cat doesn’t clean bum

paprisun

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Hi! I got a kitten a few days ago and she’s 2 months old. She cleans herself but still has some hard dried poo on her. i’ve tried cleaning it with a wet washcloth and it won’t come off, plus she hates it so she starts trying to get away.

I see her clean in the area but it seems like she’s just not doing a good enough job. any tips?
 
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paprisun

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I was also wondering if i could use aquaphor on it to soften it up, i saw somewhere it was ok for cats but i’m not sure
 

di and bob

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I would just have someone hold her by the skin on the back of her neck on a table and trim it with scissors, a blunt nose would be safer. Kittens are notorious for not cleaning themselves properly, after all, they are so new to it. she will do a much better job as she ages. if she has a vet visit soon for vaccinations, etc. have the vet shave her back there, my vet didn't even charge me. They are MUCH better behaved at the vets because they are scared. They struggle against us because they are more comfortable and can.
The Aquaphor, or vaseline are both safe for pets, you could try that first. Don't let her eat too much of it, it is also a laxative for cats!
 
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paprisun

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I would just have someone hold her by the skin on the back of her neck on a table and trim it with scissors, a blunt nose would be safer. Kittens are notorious for not cleaning themselves properly, after all, they are so new to it. she will do a much better job as she ages. if she has a vet visit soon for vaccinations, etc. have the vet shave her back there, my vet didn't even charge me. They are MUCH better behaved at the vets because they are scared. They struggle against us because they are more comfortable and can.
The Aquaphor, or vaseline are both safe for pets, you could try that first. Don't let her eat too much of it, it is also a laxative for cats!
ok thanks! it’s only on her actual asshole, her fur is clean- so thankfully i shouldn’t need to trim any of it. but i will definitely try the aquaphor!
 

fionasmom

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Try to keep her little rear clean because if poop dries there it can be very irritating and even lead to a little bleeding if it remains in place against the bare skin.
 

whittwhitt

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So I'm not the only one! Phew! My 6 month old kitten never cleans his butt and I was beginning to worry. Actually just the other day he had a little bit of diarrhea, when he tried to cover it with litter in the litterbox he stepped in it and got it all over his back feet, then proceeded to walk around the house... had to clean his feet myself once I noticed and then I was asking myself why he didn't notice. Then again I haven't been around kittens in a decade. Great to hear that they start cleaning themselves better with age!
 

moggiegirl

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My cat is 4 years old and often has a dirty anus. Eventually it comes off but then it gets dirty again. I also have no luck cleaning it. Mickey runs from me and when it’s dry crusted it just doesn’t come off easily. It concerns me because my cats sleep with me. When Mickey sits next to be on my bed at night I turn my head away so I don’t see his butt. I’m surprised I never noticed dirty butts on my previous cats who I had for 15 and 16 years and they slept on my pillow above my head. I guess we can survive it but ever since I have been noticing Mickey’s dirty butt I don’t let him get too close to my face. If it’s wet pop I say be tough with your cat and clean it off quickly but dry crusted poop…well I need just as much help with this dilemma as you do.
 

crystal dawn

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My girl is the same, she's about 8 now and always seems to have a crusty butt that's hard to clean off. I've had some success with getting her to sit on a warm wash cloth for a bit, then gently wiping off her backside. Her fur is always clean it's the bare and sensitive skin that's crusty.

If she's long haired, it probably wouldn't hurt to trim her back there. I try to do that with my boy because poop and everything else seems to get stuck to his butt fur, and keeping it short helps. He's a very long haired cat. Not sure what breed his parents were strays. My Boys about 7 now.
 

RoJo

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So I think I've figured out why the dry-poo-butt thing happens...
I've got 2 cats- one is a male and about a year and a half old, and the other is his younger auntie (go figure) who is about 4 months old. My older male cat always grooms and always has done since he was tiny, but his little Auntie barely wipes her face when she's finished eating, so in general I don't think she is a great groomer. It was one day that she was on my lap that I smelt poo, and realised that she had dried poo in her bum which shocked me. As a result I started wiping her bum with warm softened tissue and it seems to come off ok, but she hates it because I have to hold her down to do it, and even when she has a wet bum she hardly tries to dry it!

So tonight I tested what would happen if I put a little of something "cat tasty" (and friendly) on her butt to see if she then grooms herself. Well she could smell it, but could not find it and when I helped her to get into the position cats do to groom their butts she fought me, however eventually smelt the "cat tasty" and began to lick. I discovered two things however:
1) she doesn't seems to like that position and therefore doesn't seem to naturally stay there (she looked REALLY awkward in comparison to my older cat who just sprawls open his legs in the middle of the dance to ensure his hind end is clean!!)
2) Because of the way presumably female cats are built around the genitals (again comparing to my male cat), once in the above position- her butt hole was not fully reached!! I could see that her genitals were exposed but her butt hole was almost "creased closed" because of the way it sits on her. If you compare a male and a female cats genital areas- female cats butts sit higher and more protruding than a males- who's "balls" protrude more, causing their butt to be in a little "cave".

So there you have it, I think it may possibly be the build or shape of females which causes them to not groom their butts, although I have seen a few posts in which people have mentioned male non-butt-groomers too. The majority of posts I have seen however (and believe me I have scoured the internet for a solution to try and "teach" her to groom her butt) are referring to dry-poo-butt problems with their female cat.

Hope that helps someone, despite not having a solution. After this I've just come to accept that she is a little smelly girl, and when my male cat has a chance he licks her to death because he obviously thinks the same! The only place he cant seem to concentrate on though... is her butt because she always runs away from him!!!
We love our beauties regardless though right.. but maybe not enough to sleep with poo-butts on the bed any longer haha

Stay blessed ya'll x
 
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