Fecal score

The fecal score (UK: faecal score) is a tool for assessing stool consistency, useful for tracking the digestive health of a dog or cat, assigning a grade to stool appearance using a reference scale. The best-known scale, published by a manufacturer, runs from 1 to 7: a score of 1 corresponds to very hard, dry stool that is hard to pass, a score of 7 to liquid, shapeless stool, and the intermediate values of 2 to 3 are generally considered ideal, firm yet pliable and well formed (Purina Fecal Scoring Chart; veterinary literature). Above 4, stools become increasingly soft and then liquid. The value of the score is to provide an objective, reproducible marker, more reliable than a vague description, which helps judge the effect of a dietary transition, a diet change or a digestive treatment. A persistent worsening, especially toward high values, warrants veterinary advice, since prolonged diarrhoea risks [dehydration](/glossary/dehydration). The score describes a symptom, not a diagnosis. The marker: recording the score over several days gives a more useful trend than a single observation, especially during a diet change, which makes it a practical companion to gradual transitions, [gut microbiota](/glossary/gut-microbiota) adaptation and the monitoring of [flatulence](/glossary/flatulence) and [inflammatory bowel disease](/glossary/ibd-inflammatory-bowel-disease) in the [Petipedia glossary](/glossary).

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