Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm curious about how often a senior cat should pass a stool?

My cat used to pass one every day until I switched him to an all canned food diet and now he seems to be going every other day. I feed him wellness grain free canned turkey and I'm wondering if maybe the lack of grain is causing him to have infrequent stools? I used to give him a little bit of dry in addition to the wet and he had very normal stools. He also takes budesonide for IBD but he's been on that for awhile and has had normal stools. The only change in his diet has been the switch to all wet food. My vet suggested I add benefiber to his water but that doesn't seem to be helping! I've also tried giving him psyillium husk powder mixed in his food but he won't eat it.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Canned food is almost all meat, and thus highly digestible, leaving little residue to pass out. Dry food has significant amounts of grain, including the fiber, which leaves more residue. The residue in the colon stimulates bowel movement. If your cat is not having trouble passing a stool, and does not seem to be uncomfortable when she does not have a stool each day, there is no need to do anything.