Cat scooting after having glands expressed?

[Kee]

I adopted my 1 year 3 month old boy, Cole, about a month ago. He has been scooting pretty much since he got here, but never leaves anything behind, and he stopped for a week or so before starting again. The foster family and charity who bestowed upon us this angel in feline form didn't really give many details about his health but said he was fine other than being overweight (he's 6.3kg since the fosterer would basically just feed him treats as his main food but he's eating much better now and exercising indoors)

After he ate the string tail of a mouse toy and a family member took him to a vet to get checked out (it passed by itself, fortunately), the vet expressed his glands while he was there and apparently he was overdue, and a lot of stuff(?) came out.

Only for me to notice him scooting the next day!!

I thought "oh, maybe he's uncomfortable after having some release so I don't blame him", but it's been a week since then and he is still scooting multiple times a day, only for a few seconds and it doesn't smell. His poop is fine otherwise and of good consistency; he's energetic and playful despite being a big boy, just generally seems to be in good health.

Has anyone heard of something like this? Is he like one of those kids who pick their butt for no reason? I can't find any solution online, so I thought of a few, somewhat unlikely, possibilities:

1. The vet is a terrible person and didn't actually express his glands. Hear me out. He didn't change after he got back home, and a family member took him there since I was unavailable. Due to Covid restrictions, Cole just went in without my mum and came out later. His butt isn't shaved and he wasn't messy or wet at all despite being a large cat with long hair (surely the discharge or poop would have got on his fur, or if she washed it the fur would have been wet, right?)

2. He's just not very cultured and scratches his butt because he likes it. Haven't heard of that before, and he's otherwise a very polite boy so it's hard to believe.

3. There is a hidden reason as to why he was scooting in the first place, that I can't find online and the vet didn't pick up and my veterinarian friend couldn't understand either, that's secondary to the anal gland thing.

4. He's still uncomfortable a week after having his glands expressed. Also seems unlikely.

Feel free to ask for further details or post ideas, even if you're not completely sure, since it's still probably a better idea than "the vet didn't feel like doing her job".

Cheers

 

[Caspers Human]

Consider that he might have worms or other intestinal parasites.
Has he been checked and/or de-wormed, recently? If he hasn't, consider getting him checked for worms.

It could also be happening because something he's eating (food or otherwise) might be causing irritation. Have you ever ate spicy-hot chicken wings and experienced the joy of going to the bathroom, the next morning? It could be something like that. It could also happen if he chews on certain kinds of house plants or other things.

Yes, if he had his glands squeezed, they might feel tender or itchy and that might be the cause but, like you say, that should go away after a day or two.

BTW: You don't need to have a vet express an animal's anal glands. Groomers often do it as part of their services. If you know a groomer, you could ask them. You can also do it yourself. It can be a rather icky job but it's not hard to do. Just use a clean, cotton or gauze pad to catch the exudate. Wear a pair of rubber gloves. You don't want to get that junk on your hands. It can be hard to wash off the smell.

When I was a kid, my father used to clean the glands on our dogs. I've done it on dogs but not cats.
The next time you see the vet, ask to be shown how to do it. Once you learn, it's easy.

If you have one of those cats that gets swollen glands, a lot, it might be worthwhile for you to learn how to do it. It might be difficult to get your cat to stand still for the process but, once he learns that it makes his bum feel better, he will probably come around to letting you do it more often.

What kind of food does your cat eat?
Sometimes, if a cat eats soft food, it will have loose or mushy stools. If the stools are too soft, they don't push against the anal glands hard enough to express the fluid naturally. If that happens, the cat could get swollen glands.

The solution would be to add some dry food to the cat's diet to make the stools harder so that the glands get expressed, naturally, as he goes to the litter box.

I'd say to talk to the vet and ask about parasites or whatever else they think might be happening then go from there, afterward.

 

[Kee]

Consider that he might have worms or other intestinal parasites.
Has he been checked and/or de-wormed, recently? If he hasn't, consider getting him checked for worms.

It could also be happening because something he's eating (food or otherwise) might be causing irritation. Have you ever ate spicy-hot chicken wings and experienced the joy of going to the bathroom, the next morning? It could be something like that. It could also happen if he chews on certain kinds of house plants or other things.

Yes, if he had his glands squeezed, they might feel tender or itchy and that might be the cause but, like you say, that should go away after a day or two.

BTW: You don't need to have a vet express an animal's anal glands. Groomers often do it as part of their services. If you know a groomer, you could ask them. You can also do it yourself. It can be a rather icky job but it's not hard to do. Just use a clean, cotton or gauze pad to catch the exudate. Wear a pair of rubber gloves. You don't want to get that junk on your hands. It can be hard to wash off the smell.

When I was a kid, my father used to clean the glands on our dogs. I've done it on dogs but not cats.
The next time you see the vet, ask to be shown how to do it. Once you learn, it's easy.

If you have one of those cats that gets swollen glands, a lot, it might be worthwhile for you to learn how to do it. It might be difficult to get your cat to stand still for the process but, once he learns that it makes his bum feel better, he will probably come around to letting you do it more often.

I'd say to talk to the vet and ask about parasites or whatever else they think might be happening then go from there, afterward.

Oh, I forgot to mention that he was dewormed last month and his poop is fine, so it's not that. The vet checked him as well, and he doesn't show any other symptoms of parasites, so it seems unlikely.

I don't have an issue doing it myself, so yeah I'll ask the vet or groomer next time. Thanks for the tip, btw; I didn't know groomers did it.

The spicy chicken wings theory seems like the most likely. I'll try to feed him some pumpkin to give him some more fibre. His food is probably the culprit but he's tried 3 different types and the scooting hadn't got better or worse. He hasn't been chewing on any houseplants, so I'll have to go around and check things that might be irritating him.