Cat dragging rear end across floor..

sharpless

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My 2 year old female (spayed) has been doing something strange lately. She will sit down and drag her bottom across the floor. Then, she sometimes licks the area. This is not some prank. I'm concerned and I am curious about the problem. All her other signs are normal. She's eating OK and she spends approx 70% indoor, 30% outdoors.

I've seen her when she was in heat last year and it doesn't seem to be the same symptoms. She's been spayed but am I seeing some type of withdrawal? Perhaps an incompleted ovary removal?

Thanks for any help.
 

Anne

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I think you should get her to see the vet. I don't think she's in heat. Could be a case of worms or some other medical problem. She's probably very uncomfortable, maybe even in pain, so I wouldn't wait with this.

Please let us know what the vet says and how she's doing!
 

deb25

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My 5-year-old male, Squirt, has done that before, but never with any regularity, and very infrequently. Since it was never a problem behavior, I always assumed he was using my carpet as some sort of cat toilet paper (I know, not a pretty picture). I would be interested in hearing the cause of the behavior too.
 

fireshoes

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I believe I read somewhere that this is caused by plugged anal glands and she's dragging to try to get some relief. I'm not 100% sure of the diagnosis but I think a trip to the vet will take care of the problem.
 

deb25

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My Joey had a tapeworm last year, but he never did the "drag butt" thing. I guess I tend to agree with some type of anal irritation. Like I said, I've seen Squirt do this a very few times, indicating some type of small irritation that is no big deal. If the cat is doing it ALL the time, I'd say it's time to go to the vet.
 

katzdesigns

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The purpose of this behavior is to either scratch or wipe off the butt. The usual culprits are worms...they itch or sometimes loose bowel movements that, since they have no thumbs to hold toilet paper, they will use the floor Simple worm treatment by your vet will probably solve this problem.. You might want to have the vet "express" the anal glands while you are there.
 

feral

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I agree, your kitty probably has worms. However, it could be a condition of impacted stools. Either way, your kitty needs to see a vet as soon as she can. Worms are a very destructive parasite.
 

kittykratz

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It sounds like a classic case of infected anal glands. She will have to go to the vet to get them expressed. Once a cat has had infected anal glands, they may have a tendency to recur, but the vet can just express again, if it should happen. Good luck.
 
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