My cat has runny poop, but it's not diarrhea. What should I do?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Diarrhea can be observed with conditions such as colitis, gastroenteritis, dietary indiscretion, intestinal parasites, among many other possibilities. She is likely experiencing dietary indiscretion from eating the treats. You can stop giving the treats to see if her runny stools improve. If these continue, I recommend that you have Dubh evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. They may choose to check for parasites and to start medications for diarrhea depending on the results. Good luck! Hoping for a speedy recovery!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It appears that there is more mucous than I would like to see in the stool. This could be due to the diet and it could also be due to intestinal parasites. I would recommend switching food to a kitten food and see if that helps. If it does not improve and continues to progress, I would recommend having a veterinarian test her poop sample to check for intestinal parasites. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

If you did a quick switch from the old to the new food this could definitely cause diarrhea, especially if no other symptoms are present. You can try going back to the old food until the stools form again and doing a slow transition to the new diet over a week. If the diarrhea occurs again this is likely not a good food for Olaf. Some animals with diet related diarrhea may benefit from a probiotic. A few commonly used in pets are fortiflora and proviable. Certainly if the symptoms do not get better, get worse, or are accompanied by blood in the stool and/or a decreased appetite/vomiting/lethargy a visit to your veterinarian is recommended. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Sometimes changing the diet helps or adding more fiber to the diet as well can help firm up the stool if there are no underlying causes of soft stool such as an infectious cause like parasites. You can try and add a tablespoon of regular canned pumpkin puree (not the pie filling) to her food to see if that helps firm it up. I would also recommend a fecal test with her veterinarian.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Eating soft food only is not concerning. An occasional cat treat is also not concerning. Soft stools could be from the soft foods- they contain more water- but if the stools are more like diarrhea, I would recommend looking into the cause. There could be a medical reason for diarrhea, like parasites or a digestive issue that needs to be addressed. If he used to eat hard food and now only eats soft I would recommend having a vet look at his teeth to make sure there isn’t something painful going on that’s causing the diet change. I hope this helps, if not please repost with a specific question. Good luck and kisses to Koda!

You can find a feline probiotic to add to her diet or try a sensitive stomach formula food or a prescription such as Science Diet I/D. If this does not improve the stool she may need to see a vet. Older cats can get an inflammatory bowel disease and stress can definitely make it worse. It will take some vitamin supplements and daily medication but usually improves by then. If not then they will look into further testing such as an ultrasound or a biopsy.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would recommend switching to a different food such as Science Diet or Royal Canin and see if a diet change makes a difference. You may even consider adding in a fiber supplement to help bulk up her stool so that it passes without getting stuck. A probiotic such as Purina Fortiflora may also be a good idea, which can be found online quite easily. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.