My IBD cat's poop stinks! What food helps reduce the awful smell?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. With IBD, I would also recommend using B12 supplementation such as Cobalequin. Cobalequin is available online and is easy to get. This is basically a B12 supplement and is extremely bioavailable even in the presence of GI disease such as IBD. A different diet such as a hydrolyzed protein diet (a prescription diet) may also be helpful. You will need a prescription for a hydrolyzed diet and your veterinarian can provide this for you. I would try these things and see if they help at all with the soft stool / diarrhea / poor appetite. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be happy to help you further.

If you haven't already, a food trial on a different food that Yoda will eat (that isn't prescription) may help rule out any food allergies that could be triggering his symptoms (chicken, egg, and fish allergies are common in cats). Adding in a prescription probiotic supplement may also help with gut flora and firming up stools, and can be provided by your vet. If he didn't like the prescription food, trying a different version of it (IE the wet form instead of kibble) may also entice him to try it.

IBS is called IBD in animals and it must be diagnosed by a vet, not by your before treatment is started. there are several prescription diets for this condition but you will need to discuss that with your vet.

Raw diets, particularly meat, can cause bacterial infections such as E. coli and salmonella. I recommend stopping the raw food and seeing if that helps your cats feces. If it is still stinky it could be a G.I. parasite or infection and your veterinarian needs to do an exam.

Many times cats will respond to a prescription diet using hydrolyzed protein. Both Hill's and Royal Canin carry these types, which you can discuss with your vet. If you are looking for a cat food that isn't a prescription food, you will have to do a food trial to attempt to find a diet that Junior's colon will respond to: "Another approach is the use of the novel protein diets. The idea here is that the patient cannot have an immunological reaction to a protein source it has never experienced. (It takes long-term exposure to a protein before the immune system will respond against it, so a new protein should be safe.) This means using an unusual protein such as rabbit, venison, fish (for dogs) or duck, so long as the patient has not been fed these foods before. Again, it takes about a month to see a good response." There are many great brands of cat food that you can find with these types of ingredients at the pet store. A homecooked diet is also an option, but it needs to be formulated by a veterinary nutritionist to make sure it is completely balanced with everything that Junior needs. Also, don't forget to talk to your vet about supplementing B12, if needed in Junior's case. Here is info on IBD: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=598 And here is information on a food trial (it says dogs but the same concept applies for cats!): http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2499

Just eating chicken and fish is not a complete and balanced diet for a cat. You could talk to your vet about trying him on a hypoallergenic diet, like z/d or d/d. Those diets usually work with IBD and are nutritionally balance for a cat. Otherwise, you could use a website called Balance It to make sure his diet is balanced. You pick the ingredients that you are feeding and then they formulate a supplement that is added to the food. Cats can develop diseases, like heart disease, if their diet is deficient. https://secure.balanceit.com/

Poop smell is dependent on the type of intestinal bacteria your kitty harbors. these are good bacteria, but some just smell awful. The same is true for bacteria in his anal glands. He may not be covering his poop enough, because he himself ma be disgusted with it, so only does a half-hearted job. If he is otherwise healthy then there is nothing to worry about. A bottle of Febreze may be your only weapon against the smell. Sometimes changing food, especially changing to wet (canned) food, pate-style, may change the intestinal flora and the smell changes too.