Bengal Cat Smelly Poo

F2 Bengal cat in a garden in the UK. Photo: PoC.

I couldn't resist doing a post about Bengal Cat Smelly Poo. And, no, it's not a spoof. Some Bengal owners may have a "problem", with what one breeder calls, "Bengal Butt". I think you can guess what that means in the context of this post.

But is it true that Bengal cats' faeces (No.2s) are more potent than the faeces from other cats. I would doubt that, but I don't know. It seems that it could be true and if so, what causes it?

The obvious cause is the quality of the food (the stuff that goes in the other end). Cat breeders know all about their cat food.

RELATED:  a fairly comprehensive page on the sensitive stomach of the Bengal cat. The information on the linked page supplements this page.

What comes across from breeders is that raw cat food made up to a recipe is best for Bengal cats, only this takes a lot of time and effort particularly for cat breeders with several cats. I can remember one breeder saying it cured the problem so it's worth a try, but you have to be careful with a homemade raw food diet for cats. A raw diet can also help treat IBD in cats apparently. 

But raw diets are not necessarily the cure all for these digestion diseases. Click on the next link to read what a Maine Coon breeder thinks of raw cat food.

Giardia?

But according to a Maine Coon breeder, the tiny protozoan parasite Giardia is often the cause of smelly poo and diarrhoea. My research informs me that it affects around 1 in 10 domestic cats to a max. of about 1 in 5 cats in one US state Tennessee. It is quite common. It can be fixed with a pill: Panacur. And there is a test you can buy on Amazon. I would do this before making big changes to diet.

Foods

There is the cost too. Mind you one Bengal cat breeder fed a chicken thigh bone sprinkled with taurine (an essential organic acid and a dietary essential additive if feeding raw cat food that is made up). The cat loved it.

Of the USA manufactured cat foods that seem to be good (and this is from breeders but essentially anecdotal) in respect of reducing the problem of Bengal cat smelly poo the following are recommended it seems (2010):

• Prairie naturals
• Holistic select kibble
• Fromm salmon/duck
• Normal Innova
• Chicken Lover's Chicken Soup - this is the best by all accounts *******. This is I believe, "Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul" a product manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods. It doesn't contain corn and Franny Styufy (the About.com cat specialist and author) recommends it. Note Nov 2019: Franny has retired from writing about cats.
  

Another breeder states that the following food are good for Bengals:

We feed our Bengal kittens and adult cats with: Royal Bengal Adult Dry Cat Food, Purina One True Instinct Natural Grain-Free Formula Adult Dry Cat Food, Royal Canin Kitten Dry Cat Food, and Purina One Grain-Free classic Pate Recipe Wet Cat Food.

It may be the grains in the manufactured cat food (grain is essentially unnatural for a cat) that produces the problem. Other conditions that might cause Bengal butt or Bengal Cat Smelly Poo condition are:-

• Coccidia
• Worms in the intestine (parasites)
  
• Giardia as mentioned
• Tri-Tich (rare it seems) - Tritrichomonas foetus
• Helicobacter canis (this is as per a study published online (https://doi.org/10.1128/jcm.37.10.3271-3275.1999)

One breeder says that Bengals have short intestines as a contributory cause. 

See a vet of course. Parasites can be dealt with fairly routinely.

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