When researching an answer for a client, I came across two interesting articles. One said there was a “new agent in feline diarrhea”. Another article said Tritrichomonas foetus was first reported in 1956 in cats. As many our cats become weaker from the many stressors, they become more susceptible to being infected by and developing symptoms because of many different organisms. When working with healthy animals, I may see various bacteria or protozoa that are causing no symptoms. They are in a balance with the cat or dog. 

 This is a single-celled, flagellated protozoal parasite similar to Giardia. It lives in the colon and distal ileum. It is most frequently seen in large cat colonies and there may be no symptoms or different amounts of smelly diarrhea, often with increasing size of the stool.

When cats are fed their best diet (may be different for each cat) stools should be small – my 8 pound Molly had ones the size of my little finger or smaller – once a day.  Food with a lot of fiber, or poor ingredients will cause many cats (and dogs) to have large stools, often several times a day since much that is eaten is not digested. If there are large stools, even if smelly, I would first try a better diet, add probiotics, then digestive enzymes, then contact your healing team. 

If the condition persists and a stool sample was negative, be sure to check for giardia and Tritrichomonas foetus. do not use the antibiotics that will be suggested by the conventional veterinarian. Build health with your team.