My quick response is that healthy poop from healthy digestive systems digesting healthy food does not smell icky. (That’s as true for cats as it is for humans.) Most nutrition-literate veterinarians would recommend a change in diet and/or a probiotic supplement. They might also run some tests to see whether there’s an underlying health issue. Contact me privately if you want a more thorough consultation*.

Working with thousands of cats in hundreds of families, I can tell you that my veterinarians (and my MD) are very good at helping people understand the basics. We can often smell a cats feces and know (just from the smell) whether the cause of the stinky problem is the food a cat is eating (some individuals’ digestive systems do not do well with certain proteins & grains), whether a kitty needs a probiotic, or even whether a cat has liver or kidney issues.

If your veterinarian can’t figure out why your cats’ poop smells yucky, switch vets. Look for someone who understands nutrition. (Note: most vets in North America have very limited training in nutrition. Most take only 1 nutrition class in med school & that class is usually taught by a sales rep for Purina or Hills pet food companies. (Most vet med schools don’t have nutrtion-literate faculty on staff, so they use a free teacher who provides free textbooks for the med students. That teacher is a sales rep from a grocery brand pet food company & that same company writes its own textbook about nutrition. They use this book & this sales person to “teach” vet med students about nutrition. Sadly, *that* is the extent to which most North American veterinarians understand nutrition. I am fortunate to live in an area were there are *lots* of advanced training opportunities for vets that are taught by nutritionists & scientists who are not paid by pet food companies to tell doctors that grocery brands are good enough for everyone. These well-trained vets have a lot more success at treating a wide range of conditions that baffle other doctors. And when it comes to finding the “right” diet for each individual cat, only doctors who truly understand the science of nutrition will be able to help.)

* I have a sliding scale fee ($30-$50) for consultations. For info about how to send payment, visit https://www.karikells.com/Petsitter/services/consultations/#fees . (I realize this might seem like a question that I can answer quickly. However, this year I have been flooded with “quick questions” from people I don’t know. One week I spent 29 hours offering free support, yet my income that that whole month was $0. Nada. Nothing. I simply can’t survive if I continue offering free advice, so I am now charging for consultations.)

Working with thousands of cats in hundreds of families, I can tell you that my veterinarians (and my MD) are correct when they explain this to people. We can often smell a cats feces and know (just from the smell) whether the cause of the stinky problem is the type of protein a cat is eating (some individuals’ digestive systems do not do well with certain proteins) or whether a kitty needs a probiotic or even whether a cat has liver or kidney issues.

If your veterinarian can’t figure out why your cats’ poop smells yucky, switch vets. Look for someone who understands nutrition. (Note: most vets have very limited training in nutrition. Most take only one nutrition class in med school and most schools don’t have their own faculty teach the class. Instead, they use a free teacher who provides free textbooks for the med students – offered by a certain grocery brand pet food company. Yes, that’s right. A pet food company writes its own book about nutrition & then sends its sales people out to “teach classes” about nutrition and *that* is all your average vet knows about nutrition. I am fortunate to live in an area were there are *lots* of advanced training opportunities for veterinarians that are taught by nutritionists and scientists who are not on the staff of pet food companies. Those vets have a lot more success at treating a wide range of conditions that baffle other doctors. And when it comes to finding the “right” diet for each individual cat, only doctors who truly understand the science of nutrition will be able to help.)