat's fur should smell neutral (or at the most, like warm fur), and is normal for a cat's stool to have an odour - which good cat litter helps to absorb the smell. If your cat smells, or starts to smell, it is ideal to take it to the vet in case of a health problem.

Answer 3

They use their very sensitive noses, but sometimes they will open their mouths slightly - almost to taste it the scent. It is unclear why cats do this, but one theory is to get more information on the scent or the object they are smelling.