Hi all,

Introduced my two new babies TJ and Mackey on the Introductions forum this past week, and they are doing wonderfully - can't imagine having two more wonderful and personable kitties. I've been feeding them Taste of the Wild canned food along with leaving out a constant supply of Taste of the Wild dry food. The kitties like it (I picked it since it met all of the suggested guidelines and criteria, along with the fact the breeder used it); however, their gas (and poops) smell horrendous. And the gas comes often. So often. If we're hanging out on the couch or bed, not 10 minutes will pass before one of them passes the foulest smelling of all flatulence, most likely when playing, napping, or waking up. And, if I happen to be nearby when they take a #2... I have to open all the windows and breathe through a blanket. I'm not overly sensitive to this, I felt terrible when a visiting friend had to leave the apartment to get some fresh air.

Their stools are firm and normal, they're eating heartily and often, and gaining weight at a normal pace. Is it the food? I don't want to change their diet as it's working well and they're eating great, but, anything that could help the stench would be greatly appreciated. I don't remember and of my family's previous kittens/cats exuding such foulness, so I'm not sure what the fart factor is.

All jokes aside, please let me know if you have any experience with this! Obviously the kitty's health is more important to me than my nasal comfort, but... it's bad enough to see if anyone else has seen a similar problem. If someone said, "this is a kitten thing and will pass in a few months or year", I would certainly have no problem enduring it for the next while.

My Bengal had horrible gas when I got her. A stool sample revealed Giardia amd some medicine cleared it up. She was super farty all the time and her poop looked ok in the box. I would takes samples into the vet.

Serafina and Gaga had that too when I first got them home. I "solved" it by putting some of the Arm and Hammer addative into their litterboxes (which helped a TON), but after doing some reading I realized it was probably a result of a parasite. I took them to the vet. They did a fecal test which came back "negative", but the vet treated them proactively anyway and gave them some meds. A week or so later that real smelly poop was gone for good. The one difference though is that they always had somewhere between "soft" and "runny" poo. I suspect yours is the same thing, although generally runny poo is also a symptom. I don't think it is the food.

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The little monsters 3

My vet said that Taste of the Wild is a great food but very rich. It takes a little while for their bodies to adjust to it. Once it does, the gassiness gets better. My dogs had the same issue when I switched them to it. It was terrible. Good luck

My two had horrendous gas but also bloody diarrhoea which was TF (tritrichomonas foetus). Now treated they are fine.

I know that TF does not always show as diarrhoea - sometimes a cat can have normal poop and still have TF so it may be worth taking a pooled 3 day sample (refrigerated inbetween) to the vets for the full range of tests to be done.

Also, if it is giardia as suggested as a possibility above, then this often goes hand in hand with TF (but not always) so still worth getting it checked out.

Let us know how you get on

Lisa
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Id have them checked out for TF as the other posters said. When I got my Bengal Girl that was the first thing that I noticed was her horrendous gas and non solid stool. It was not like diarrhea but just not solid. She could clear the house out. I ended up having to put the litter in a spare bathroom and leave the fan on most of the time.

I have a great vet but he had no idea about TF. I am fortunate to live in North Carolina where the leading Vet on that does her research. A huge double digit number of pure bred cats suffer from this. There not sure why but its most likely a combo of conditions. The main being that alot of breeders trade queens apparently.

TF is not a worm its a protozoa so deworming does nothing. It causes your cats intestines to get inflamed causing a great deal of gas and stool issues. Your cat can outgrow it and no negative issues will really happen if it goes untreated other then terrible bowel movements. It can also be spread to your other cats from the litter. The only blessing of it is that it does not live outside the host for long at all...a couple hours. Thats why a stool sample must be fresh to get a accurate test done. A day old specimen is worthless.

As your vet to test for it..most likely he/she is clueless on it. I printed out this entire PDF to give to my vet and about a week later he told me after reading it, doing some research and consulting with her colleges that she had learned something new.

A fresh sample is preferred so I brought the cat in. They mailed it off and sure enough she had it. Theres a very routine medication that they use for it but its not something normal so they had to order it from a compounding agency. 2 weeks of using that and my cats going to the bathroom like any other cat. If she does have that I would encourage throughly trashing your litter couple times a week and throughly bleaching the litter pan..pain in the butt but its transferred by your cat walking in the litter then cleaning herself after.

Also your vet most likely does not also test for this...so you can test every day for worms and it will always be negative.

http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/docs/documents/ ... _final.pdf

Yeah normally with gas and bad smells there is some sort of intestinal problem like a bacterial/parasitic problem even if the stool is solid. Its not normal and could do with a little trip to the vets - maybe pool a stool sample take it and them in for a health check and just ask for a poop panel to be run (inc TF just to be sure)

Thanks all for your feedback.

My initial instinct was to agree with julznala - after posting this, the gas and poop got less smelly over the next few days with no action taken, as their stomach adjusted to it. I recently switched them to wellness wet food, keeping the Taste of the Wild dry food (since they really seem to enjoy that). Their gas and poop smell has really improved; however, they occasionally track poop on their feet which is making me think their stool is slightly soft, or they're really just stomping in it (the Google say this is common for all kittens until they learn better). Because they bury the stool in the litter, and when I scoop it, it looks like normal feces... how can you tell if it was once soft? Doesn't the litter harden it up right away? Every stool I've scooped, including some directly after, have been very solid. I can't tell if this is due to the litter, or, the fact that they are just pooping normally.

At my next vet appointment for vaccinations, I'm going to ask on opinion for getting tested for TF. In my introduction post I mentioned they were sneezing and had a little eye gunk - the eye stuff is mostly gone, but the sneezing is still very frequent, maybe a few times an hour when they're awake. I'll see if they can be tried for a URI or herpes or whatever the vet diagnoses.

As for collecting stool sample, how do you do that with two cats? Empty the litter boxes, wait for one to go, and snatch up? Wait for the other and do same?

I know this sounds like a lot of potential issues, but it's like a mom and her babies - probably making mountains out of smelly gas and sneezes (though I know a lot of you posters seem to like to jump to the most dire conclusions to be safe :) ). They are super active, act extremely healthy and extremely rambunctious, eat lots, and very lovey and purry when not wrestling and playing. I'll let you know what the vet says next week - thanks for the advice.

Also! Here are some more photos (originals in Introduction topic). I know they are pretty much all of them sleeping, but that's the easiest time to catch them :)

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I am no expert here (well, I reckon I am on TF) but Claire (Lacemoat) is VERY knowledgeable and even she says it sounds intestinal and you should get the vet to investigate. Coupled with the sneezing and eye gunk you REALLY need to get to a vet and get them sorted quick.

Tracking poop through the house is not normal either in my opinion.

When people on this forum gave me advice regarding my kittens' diarrhoea, I kept hoping that it was just stress of leaving mum , then food, then that they just needed worming, but it was TF. I think I always knew it was TF but just kept hoping it wasn't.

Listen to the advice on here and please get them to the vets asap.

Keep us updated with how you get on.

The pics are adorable by the way!

Lisa
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I always think of smells being relative...if a little kitten fart takes longer to dissipate than a human fart, there is probably something going on in their tiny tummies.

Take a fresh fecal sample in when you take them for their vaccinations. They can test it for basic critters and you can talk about their poop issues then. It is common for cats and kittens to have parasites. Breeders have many cats, new cats can be introduced often, the cats can be kept outside, there are so many variables and ways a bug can be introduced...

How old are they? They are so sweet together! They look very happy!

Don't forget too before we all start the usual blame it on the food that when a kitten or cat is introduced into new environment there is the stress factor. In turn the stress - whether or not your kitten looks stressed it will be present - causes shedding of certain things, for example TF, Corona virus. It can also cause 'blooms' for example again an Ecoli bloom. Ecoli is on the whole a happy nice friendly bacteria in the stomach but a bloom can knock the stomach out.
Herpes and Calici virus also shed in times of stress and cause watery eyes, as can Corona virus (which can also affect the tummy)

Chances are that all is absolutely fine and there has been a shed or a bloom - but it's always best to speak to your vet about something like this. Gas and rancid smells are not normal, it could be as simple as needing a probiotic such as prokolin to re balance the intestines.

In young kittens is it always best to consult your vet in anything that is not quite normal - even if just to put your mind at ease.

So the poop test came back, and they have Giardia. Ugh. I've also been treating them for an upper respiratory infection since the sneezing did not subside. I couldn't get the eyedropper in their mouths, despite wrapping in towel and getting someone else to hold them down, after trying myself. They are seriously feisty when it comes to being held. The solution was putting it in their food, so I have no idea how I'm going to get a capsule in their mouths. I ordered some Feliway plug-ins and maybe this will calm them down enough to take the medicine (read this on Amazon reviews as a solution when needing to give feisty kittys their meds).

I called the breeder, since the papers she gave me said they tested negative for Giardia. I left a voicemail asking her to call me back. If it was just the URI, I wasn't going to bother, but this is straight up misrepresentation. Maybe she'll pay for both rounds of antibiotics, the poop test, and the prescription food, totaling around $300.

Thanks for pushing me to get the test done. I'm so worried about them, I felt like crying when I found out they've actually been sick with something, but glad there is an end in sight to the smelly poop tracking.

Glad to hear you have a diagnosis and can now treat.

I had the same problem with one of mine not wanting to take the capsules. It was a nightmare. Chilli was fine and I just opened his mouth and literally popped it in. Rio was a whole different ball game and 3 of us couldn't do it together.

I know Giardia needs a strict cleaning regime to avoid reinfection and to get rid of it in the house. I'm sure someone on this forum will give you some tips.

Keep us updated

Lisa
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Got in touch with the breeder and she was actually very nice about it. She had bought a litter of kittens from someone who, do to unseen circumstances, could no longer sell their kittens, in order to sell them on her behalf. She found out recently that this litter had Giardia, but didn't think to notify other litters from her house because they never shared boxes or were in close proximity. However, she said now she will notify my two's litter mates homes and other kitties that were sold in the period that these kittens came in, to notify them of potential exposure. She also offered to pay - the cost is actually pretty low, it's mostly the physical work that's going to be the tough part, so I don't know if I'll take her up on it.

Would love tips on cleaning - have looked into it as extensively as I could, and it seems like reinfection is a big worry. Does that mean the whole time they're on treatment I'll need to continually sterilize their boxes, bowls, my furniture, sheets, etc? I read somewhere that if you clean everything right at the beginning of the treatment, and then at the end, they won't be able to reinfect themselves while they're on the antibiotics in the interim. There's also some discrepancy about whether or not it can be transferred to humans (most say in rare occasions), but I'll just deal with them with as much caution as possible. Also wonder if it would be most efficient just to keep them in the bathroom while I'm at work. I know it's not enjoyable for them, but it will give them less chances to leave something around the house that could potentially reinfect them later. They are on the Feline ID prescription diet to help manage symptoms.

Would appreciate thoughts on all this - thanks!