You can't check your cat's poop without difficulty if she is an indoor/outdoor cat

This is an aspect of looking after an indoor/outdoor cat which genuinely concerns me. Indoor/outdoor cats go to the toilet outside. Normally you never see it happen. I don't see my cat going to the toilet. I sort of know when he is gone to the toilet because he does it at a similar time each day and I can smell actually that he has just been but I don't know where and I don't see his poop.

And to be perfectly honest I am failing my cat in this respect because at a very simple level it is useful for a cat caregiver to check their cat's poop from time to time. It is a good diagnostic tool. And of course, if your cat is an indoor cat, you will be looking at your cat's poop every day when you clean out the litter tray. It's an automatic, quick check on your cat's digestive system and general health.

A lot of illnesses result in diarrhoea. Diarrhoea, as you no doubt know, is not a disease but a symptom. A common cause is overfeeding because the colon cannot deal with the quantity of food provided.

Food in the small intestine takes about eight hours to get to the colon. The bulk of the food is absorbed at this stage. 80% of water is absorbed in the small bowel. The colon concentrates and stores the waste and at the end of the process a well-formed stool is evacuated containing no mucous, blood or undigested food.

But if the food passes through the intestinal tract rapidly it is incompletely digested and arrives at the rectum in a liquid state. This is diarrhoea. And the transit time down the gastrointestinal tract can be speeded up because the cat has eaten some irritating substances including (this is not a complete list):

• Dead birds, rodents and other dead animals; 
• decaying food and garbage;
• foods that are too rich, salts, spices and fat;
• indigestible items such as plastic, paper, cloth et cetera;
• intestine or parasites (endoparasites).

Although it can happen, it is uncommon for a cat to have diarrhoea from eating toxic substances. This is because cats are quite careful about what they eat and they tend to eat slowly. But sometimes toxic substances can be ingested when their cat grooms themselves and clean their feet. These toxic substances can be toxic to the stomach and cause vomiting and diarrhoea. The substances include, for example:

• Tar derivatives, oil, kerosene gasoline;
• refrigerants and cleaning fluids;
• toilet bowl cleaner inserts, bleaches, insecticide;
• mushrooms, ornamental plants and wild plants;
• and building materials such as paints, lime and cement.

Some adult cats and kittens are unable to digest milk and milk byproducts. This is because they are lactose intolerant. Most domestic cats are lactose intolerant because they lack adequate amounts of the enzyme lactase. It causes diarrhea and for kittens it can be very serious because it dehydrates and ultimately it can kill kittens if the problem is left unaddressed.

Finally, some cats experience emotional diarrhoea when they are excited or stressed. If you want to narrow the search for the cause of the diarrhoea you begin by examining the colour, frequency of stools and the odour and consistency.

It is notable that veterinarians suggest that you bring to a veterinary clinic appointment a sample of your cat's stool as it will be useful to your veterinarian in diagnosing illness

Analysing diarrhoea, although it sounds horrible, is a very good way to diagnose the where it has happened in the intestines such as rapid transit or a bacterial infection or malabsorption and then from that you may be able to get a handle on the underlying cause.

1. For example, if there are several small stools in an hour with straining the likely location is the colon and the likely cause is colitis according to my veterinary handbook.
2. If, in another example, the diarrhoea is putrid, the likely location where this happens is the small bowel and the likely cause is an intestinal infection with bleeding.
3. In a third example, if the colour and appearance of the stool is soft and bulky, the location where this occurs is a small bowel (rapid transit) and the likely cause is due to overfeeding or poor-quality diet, high in fibre.

My suggestion if you want to take me up on this would be to occasionally place a litter tray in the home or outside the home with fresh litter substrate in the tray to encourage your cat to use it at which time you will be able to check on their poop.

Of course, you can make an outdoor toilet with sand or some other suitable substance but there's no guarantee that your cat will use it and they might have a variety of locations where they go to the toilet of which you are unaware. 

It is very convenient for the caregiver if their cat goes to the toilet outside. Perhaps it is too convenient because you tend to accept it and forget about the advantages of cleaning the litter tray. That's sounds extraordinary but there are advantages in terms of monitoring your cat's health.

How do cats automatically know how to use the litter box?

Well, the answer is obvious so I'll keep it short. Cats instinctively look for a suitable substrate on which to urinate and defecate. There is nothing in the home which anywhere near meets their criteria for an effective substrate except the litter in the cat litter tray which is somewhat like earth or sand from outside the home except better as it is made to be more absorbent. So, they make a beeline for it.

Substrate: an underlying substance or layer.

Cats and kittens use them instinctively as the substrate is ideal. Image: MikeB

They can poop and pee on it and if they feel the need (not all domestic cats do) they can bury it. Most often they bury poop. My male cat did not. Perhaps because he felt confident enough not to hide his scent. Hiding poop is a sort of submissive act to make themselves invisible to more dominant males.

Of course, after they've used the new litter tray for the first time it smells of their poop and pee so they recognise the litter tray as their toilet. They already know it is a nice substrate. Becoming their toilet reinforces its use.

Cat litter trays should not be over cleaned and disinfected as it kills off the cat's scent which they like. It is just possible that a cat might stop using their litter tray if it is bleached and scrubbed to well.

It should be kept clean but not overclean.

Indoor/outdoor cats don't need a litter tray indoors as they'll find a suitable area outdoors in the same way: a nice substrate. Although if you put down a litter tray, they'll probably use it as it might be more comfortable for them.

Jackson Galaxy says that in general cats prefer uncovered litter trays as covered ones might be a bit of a barrier. I disagree. Covered litter boxes are more private and cats like that. And cats feel more protected in covered litter trays during what is a vulnerable action.

Declawed cats are seven times more likely to pee in inappropriate places.

Declawed cats can find litter substrates of any kind uncomfortable to use because of their sore feet. They may pee and poop outside the box. Declawed cats are about 7 times more likely to do this than non-declawed cats. A warning to those who are considering this obnoxious operation (mutilation).

Another warning: don't use litter substrates which are too dusty as kittens will inhale a ton of dust when digging a hole to poop into. The worse cat litter and the most dangerous as far as I am concerned is Tidy Cats Lightweight Cat Litter. Avoid the stuff please. It is no good. Some cats have died using it.

The manufacturers sold out health and safety to make Tidy Cats more convenient for women to use as it is easier to carry. The directors thought it was a good idea as cat litter can be heavy but they overlooked the health implications.

Environmentally Friendly Cat Litter

I asked Bing's AI for advice about the best cat litter substrate. The response it not great:

The best cat litter substrates are made up of natural materials that are safe for your cat and the environment. Here are some of the best cat litter substrates and why:

• Clay: The cheapest and most popular material for cat litter, clay is good at absorbing liquids but it gets dusty and smelly (which your cat will hate), so it needs regular cleaning.
• Wood shavings or sawdust: Wood shavings or sawdust are biodegradable and eco-friendly. They are also good at absorbing liquids and controlling odors.
• Sand: Sand is a natural material that is good at absorbing liquids. It is also easy to clean and does not produce dust2.
• Whole wheat: Whole wheat is a natural material that is biodegradable and eco-friendly. It is also good at absorbing liquids and controlling odors.
• Potting soil: Potting soil is a natural material that is biodegradable and eco-friendly. It is also good at absorbing liquids and controlling odors.
• Chicken feed: Chicken feed is a natural material that is biodegradable and eco-friendly. It is also good at absorbing liquids and controlling odors.
• Walnut litter: Walnut litter is a natural material that is biodegradable and eco-friendly. It is also good at absorbing liquids and controlling odors.

I hope that helps!

2 tips to keep down cat poop odours

One of these tips is common sense and the other I had not heard of before. A lot of cat owners are probably concerned from time to time about the smell from their cat's litter tray. On the Internet, there is a lot of discussion about keeping down odours. 

I remember one resourceful man with about a dozen cats having an entirely odour free home because he had built a very sophisticated extraction system for several cat toilets. I was very impressed because his home was entirely odour-free. Not many people can do that.

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Coffee grounds are an odour suppresser apparently. Image in public domain.

The first obvious tip is to clean the cat litter as soon as your cat has gone to the toilet. That solves the problem more or less. The difficulty is that you have to be retired or working from home to do this.

Many more people work from home thanks to Covid. So, this obvious tip can be employed.

And it helps to have a litter tray which is easy to get out. There are some beautiful pieces of furniture with litter trays inside them. They fit into the elegant home very well. But access to the litter tray inside is trickier. 

This slight barrier to getting at the litter tray may put off the owner clearing up the litter. This means that odours could leak out of this elegant furniture. The suggestion is that you should have a litter tray which is not tucked away in a nice bit of furniture. This comes down to how houseproud you are and how practical and pragmatic you are.

Multi-cat homes are an added problem in this respect. You should have one cat litter tray per cat. I'm sure people living in multi-cat homes get used to the odours. That's the next tip! Ignore the smell. Get used to it. And don't have any guests in the home! And keep your windows shut 😎. My neighbour does all of this.

I've just read other fancy little tip about reducing the smells of use cat litter. I guess people throw it away in the trash can or waste bin. My cat goes to the toilet outside these days. When I had a cat litter tray, I used to bag it up very carefully which kept the odours in before throwing it away.

Note: read the last paragraph, please.

But a lady from Edinburg in Virginia, USA says that she throws a handful of cheap coffee grounds in the container which effectively suppresses smell. She said: "There's no longer a smell of something dead being in there".

I researched coffee masking or suppressing the smell of poop. Coffee contains caffeine which contains nitrogen which increases carbon's ability to eliminate sulphur from the air. Fancy stuff.

However, you have to carbonised coffee grounds to make them useful as an older suppressant. Perhaps coffee grounds still work to a certain extent in suppressing the odour of cat poop. That must be the explanation as to why the lady from Virginia found it so effective.

You might like to give it a try and if you do, please make a comment.

P.S. Coffee grounds can be used as a cat deterrent! People shouldn't use coffee grounds to suppress the odour of cat poop by putting them next to the cat litter tray. I think that's important. Cats like the smell of their poop. They don't like their litter tray to be deodorised and smelling of perfume. It can put them off using it.

Also, caffeine apparently is toxic to cats and dogs and therefore this tip is only about suppressing the smell of waste cat litter. That's important too.

Frightened kitten poops over girl in car (picture)

This is a bit sad but amusing at the same time. Well, it might be amusing if you are not the girl 🙃. It looks to me as if the family had just adopted this kitten from a rescue center and the kitten was scared as he/she was held by the girl as they drove home. Pooping inappropriately is a sign of stress as it is scent marking to reassure the kitten. It is instinctive. The kitten was removed from her known temporary territory and placed in a strange place. She was out of sorts and needed to reassure herself. There was nothing malicious or hostile in the behavior. The cause is the opposite really; nervousness. I am sure that she settled down quickly and is now a contented adult in her nice home.

Frightened kitten poops over girl in car (picture). Pic in the public domain.

Can I put cat poop in the toilet?

It's a bad idea to put cat poop down the toilet for one major and one minor reason.

Two cats peeing or pooping on a human toilet at the same time. Screenshot. 

Major reason

If you put cat put down the toilet you going to put some sodium bentonite clay-based litter down the toilet with it if your use the stuff. That can block toilets because the sodium bentonite expands and clogs things up. It must be very difficult to separate cat poop from the clay substrate so I don't think this works. A wood-based litter is less problematic but only three things should be flushed down a human toilet: human shit, pee and paper.

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Minor reason

This may be a major reason depending on its veracity but it is at least a minor one 😉. The people who don't like cats, the anti-cat brigade, have claimed that sea otters and beluga whales have been damaged by toxoplasmosis. The toxoplasmosis has infected them through toxoplasma gondii oocysts in cat faeces which had been flushed down the toilet.

Somehow the waste finds its way into the sea. That may happen if water companies are not processing waste properly or it is allowed to drain directly out to the sea illegally, but it does happen sometimes.

If sea otters and beluga whales are indeed harmed in this way then it's a good reason to throw away cat poop in landfill in the usual way. It's more tiresome and troublesome but all-in-all it is safer and more sensible.

This also affects a decision on whether you train your cat to use the human toilet which is quit popular nowadays. I think the risk as described is very small so we can call this objection very minor.

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Taiwan's silkworm cat food for less smelly cat poop!

Miaoli Agricultural Research and Extension Station have created a cat food from a waste by-product of the silk producing industry. They use silkworm pupae (grubs) with added immune protein as the raw material for this novel cat food.

Photo: Miaoli Agricultural Research and Extension Station

A Café owner, Rosa Su, said:

"They have more energy and less smelly faeces, which is more than I expected."

She should know because she's looking after a lot of cat on a daily basis. She will know cat poop very well. 😉

There could be no better endorsement. You can buy the food in a variety of flavours. The research team say that the feedback has been positive.

It's an example of improving sustainability in manufacturing. It is also an example of a modern trend in trying to improve the ingredients and nutrients in cat food while also minimising waste in manufacturing processes. 

The world has changed. There is greater focus by consumers on the environment and in this instance on cat food ingredients. Also pet food manufacturers damage the planet.

Cat owners are more demanding because they are more knowledgeable thanks to the internet. A lot has been written about the, often, poor quality of many cat foods based as they are on poor raw products.

Silkworm pupae is an excellent raw product because it is high in protein, fat and minerals. And, in any case, domestic cats eat insects naturally. Pupae are part of the life cycle of an insect; the silkworm. The silkworm is economically important insect as it is the primary producer of silk and it is clever to use it to create cat food as well.

The scientists who created this food say that it helps eliminate harmful intestinal bacteria which in turn reduces the odour of cats' waste products i.e. the poop smells nicer!

ASSOCIATED PAGE: Why is cat poop so smelly?

Quite a lot has been written, also, about smelly cat poop. It's a target of informed cat owners to reduce the odour of cat poop as it is indicative of a healthy gut and improved gut flora. This should benefit the health of the cat. Homemade raw cat food is a tool used by some cat owners. IBD is an increased cat health problem ostensibly because of poor quality foods.

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Silkworm grubs live inside silk cocoons. The grubs are high in the kind of nutrients which are healthy for domestic cats. And they boosted the quality of the food by stressing the silkworms to make them think that they are in danger. This technique boosts the content of immune proteins in the grubs which kills harmful bacteria inside the cat who has eaten the food.

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One motivator for silkworm cat food is that it is no longer economically feasible, apparently, to cultivate the insects for fabric production alone. The cocoon can also be used in cosmetics. If manufacturers are able to use every part of the silkworm life-cycle there is an economical benefit. They can keep the costs down and be more profitable and sustainable.

Apparently, a can of silkworm cat food sells for US$2.43 which is a bit more than average canned wet food in Taiwan (NT$68). They believe that the product will be accepted even though it's more expensive because it is environmentally superior and arguably the ingredients are better.

In a crowdfunding campaign they reached their fundraising preliminary goal within 24 hours, indicative of the potential for this novel cat food.

In comparison, China has plans to turn industrial exhaust waste from gargantuan factories into animal feed which I will presume includes cat food eventually. It looks ghastly by comparison but if they can make it work so much the better provided the food is of decent quality. We don't want to go backwards in terms of food quality because it's often bad enough already.

Residents say that feral cats on this street are causing a foul smell of cat poop. Are they exaggerating?

REIGATE, SURREY, UK - NEWS AND COMMENT: The residents of pretty Nutley Lane, Reigate, UK, have been complaining about the all-pervading pong of feral cat poop that wafts down the entire street and they've demanded that something be done about it. They have got their way. Cats Protection have a team of volunteers who are trapping the cats. They'll be sterilized and vaccinated and relocated away from Nutley Lane.

The stench is "occasionally unbearable and environmentally unsound" according to one resident.

Residents say that feral cats on this street are causing a foul smell of cat poop. Are they exaggerating? Photo: Surrey Live.

Although they've said that the number of feral cats has greatly increased only 5 have been seen by one resident who reported that some residents have installed cat deterrents which emit a sound only audible to cats.

Feral cat numbers do increase because they are unneutered which is where TNR volunteers do vital work. There are no TNR volunteers in Reigate apparently. But Cats Protection will do a good job. They are looking for farmers willing to take on feral and semi-feral cats as mousers and barn cats.

Relocating feral cats can be problematic. I think they'll have to relocate them a good distance from Nutley Lane to ensure that they don't go back.

I have a feeling, but no evidence, that one resident or some residents have made a fuss over this and exaggerated the stink because they saw one or two stray cats and wanted them gone asap. 

There are those who genuinely feel that feral cats spread disease and are a nuisance and others who accept them as part of the community, hence the description 'community cats'.

If they've been there for a while someone is probably been feeding them. Feral cats congregate where there is food. 

Source: Surrey Live.