Cat Stool

[PrettyKitty1]

I have been slowly transitioning my cat to homemade foods. I am feeding him ground beef, liver, chicken, steak, and I recently bought vitamin supplements to add to his meals. This vitamins supplement contains fatty acids, Taurine, vitamins A, D, E, C etc.

My question is, how is my cat's stool supposed to look from now on? He spent 2 weeks with an awful diarrhea from his IBD (Chronic Colitis). I’ve actually been struggling for over a year with his IBD and it’s been very, very sad and stressful.  He had been eating Hill's Z/D, but it was doing him more harm than good. The vet wants me to get OM, but I’m not convinced. I decided to slowly switch him to homemade foods. I started doing this 4 days ago.
Since he is eating cooked meals, his fur has improved significantly; it is softer and shinier. He is more active. No diarrhea, no mess around the house, NO BLOOD, clean butt, paws, and no need for steroids or antibiotics. Everything seems to be working out just fine. However, his stool looks loose although he isn't going to the litter box frequently. He now evacuates once a day because he still is getting used to his new diet, doesn’t eat enthusiastically or a lot, and eats mainly when I'm hand feeding him. But his condition has improved and I’m sure he’ll get used to his new route.

My question is, for a cat eating cooked meat...how does the stool usually look? hard? soft? very soft?

[PrettyKitty1]

Would I get probiotic and digestive enzyme from Missing Link? I bought that yesterday online. I also want to buy organs like heart. Is this a good idea?
If not, where could I get that? I know absolutely nothing about this.

Thank you doc. You're great.

P.S - This morning, while cleaning the litter box, I saw a great improvement in his stool. It was more formed and still no blood. Should I give him his meds even though my cat has improved? The vet put him on Flagyl and Prednisone. I don't see the need for that. What should I do?

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

His stool should eventually look like a normal, formed stool.  Congratulations on the success of your homemade diet.  It sounds very complete.  It is just missing two elements, and these are: a good probiotic and digestive enzymes.  Once you incorporate these into the diet your stool problems will be over.  The probiotic and digestive enzyme should be non-dairy and should be started very slowly, for example: 1/16 of a teaspoon once per day for the first 3 days than 1/8 tsp for 3 days, etc.  Gradually increase the dose until the stool is perfect, than stay at that dose.  You may not need both a probiotic and a digestive enzyme.  Begin with the probiotic and gradually add a digestive enzyme.