My chubby cat has dry stools. Is more wet food the answer?

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.

Dry food can cause softer stools if there is an ingredient that is causing irritation, however other issues such as parasites and illness may also cause soft stools, so regular fecal exams at your vet can help determine if this is the case and treat it. There are also many commercial dry and wet food diets for sensitive stomachs, such as Science Diet that are great to be free-fed and may help with the soft stools as well. Plain, unflavored yogurt can also be added to the food to help with soft stools as long as it doesn't contain any additives or fake sugars.

I would always prefer wet/canned food over dry food, especially since your cat hat constipation. Dry food requires a lot more moisture to digest than wet food and many cats do not drink enough voluntarily. Start with small portions spread out over 3-4 times in the day.

Oh my, Kitty is a very handsome boy! I love his socks on his feet, so cute. Feeding him canned food watered down is an excellent way to get him to lose weight. Canned food has lower calories than dry kibble, and the added benefit is that it will get extra moisture into his diet hopefully preventing any further occurrences of constipation. Dehydration is the number one cause of constipation in cats. Do not feed him any treats, and try to play with him at least once a day to get him moving. At his age, he certainly won't be running around like a kitten, but movement will be good for him. I hope this helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Yes, switching to a dry diet can help. If no improvement after switching to a dry diet, you could consider adding a probiotic to her diet to see if that helps as sometimes that regulates the gastrointestinal system as sometimes there is an imbalance of the good gut bacteria. If no improvement, have her re-evaluated by your veterinarian to look for other reasons such as food allergies or sensitivity or intestinal malabsorption. Good luck!

If your cat has mild constipation but is still pooping, I would consider a product like laxatone. It is labeled as a hairball remedy and is a flavored petroleum. You can put it on the food or on your cats foot and he will lick it off when he grooms. If, however, your cat hasn't pooped in days, he needs to see the vet for an exam and more intensive treatment.

If Simba is having no other symptoms other than soft stool you may want to consider adding fiber to his diet. There are some commercial diets that have increased fiber content (senior diets are typically higher in fiber). Another option would be to simply add a tablespoon of fiber powder (like Metamucil) to his food once a day. If this does not help then you may want to consider bringing a stool sample to your vet to be checked to ensure nothing else is going on. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.