No products in the cart.
Best Cat Food For Smelly Poop (2024) – 8 Foods To Reduce Stinky Odors
Share:
If there’s one thing about your loving pet that you could probably live without, it’s likely to be the horrific smell emanating from their kitty litter box after each bathroom visit.
While there are some types of litter that help with odor control, as well as litter deodorizers, and litter boxes that can help to minimize the smell, it’s fair to say that the poop of some kitties has an odor that you need to banish!
When your entire home smells of very stinky cat poop every time your cat needs to visit the bathroom, this is usually a sign you should be looking into different kinds of cat food.
The foods that make up your cat's diet and your cat's digestion of those foods has a huge impact on your cat’s faeces smell. The mixture of recipes, and perhaps a human treat here and there, are likely to be the cause, but this can largely be fixed by picking a cat food that doesn't make cat poop stink.
In other words a cat food recipe specifically made for that fix. With that in mind, what have we found to be the best cat food for smelly poop?
Best Cat Food For Smelly Poop
Best Overall
Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet
Best Cat Food For Smelly Poop
Best Overall Choice
Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet
Our extensive testing and research with our own cats and our large audience of cat owners led us to pick the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet dry cat food as the best overall. This had a significant effect for most of us in helping reduce the odors from our cats' poop!
Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet came out in this test as the best cat food for treating smelly poop in cats due to several reasons. Firstly, this diet formula focuses on a limited number of high-quality ingredients, which can help reduce potential allergens or sensitivities that may contribute to foul-smelling feces. The simplified ingredient list allows for easier digestion and absorption, promoting better overall gut health.
Additionally, Natural Balance's "Limited Ingredient" diet includes a carefully selected and portion controlled source of protein and fiber, which can support healthy digestion and regular bowel movements, consequently reducing the odor associated with feces.
3 Top Cat Food For Smelly Poop Picks – Best, Value & Premium
In our research we're always looking for the best overall, but also another couple of good options, one based on value and one if you are able to splash out. As with all our testing, we've done the same thing when looking for cat food that reduces odor in your cat's poop.
The good news for cat owners tired of dealing with foul-smelling odors, is there are various foods out there specifically intended to improve your cat’s digestion and reduce smells.
Here are our top picks for the best cat food for stinky poop in adult cats.
Our Top 3 Choices
Best Overall
Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet Dry Cat Food
Best Value
Rachael Ray Nutrish Cat Food
Premium Choice
Smalls Human-Grade Fresh Cat Food
So that’s a quick chart showing our top three stinky cat poop remedy picks! Now let’s take a deeper look at these best cat foods for smelly poop!
To start with, let’s look at the top 3 in a little more detail.
1. Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet Dry Cat Food - Best Overall
Natural Balance’s “Limited Ingredient” diet minimizes a lot of the “added extras” in other cat foods to reduce unwanted smells.
That's because Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet (L.I.D.) cat food is designed with simplicity and digestibility in mind
The grain-free diet comes with a single animal protein source, reducing the number of ingredients your cats are exposed to. By keeping the number of ingredients low, you can reduce the risk of your cats suffering from allergic reactions to certain foods, which in turn can cause their feces to smell.
In addition, too much protein can also cause smelly poop (as it's not all fully digested) so limiting the protein to the correct amount of lean protein that can be digested (as this formula does) is a great, and natural, way to make cat poop smell less.
This approach of using fewer (and better quality) ingredients aims to reduce potential allergens, problematic compounds and undigested protein that might contribute to smelly poop!
A cleaner diet with highly digestible and fewer ingredients should also lead to better overall gut health, which will result in less smelly waste.
Moreover, this cat food is developed from only high quality ingredients.
High-quality proteins and fats, combined with a low percentage of artificial additives or low-quality "fillers", as found here, will make a noticeable difference in a cat's poop odour.
When a cat's body can more efficiently process and utilize the nutrients it consumes, there's less waste produced and, as a result of this, less odor is produced.
Although this is a dry food, and there is some evidence that wet foods are easier to digest and therefore less prone to causing smelly feces, the real world experience of our testers and community seeing a real improvement in their cats' poop odor, made us pick this as our winner.
We often find that the real world results in our tests may go against the received wisdom, but we report what has worked for us!
So, our conclusion is that the Natural Balance food still contains everything your kitty needs to stay happy and healthy, such as high-quality protein (duck), nutrients for a healthy coat and skin, and plenty of valuable minerals. Whilst being a fair price and most definitely helping with a reduction in stinky poop!
Pros
Cons
2. Rachael Ray Nutrish Cat Food - Best Value
If you’re trying to give your cat the best possible stink controlling diet on a budget, the Rachael Ray Nutrish cat food could be the perfect solution.
This high-quality mixture of rice, vegetables, essential vitamins, and minerals ensures your cat gets everything they need for a healthy digestive system.
While the main ingredient in this food is still protein, it is lean to promote full digestion, but you also get extra value through things like beet pulp for wholesome fiber. If your kitty’s smelly bathroom habits are something to do with discomfort in his stomach, it’s worth trying this budget-friendly food.
Rachael Ray Nutrish Cat Food focuses on only using natural ingredients and again, like our best overall pick above, avoids fillers, artificial flavors, and preservatives.
High-quality ingredients are typically easier for a cat's digestive system to process. The better the digestibility, the less intense the poop odor, as there are fewer fermentable substances that can produce those foul-smelling gases.
In addition, the inclusion of specific proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that cater to a cat's dietary plays an important role too.
A diet tailored to a cat's nutritional requirements not only promotes overall health but can also result in better-balanced gut flora.
Healthy gut flora aids in digestion and can reduce the build up of bacteria that contribute to smelly poops in the litter box.
For a lower priced recipe, this Rachel Ray Nutrish has a lot of support from our community who swutched to it saving money and finding that it helped reduce the litter box smell.
Pros
Cons
3. Smalls Human-Grade Fresh Cat Food - Premium Choice
Smalls Cat Food is a fantastic choice for treating smelly poop in cats due to three main reasons - if the higher cost is not a problem.
In fact, in our tests we found that this performed the best in terms of reducing odor for most cats (but we resisted making it the 'best overall' because of its higher price).
It's likely that it's the overall very high quality of ingredients and high digestibility that is making this improve the smell of our test cats' poop.
Firstly, Smalls Cat Food is made from high-quality ingredients and follows a human-grade approach, ensuring the use of wholesome and easily digestible components.
The use of such high-quality ingredients ensures that the food is fresher, less processed, and contains fewer impurities.
The more natural and unprocessed the food, the easier it is for your cat's digestive system to break it down, leading to far more absorption of nutrients and less undigested food.
When cats can efficiently absorb nutrients, there's less unprocessed waste, which can be the primary source of smelly poop!
Secondly, Smalls Cat Food offers a variety of protein options, such as chicken, turkey, and beef, which are known to be highly digestible for cats.
Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning their bodies are designed to run on nutrients from animal-based proteins.
These proteins, are easily digestible, metabolised efficiently by kitties, and they leave fewer unwanted residues that can ferment in the colon and produce, you guessed it, cat gas and green and smelly cat poop!
Last but not least, Smalls has an absence of artificial additives and fillers which many commercial cat foods contain.
These fillers include stuff like corn, wheat, or soy, which can be much harder for cats to digest.
Smalls has nothing but pure natural ingredients and none of those fillers, so all the hard to digest and process stuff simply isn't in their formula.
Smalls Cat Food's dedicated approach in avoiding such ingredients ensures that a cat's digestive system isn't overloaded with substances it struggles to process.
Thus, fewer furry bottom burps!
Of course, you'll need to show some portion control (as with any food) to make sure that your cat doesn't get to much high protein, but that's easy as Smalls will send you the correct amount.
The only issue really is whether you are able to afford the price which will work out at around a third more than premium canned cat food.
Pros
Cons
Read this next: 12 Best Cat Foods for a Sensitive Stomach
Additional Picks
Now we’ve covered the top picks for the best cat food for smelly poop, let’s take a look at some runner-up options deserving a mention.
These foods are also excellent for supporting your cat’s digestive system and minimizing litter box stink problems.
4. Instinct Original Grain Free Natural Wet Canned Cat Food
This grain free canned wet food from Instinct is something we recommend in many group cat food tests. It regularly comes in our top three picks for foods that are best suited to deal with a range of cats and their conditions.
And it could easily have made the 'best overall' pick for cat food for stinky poop if our testers hadn't seen the first-hand evidence that made them opt for the dry formula from Natural Balance.
There's a strong argument that wet cat food makes for less smelly cat poop for two reasons. Dry food generally has more carbohydrate that is harder for cats to fully process (so the unprocessed waste can smell) and the higher moisture level aids digestion.
That's definitely the case for most recipes and it's why our premium pick is the fresh wet food from Smalls, but this runs it a close second as a wet cat food that doesn't make poop stink.
And, as we said, we often recommend this in other tests, such as best grain free food.
It's ideal if you prefer to feed your kitty canned wet cat food, because the Instinct Original grain-free is easy to digest and fantastic for sensitive stomachs.
This food comes with 95% content from protein sources like chicken, turkey, and liver, so you know your cat is getting only the best.
And it covers the other cause of smelly feces by being completely free of any grain, corn, wheat, soy or artifical preservatives.
Make no mistake, this is a very high quality canned wet cat food that has maintained its standards for a long time and that we rate highly.
Pros
Cons
5. Stella & Chewy's Freeze-Dried Raw Chick, Chick
Stella and Chewy’s dinner morsels are ideal when you want to ensure your cat is getting nothing but the very best ingredients in their food.
The freeze-dried raw dinner morsels are made with 98% cage-free chicken. This food also contains taurine and probiotics for better dietary health.
Some formulas, such as this from Stella & Chewy, specifically include probiotics for smelly cat poop control in their recipe, which seem to aid in clean digestion and do the job of controlling odor.
The main thing we like about Stella & Chewy is that it's almost all high grade animal protein and made from raw ingredients, with nothing added.
Although it's a dry food, this isn't kibble. It's freeze-dried and is designed to have warm water added when you serve it. This makes it very easy to digest and that again contributes to the full digestion of the protein and therefore less smell.
Made in the USA, the all-natural foods are minimally processed to give your kitties the organic eating experience they might have had in nature.
You can even mix these morsels with other foods if you want to give your kitty a boost of extra protein and nutrition.
Pros
Cons
6. Taste Of The Wild Rocky Mountain Grain-Free Dry Cat Food
Packed with extra nutrients, probiotics, antioxidants, and vitamins, the Taste of the Wild food is perfect for giving your cat all of the sensational nutrition they need.
With high-quality flavors to choose from, including smoked salmon and roasted venison, you’re sure to find something that suits your cat’s tastes.
This nutrient-rich food offers cats various vitamins and minerals from superfoods and fruits, to promote a healthy coat and skin.
There’s also access to species-specific probiotics that Taste of the Wild have isolated and grown specifically to promote digestion. These and additional prebiotics ensure healthy and complete digestion and thereby lessen smelly feces.
This is a dry cat food but it has a high level of quality protein. We found this to be a great choice if your cat likes dry food but you need a recipe that helps to make cat poop less smelly.
Pros
Cons
7. Purina ONE Tender Selects Dry Cat Food
Purina uses real chicken as the number one ingredient of its Tender Selects dry cat food, ensuring your furry pal can get all the protein they need to stay healthy and strong.
The high protein content assists with building strong muscles, while the omega-6 fatty acids support a healthy coat and skin.
Purine promises completely balanced nutrition with this kibble, to keep your cat in great condition for longer.
There are also absolutely no fillers in this food, so you can rest assured grains won’t be irritating your cat’s system.
Pros
Cons
8. Blue Buffalo Basics Skin & Stomach Care Grain Free
Blue Buffalo Basics promises a limited ingredient diet with its skin and stomach care food. Fewer unnecessary ingredients mean less risk your cat’s stomach or digestive system will end up being irritated by something in its food.
As with all of the top cat foods, the number one ingredient in this product is protein, via duck or chicken.
This cat food comes with special natural fiber sources to promote healthy digestion, as well as a precise blend of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It also has Blue Buffalo's proprietary 'Lifesource Bits' which are like an included topper that is designed to promote a healthy immune system.
Every part of this food has been custom-made for cats with sensitive stomachs, ensuring digestion issues are kept to a minimum.
Pros
Cons
Read this next: Can Cats Drink Milk? Everything You Need to Know
Cat Food for Smelly Poop Buyer's Guide
Let's be honest, smelly cat poop is pretty horrible! So much so that I'm sure you've found yourself asking, 'how can I make my cats poop less smelly?'.
Understanding that the quality and ingredients of what your furry pal eats directly impacts their digestive health and the eventual poop odor is the first step in finding the right stinky cat poop remedy.
Although there isn't any dedicated cat food recipe specifically for reducing smelly "poopy-mess", the most important thing to look for in a formula is a diet and ingredient list high in digestibility.
The better your cat’s system can process its food, the less waste it produces. Therefore less smelly poop will come out the other end!
Usually the cause of the odor in the litter box is the bacteria working to digest the parts of the food that your cat could not process completely. It's there, in the poop, being worked on by the bugs and, stinking!
Many commercial cat foods are filled to the brim with carbohydrates, fillers, artificial additives, and low-quality proteins, all of which slow down and clog your cat's gut and digestive tract.
On the other hand, cat foods made with high-quality, natural ingredients, and without all those unnecessary fillers, are much more likely to result in less stinky watse.
Remember, while looking to fix smelly poop, you really need to focus on improving your cat’s overall digestion.
A cat that digests its food well will naturally produce less smelly poop, resulting in a far healthier, less smelly, and more pleasant living environment for both of you!
What Are the Qualities of The Best Cat Food for Smelly Poop?
The best cat food for smelly poop is usually a food capable of addressing any dietary problems your feline friend might have.
While there are various factors that can contribute to your cat’s bathroom habits, the wrong diet is the most common cause of terrible smells.
Good cat food for smelly stools should have the following elements.
Free from allergenic or irritating ingredients
Limited ingredient cat foods are often a common solution for cats with smelly poop. This is because most of the digestion problems caused by cat foods are a result of something within the food reacting badly with your cat’s digestive system.
If your cat food is packed full of extra ingredients and additives, it’s more likely to cause irritation.
Avoid any common allergens, including grain, and make sure you stay away from cat foods that contain any lactose. There are many ingredients that cause food allergies in cats, so take time to try and work out what your cat reacts to.
Remember, your cat is lactose intolerant, so the presence of any lactose in their diet will only make their bathroom habits worse.
High-quality food sources
Higher quality sources of food are also less likely to cause problems with your cat’s digestive system. Any food you buy for your cat should have a good source of protein as the number one ingredient.
This protein should ideally be from an organic source, like cage-free chicken.
While it’s important to consider your cat’s preferences, focus on foods that are packed with protein and contain a few extra vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Probiotics, prebiotics, and substances which help to promote natural digestion can be useful here too.
Consider raw food
If your cat generally has a lot of digestion issues, you might consider turning to raw cat food. Though more expensive, and a little more complex to prepare than the standard cat food, raw food is free from anything which might cause irritation to your cat’s digestive system.
You can even make your own raw cat food at home and carefully choose each ingredient yourself.
Get 30% off and FREE shipping on cat food!
U.S.A. only
To Find out why we recommend chewy.com, click here
Raw food gives your cat a diet closer to what they would be likely to have in the natural world. Before you switch to a raw food diet, however, you may want to look at speaking to your veterinarian and getting their advice.
They may be able to offer insights to help you make the best possible food for your cat.
Things to Look for In Your Chosen Cat Food
The best cat food for smelly poop will be focused on aiding your cat’s digestion while minimizing anything which might irritate your feline friend’s sensitive stomach. If your cat has a specific issue with their health that might be contributing to their bathroom issues, consider asking your vet for advice on which food to use.
It’s also worth making sure the food you choose can still support your cat’s unique health requirements if they have any. Some factors to look for include:
Things to Avoid
It’s worth remembering every cat is different, and the dietary requirements and digestive health of your feline friend might differ compared to those of other cats. Paying attention to your kitty’s unique health needs and food preferences will help you to make the right choice.
Based on what you know about your cat, it’s worth taking extra steps to avoid substances that might be problematic for them. For instance, food sensitivity triggers commonly contribute to digestion problems and smellier litter boxes.
One of the accepted triggers for cats is also common proteins like chicken, seafood, and beef. This is often overlooked as so many recipes rely on these everyday protein ingredients, but cutting them out could be the fix your cat needs. If you know your cat has an issue with one of these foods, it might be worth experimenting with different proteins.
Another common source of irritants for cats is grain, which is why so many of the top foods on the market are entirely grain-free.
Avoid anything with soy, corn, or wheat as a large ingredient. Similarly, it’s also a good idea to avoid artificial ingredients as much as possible.
Artificial flavors, preservatives, and colors can often irritate your cat’s stomach.
Don’t forget to stay away from dairy and milk products too. Cats are lactose intolerant, and foods or treats with milk as an ingredient can lead to worse stomach problems.
If you’re not sure what kind of foods, recipes, or ingredients might be problematic for your cat, the best option is to try a limited ingredient diet. At the very minimum, get comfortable with reading the cat food label and understanding the ingredients.
This can help you to avoid many of the most problematic ingredients in cat foods.
FAQs
What causes smelly poop in cats?
Smelly poop in cats can be caused by various factors, including poor diet, undigested proteins, food allergies or sensitivities, gastrointestinal issues, bacterial imbalance in the gut, or certain medical conditions.
How can I choose the best cat food for smelly poop?
Look for cat foods that contain high-quality ingredients, limited fillers or artificial additives, and are easily digestible. Try out options that are specifically formulated for digestive health or sensitive stomachs. It can also be helpful to select cat foods that offer a balanced blend of proteins, fibers, and nutrients to promote optimal digestion and reduce smelly stool.
Should I consult a veterinarian about my cat's smelly poop?
Yes, it is recommended to consult with a veterinarian if your cat consistently has smelly poop. A veterinarian can help identify the underlying cause and provide appropriate guidance and recommendations for managing the issue. They may suggest dietary changes, additional tests, or treatments based on your cat's specific situation.
Best Cat Food for Smelly Poop: The Verdict
Finding the best cat food for smelly poop for your cat might take a while and a little experimentation. You’ll need to choose a food that supports your cat’s digestion, but also appeals to their individual preferences, which isn’t always simple.
Always keep an open mind to parasites, bacteria, and bacterial infections (salmonella) as these can be the other cause of stinky poop and diarrhea.
Our favorite overall option is the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient diet cat food. Not only does this limited ingredient food reduce the risk of your cat suffering from allergic responses to various irritating foods, but it’s packed full of high-quality nutrition.
With this simple dry cat food, you can cut out common problematic foods, and still give your kitty the right balance of protein, antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins to keep them healthy.
We would also reiterate that, if your budget allows, give Smalls cat food a try (there's a money back guarantee!). It's probably the best food you can give your cat - enough said!
Good luck finding the food best for tackling your cat’s smelly litter box habits.
Get 30% off and FREE shipping on cat supplies!
U.S.A only
To Find out why we recommend chewy.com, click here
Share: