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Anonymous
Dear /an/,

I just adopted a 6-month-old cat. She is a dilute calico with medium-longish hair, and also the stinkiest animal I have ever encountered.

I think there is some digestive problem at work - her poop smells bad. Not just normal poop bad. I mean REALLY bad. As in, I'm a zoologist and I work with animals (and by extension their poop) all day, and the cat's poop makes my eyes water when I'm two rooms away.

For added fun, her little butthole looks pretty inflamed, and she has little dingleberries down her tail after she uses the litterbox. Strangely, the poop is pretty solid, not liquid.

Any tips on dealing with the smell/poop covered cat? I will be taking her to the vet, but can't get an appointment until next week. Until then, I am at your mercy.

Pic is not my cat, but looks similar.
>> Anonymous
just shove her face in her poop and explain in a stern voice that she is a BAD KITTY, BAD KITTY FOR SUCH STINKY POOP, BAD!
>> Anonymous
Details on where you adopted her from ... a shelter or what?

Did you give her a brand of food she's not used to?
>> Anonymous
Sounds like parasites or maybe some sort of an infection. In my non-expert, non-vet view.
>> Anonymous
Details on where you got her from ...a shelter or what? Does she have shots, etc?

As for the poo, did you changer her food to something she's never had before?
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>75682
Quiet, you.

>>75681
As a zoologist, you should really be talking to your colleagues about this. Other than that, buy different quality brands of food (not affected by recall), make sure it is food for kittens. You could give your cat a bit of premium beef mince, or boiled chicken if she likes it.
It's possible that she ate that poisoned recalled food. Make sure she is calm and comfortable and has plenty of fresh water. Let us know what happens.
>> Anonymous
Friend has a cat who had the same problem.
Solved it by:
1. Getting it wormed, etc, at the vet.
2. Trimming the fur around the butt area regularly. Prevents dingleberries and the little cloud of odor that follows the kitty around, and also makes for a lot less of an inflamed backside. Also, regular brushing helps.
>> Anonymous
OP here. Kitty still smells.

>>75685
>>75683
I got her from a local shelter. She's been tested for a few of the big cat diseases (I don't have her adoption paper in front of me right now), and I expect to sort out shots and stuff when I take her to the vet next week. The woman that handled my adoption was useless - she wasn't the person that had been taking care of this cat, so she couldn't tell me what food it was on, or even if it was getting kitten or adult food. I have been feeding her Meow Mix Market Selects, which she seems to like, plus some antibiotics the shelter lady said I needed to give her.
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>>75693
I'm a zoologist that works with mostly salamanders and turtles, so my colleagues aren't much help for this one. All of our animal medicine books are for reptiles. Where do I find this list of recalled food? I was told at the store that all the recalled food had already been taken off the shelves, but I wouldn't mind double checkig. Also, if it makes a difference, her anus was already swollen and red when I brought her home - I don't really think it's a food thing, but I could be wrong.

>>75770
This sounds good. Can anyone give me any tips on how to restrain a cat to trim butt fur, clip nails, etc.?
>> Anonymous
You could always toilet train her so that the smell goes away quickly.
>> Anonymous
>>75777

I'm actually pretty excited to toilet train her, but since I've only had her for 3 days, I'm still letting her get used to my apartment and stuff. But yeah, in a week or two, I will start training her to use the toilet. :)
>> Anonymous
>>75773

The antibiotics could be part of the problem. In addition to killing whatever kind of disease bacteria they are supposed to be for, they also will kill "good" bacteria that live in the intestines. This bacteria breaks down waste. When it's dead, the food isn't being properly digested and you end up with really foul waste. This happens when humans take some kinds of antibiotics as well.
>> cubivore !15Ayr.pb9Y
i have a similarly fluffy cat as the one shown. when i got it he was taking smelly craps too. the vet said when he found the cat it was covered in shit and i'm sure teh cat licked himself and got some sort of infection/parasite/whatever. after some deworm/antibiotic from my regular vet the poop solidity normalized and eventually it smelled less. however, his breath still smells like shit almost five years later! i think fluffy cats lick themselves a lot and especially the booty region where their poopsmell lingers the most. i don't have experience cutting around that area though. i do recommend you bathe that beast at least once a month cos that will keep the entire animal less dirty and stinky.
>> cubivore !15Ayr.pb9Y
oh, and once it's teeth are fully formed switch completely to dry food. i used to feed science diet, but switched to proplan since the protein is the main ingredient. DONT FEED IT THAT ANIMAL DEATH RECALL FOOD!!!
>> Anonymous
>>75773

If you've been feeding her dry cat food, then the food recall probably isn't the problem. If you want to check, just to make sure, then look on the list of ingredients. If wheat gluten is not in the list of ingredients, then the food cannot be contaminated. The contaminated foods, or ones that could possibly be contaminated were all from wheat gluten from China.

Another place that people can check for food recall information is the FDA website. They cover pet food and drugs as well as human ones.
http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html

As for tips on how to restrain a cat, may I suggest a pet tranquilizer?
>> Anonymous
>>75783

Will the vet really just give me kitty tranquilizers if I say I need them to clip her nails/fur? If it's at all possible, I think I'd rather do this without having to knock the cat out first. She's a squirmy kitten, and doesn't like to be held, but she didn't seem to mind too much last night when I had to hold her by the scruff of the neck to wipe her ass. In fact, she purred the whole time.
>> Anonymous
>>75780

Wait. Wasn't there just a whole thread in /an/ a couple of weeks ago about how dry food gave cats kidney problems and you should always feed them wet food? I'm all for dry food (it's cleaner, for one), but I didn't think it was as good for them. Can someone clarify?
>> cubivore !15Ayr.pb9Y
if you handle the cat enough and get it used to your touch, clipping claws and trimming should never require tranquilizers. lol it's all about control and keeping it calm and still. if u want i can give you claw and brushing tips
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
I was actually kidding about the pet tranquilizers. They're more of a last resort for things, and the animal has to meet certain criteria. For example, the rat terrier I know can't have them because she's an epileptic. Too much inbreeding.

But I am very happy that people are giving good responses for tips on cats. I think any brushing and nail tips that someone can bring to the table would be really good.

Is Meow Mix Market Selects a wet pouch cat food? It sounds like it is probably a problem with a parasite or something, but you can also check to make sure that no milk products end up in your cat's food. Cats are lactose intolerant once they're no longer kittens.

best thing to do for her right now is give her plenty of water like someone else said and remember the vet appointment.
>> Anonymous
>>75789
Yeah, there was. It referenced the following sites:
http://www.catinfo.org/#Cats_Need_Plenty_of_Water_With_Their_Food
(regarding dehydration and dry food)
http://messybeast.com/overweight.htm
(regarding obesity and dry food)

Unfortunately this recent rat poison contamination in wet food for pets I think is getting people scared, and I can't blame them. I guess you'd just have to decide for yourself which to feed your pet, though really I think wet food is still safer. After a fiasco like what recently happened I'm sure wet food will be very, very strictly controlled and possibly tested.