Cat Is Bum Scooting On A Regular Basis

permanentrose

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Hi everyone. Looking for some insight if anyone has any! I have a 3 yr old cat with medium/longish hair. This is my first time owning a cat (I've had dogs my whole life) so I'm not always sure what is normal for them. I've had her for approximately 6 months now. She scoots her bum across the carpet fairly often (I see it a few times a week, and I'm sure she does it more often when I'm not around), and I'm not sure how typical this is or when I should start to worry. I took her to vet a couple of months ago, and they expressed her glands, which were not impacted so its doubtful that it was causing her enough discomfort to be the cause of the scooting. She also is parasite free. I switched her food to a salmon dry food with brown rice that has fiber to help with bulking and prevent runny stools. I stopped feeding her wet food since my cousin mentioned to me that her cat has looser stools when he eats wet food and tends to scoot. Not sure if I should try having her anal area groomed, as I know cats with longer fur can get things stuck there and it can cause discomfort. Just looking to see if anyone else has experienced this. She doesn't leave a mess on the carpet and if it's just something natural that happens, I can deal with it, but I'm worried she's experiencing some kind of discomfort that I might need to address.

Here is a picture to give you an idea of her fur type.

 

MissClouseau

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I stopped feeding her wet food since my cousin mentioned to me that her cat has looser stools when he eats wet food and tends to scoot.
Lots of cats eat wet food. In fact they say it's better for cats. From everything you told me to me the #1 suspect is constipatition/hard stool. Most cats tend to not drink enough water and wet food helps a lot. With dehydration their stools also tend to get hard(er).
 
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permanentrose

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Lots of cats eat wet food. In fact they say it's better for cats. From everything you told me to me the #1 suspect is constipatition/hard stool. Most cats tend to not drink enough water and wet food helps a lot. With dehydration their stools also tend to get hard(er).
Totally didn't even think of that! Makes sense that she could still be scooting because she's having a hard time getting her poop completely out. Any wet food brand suggestions? She seems to have a bit of a sensitive tummy. She was throwing up a lot a few months ago and it's almost completely stopped since I've put her on an all fish diet.
 

MissClouseau

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Totally didn't even think of that! Makes sense that she could still be scooting because she's having a hard time getting her poop completely out. Any wet food brand suggestions? She seems to have a bit of a sensitive tummy. She was throwing up a lot a few months ago and it's almost completely stopped since I've put her on an all fish diet.
Mine has a sensitive tummy too but fish doesn’t work well for her so my suggestions will be poultry. Naturea chicken. Or Pro Plan Delicate (canned). Both in mousse texture.
 
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permanentrose

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Mine has a sensitive tummy too but fish doesn’t work well for her so my suggestions will be poultry. Naturea chicken. Or Pro Plan Delicate (canned). Both in mousse texture.
Thanks. She was on a chicken diet when I got her and I was worried that the chicken might be causing her some sensitivity, but the truth is that she wasn't on a high quality food and might have been getting more by product than actually quality meat. I will definitely consider experimenting some more with diet changes to see if it helps with the scooting.
 

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I saw my Charlie bum-scooting a few times, so took him to the vet. Like you, he's the first cat I've lived with (does one really "own" a cat, or is it the other way around?) so still learning about them. Apparently his anal glands needed to be expressed - who knew that this was an issue for cats, too? I've seen no more bum-scooting since then. Hope your girl gets some relief soon!
 
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permanentrose

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I ended up calling the vet today since I have noticed it happening more. She suggested I add a scoop of canned pumpkin into her food twice a day to add more fiber to her diet. Ended up getting some this afternoon and so far she seems far from interested in eating it but we shall see :)
 

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the vet...suggested I add a scoop of canned pumpkin into her food twice a day

.....so far she seems far from interested in eating it
Cats are far more sensitive than humans to changes in the smell and taste of their food.

A "scoop", no matter the size of said scoop, will invariably make a significant change to both the smell and the taste of her food.

You don't want to avert her from eating - and, some cats will just flat-out refuse to eat at all if they find it offensive. Don't get into a standoff with her - you won't win.

One of mine did not like the change when I added some pumpkin and refused to take it. I stopped it completely, then, after a few days I began again - but, this time I added just a pinch. Over the following days I very gradually increased the amount until I eventually reached the amount I needed.

Sneakiness works!
.
 

di and bob

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Yes, mix a teaspoon or so in canned food, something with fish to mask the smell. If her stools are hard and small, a 1/8 tsp. of Miralax mixed in food or in a beaten egg yolk works wll for constipation. Ask your vet first of course. If her stools are runny, it may be teh discomfort of hardened stool, ask your vet to shave her rear end the next time you are in. They are usually pretty docile at the vets, unlike at home!
 

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One of mine did not like the change when I added some pumpkin and refused to take it. I stopped it completely, then, after a few days I began again - but, this time I added just a pinch. Over the following days I very gradually increased the amount until I eventually reached the amount I needed.
Yes, to pinches! I put very tiny amounts of pumpkin in two meals a day for our cats. I put it on the dish then pile food on it. They lap it up like that. Each cat get less than 1/8 of a teaspoon per day. That works great for them -- a helpful person at one of our local pet food stores said lots of cats need very, very little pumpkin -- and when I absentmindedly increased Ireland's pumpkin, she got slightly constipated again, so be careful!
 

Talien

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Lots of cats eat wet food. In fact they say it's better for cats. From everything you told me to me the #1 suspect is constipatition/hard stool. Most cats tend to not drink enough water and wet food helps a lot. With dehydration their stools also tend to get hard(er).
Yes, dry food is essentially junk no matter how "high quality" the ingredients are, Cats naturally get almost all of their water intake from prey and dry food is not exactly high on moisture. Canned, raw, or reconstituted freeze dried food has high moisture content and better fits their natural low thirst drive, it's why it's pretty much universally accepted that almost any canned food is better than any dry food.

The only advantage to dry food is for Humans, it's cheap and easy.
 
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permanentrose

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Cats are far more sensitive than humans to changes in the smell and taste of their food.

A "scoop", no matter the size of said scoop, will invariably make a significant change to both the smell and the taste of her food.

You don't want to avert her from eating - and, some cats will just flat-out refuse to eat at all if they find it offensive. Don't get into a standoff with her - you won't win.

One of mine did not like the change when I added some pumpkin and refused to take it. I stopped it completely, then, after a few days I began again - but, this time I added just a pinch. Over the following days I very gradually increased the amount until I eventually reached the amount I needed.

Sneakiness works!
.
Thank you for the tip! Getting her to eat it has been a battle this past week. I have a few more questions for you, if you don't mind.

Do you mix it in with dry or wet food? Juniper eats primarily dry food, seems to enjoy grazing on it throughout the day. She does nibble on wet food but never seems to finish her bowl of it, even when I only give her a small amount.

How long does pumpkin last for? The can I got feels huge since I've been trying to add just tiny amounts here and there. I've had it in the fridge for about a week now, but I'm worried about how long it will keep, and there's still so much of it left.

I've noticed a few marks on the carpet, so I suspect she's been scooting still even if I haven't seen it, so whatever bit of pumpkin she's been getting in her hasn't made a difference yet. Her poops are definitely of the small pebble variety. She probably isn't getting enough liquid in her diet, but she seems to be very picky about eating wet food.
 

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Do you mix it in with dry or wet food? Juniper eats primarily dry food, seems to enjoy grazing on it throughout the day. She does nibble on wet food but never seems to finish her bowl of it, even when I only give her a small amount.
Personally I don't mix wet food with dry food if you mean in the same bowl. My Hima doesn't finish an 80-85 grams can at one sitting. I split one can into half, half in the am, the other half in the afternoon. Then lately another can - half in the evening, the other half before bed. (Hours depend on what time we woke up that day.) I always keep a little dry food on a different bowl, I use it to understand when she's hungry and at nights she likes to eat a bit if she wakes up and obviously I can't leave wet food outside. I work from home though. Those timer-feeders seem to be a good help for the times when we don't have the oppurtunity to serve food several times a day. Smaller several portions throughout the day is better than two big portions for their digestive health too.
 

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I've had my share of battles with a constipated cat! Wet food is 100% the way to go for a million reasons.

I notice you're trying a lot of fiber based options, which is standard for constipation but you do want to be careful. Fiber can be a useful tool but keep in mind it's not a natural part of the diet for a carnivore like it is for humans and the digestive tract isn't built to handle large amounts. Fiber will help push things through the intestine, but it also adds bulk, potentially making the stool even more difficult to pass if it's too large. Bulk will also stretch out the colon, and long term it could contribute to megacolon, which is not reversible and can be more difficult to treat than normal constipation. Not that fiber can never be useful, but use it judiciously because it's not entirely harmless.

Also, constipation can get dangerous quickly, so closely monitor the litter box. If she goes more than 3 days without a bowel movement, loses her appetite, becomes lethargic, or starts throwing up, especially after straining, get her to a vet ASAP. Unfortunately with constipation, you can't "fix" the stool that's already sitting in the colon, and an enema is sometimes the only thing that will clear things out.

As mentioned, water is so important. Some wet foods are better than others, but really anything will do to start. Dry food addicts can be tricky to convert. If you can avoid fish I would, because a fish diet can also lead to lots of problems and that's also a difficult habit to break. It's not nutritionally complete, so this is just a temporary option, but human baby food, 2nd stage, in a chicken, turkey, or ham flavor is a great source of calories and moisture for cats, and 90% of them LOVE it. It's just mushed up meat and water, so very good as a bland food for upset stomachs, too. Try it alone or mixing with wet food. I use it all the time for sick cats or to hide medication in.

Ask your vet about Miralax for sure, and also, my holy grail for constipation has been probiotics. Not the floriforta, because that is pretty useless, but something with a lot of acidophilus, and keep it refrigerated. I tried every constipation remedy under the sun, and that is what finally worked for my chronically constipated cat. It should also be helpful for a sensitive stomach.
 

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To follow on molly92 molly92 's very helpful post, I want to add that if constipation is a problem, it's also worth checking food ingredients because bone can cause or contribute to constipation. A lot of commercial raw food contains bone, so cutting back on that has helped Ireland, too. What molly92 says about fiber and a cat's natural diet has always been my concern about using pumpkin, even in tiny quantities, so reducing been has been a priority.

It can be difficult to know what foods have bone because terms used for ingredients are often broad and not all/many labels are specific. AAFCO lists them here. When all else fails, you can write to companies to ask if a certain vague ingredient contains bone or not. Some companies don't/won't/can't say how much bone is in their foods (I suspect it often varies) but with raw foods, where bone is typical, 10% is fairly common and even a couple of meals a day with 10% has been a problem for Ireland, particularly since we feed a couple canned foods that likely have some bone, via byproducts.

Since you asked for wet food suggestions, permanentrose permanentrose , given that your cat has been scooting and might have a sensitive stomach, I'd suggest looking for the simplest possible recipes. I'd avoid grains, potato, peas, and any other vegetable matter that might be carby and caloric. Thickeners like carrageenan can also cause problems for some cats. We avoid all those things for our cats and feed them brands like Weruva (they like the BFF pates and some of the Cats in the Kitchen cans -- the Cats in the Kitchen foods with chicken and fish are favorite treat foods), Bravo, Rawz, Whole Earth Farm, Fancy Feast, and Sheba. The majority of their diet, though, is commercial raw food and homemade cooked food -- we feed a lot of those because our cats also have digestive quirks and they do best on a very meat-based, low-carb diet.
 
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