Animal Welfare Professionals

Approximately 2 year old male cat passes stinky gas and has soft formed, no form and or diarrhea poo.  Does this condition have a name?  Is it a serous condition that has to be treated with medication or will a change in diet help?

He was a rescue cat from a fire and a hoarder situation with multiple cats. He has been in a shelter for at least 3 months. I'd like to adopt him but I am a bit concerned about his health.

Thank you

Soft stool can have a lot of different causes; some very temporary and some that require some management throughout their life. It might be something as simple as he's stressed out in the shelter environment (my resident cat gets diarrhea when he's stressed out - we recently moved to a new home and have been dealing with it!). He might not be getting a consistent diet (many shelters just feed whatever food is donated and the animals get a mix of brands, which can upset their stomaches). He might have worms or coccidia (though, since he's been there 3 months and had this "poo problem" for awhile, the shelter should have checked/treated for those). Otherwise, it could be colitis (cat IBS), which is a lifelong thing but very manageable - I attached some information on kitty colitis in a JPG image. 

I'm sure there's many other possibilities too, but those come to mind right away for me! I personally say.... go for it! Worst case scenario, he still gets a loving home for awhile and you'll learn more about his situation... which will be helpful to him and the shelter even if he has to be returned. You could also ask them about fostering this cat!