Kitten Butt Scooting

[Tupperware Chip]

Hi all! I'm stumped. My 9 month old kitten has been occasionally butt scooting after pooping. He used to do it a lot more and when we had him neutered the vet said his anal sacs were full so she emptied them and we put him on 30 days of probiotics. Then after the 30 days he continued to butt scoot after every BM again. So back to the vet and they gave us a broad spectrum anti-parisitic medication to be given once then again 2 weeks later. That was when he was 7 months. Hes now 9 months old and he very occasionally butt scoots. We switched him to a high fibre diet and the vet says hes healthy and they cannot see why he is doing this. We current have him on Orijens Cat and Kitten with added pumpkin puree. We will be switching him to Orijens Fit and Trim which has double the amount of fibre in it once this bag of cat and kitten is done. Any advice ?!?!?!

 

[verna davies]

Non emptying of anal sacs seems to be the most commom cause of butt scooting. When a cat passes a stool it should empty the sacs but if the stools are soft or he has diarrhoea, then it will not. How are your kitten's stools , are they normal?
There might be a little irritation in that area, does he lick there excessively?

 

[LTS3]

Some cats just need a little help with their anal glands every so often. You can do this at home. Ask the vet to show you first or try online videos and articles.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. How much poop is being left behind on the floor from the butt scooting - any? How about when he did it before? Is there any sign of a brownish-watery type goop on the floor? That can be the liquid coming from his anal glands and the scooting might be happening - as said above - to help express his anal glands because the action of pooping is not accomplishing it.

Was the anti-parasitic a precaution when he got it a couple of months ago, or did the vet feel for sure he had parasites? Does he go outdoors? If so, he could have picked up parasites again.

 

[Tupperware Chip]

When he used to butt scoot prior to his neutering and his anal sacs being emptied, he butt scoot literally every BM and he left behind quite a large poopy streak on the ground or carpet. The vet felt the anti parasitic was a precaution. Now when he scoots barely anything is left behind. Maybe the tiniest little bit of a smear but nothing significant. I've expressed his anal glands once and the tiniest amount of brown pungent fluid came out but nothing crazy. He doesnt have litter or anything stuck to his backside and his anus doesnt look reddened or irritated.

 

[FeebysOwner]

The only other thing I could offer as an idea would be to help him clean his behind daily with a hypoallergenic unscented wipe. Perhaps, that would help keep the anal glands stimulated just enough to stop the behavior. If he has been on the same food throughout this time, it shouldn't be that he has some sort of allergy to it, but cats can get allergies all of a sudden and maybe the food is irritating him at bit, but not to the point of his anus becoming reddened.

Just out of curiosity, why are changing his food - purely for the additional fiber? Is he having loose stools? The name Fit and Trim would suggest a potential weight issue? Even as young as he is, if he is overweight a bit, he could be cleaning less than needed.

I am sure other members will see your post and have some other ideas in mind - or, at least, I hope so. Sometimes, it takes a while before they get to get to all of the posts and get a chance to respond.

 

[Tupperware Chip]

The only other thing I could offer as an idea would be to help him clean his behind daily with a hypoallergenic unscented wipe. Perhaps, that would help keep the anal glands stimulated just enough to stop the behavior. If he has been on the same food throughout this time, it shouldn't be that he has some sort of allergy to it, but cats can get allergies all of a sudden and maybe the food is irritating him at bit, but not to the point of his anus becoming reddened.

Just out of curiosity, why are changing his food - purely for the additional fiber? Is he having loose stools? The name Fit and Trim would suggest a potential weight issue? Even as young as he is, if he is overweight a bit, he could be cleaning less than needed.

I am sure other members will see your post and have some other ideas in mind - or, at least, I hope so. Sometimes, it takes a while before they get to get to all of the posts and get a chance to respond.

I will try the wipes and see if that is helpful for him. Hes an otherwise very energetic kitten, maybe with a mild Pica issue but we keep that in check. We are changing him to orijens fit and trim because our other cat is overweight and our kitten requires more fibre. Orijens fit and trim doesnt have decreased calories or anything and it's still got the same amount of protein and nutrients jusy more fibre in it to make the cats feel more full. The vet says it's a win win food for us because our Maine coon is overweight and our kitten needs more fibre as his poops tend to be more on the soft side of things and she suspects bulking his poop up will help decrease butt scooting. Our kitten is very energetic, food motivated, and vocal. He purrs a lot and is slowly learning that night time is for sleep not play haha. One thing I do find weird is he is quite small for almost a year old. The vet suspects he was the runt of the litter but we have no way of knowing that.

 

[FeebysOwner]

The vet might be right, kind of make sense. The slightly loose stool could be the key, and maybe he is just very sensitive to things like that.

Since you are going to change out food anyway, why not start mixing the 'new' food with the 'old' as you transition them, instead of waiting for the 'old' bag to be done? That is generally the best way to go with any food changes, just to let their digestive systems slowly get used to the differences. You might get the added benefit of see less butt scooting sooner!!

 

[Tupperware Chip]

The vet might be right, kind of make sense. The slightly loose stool could be the key, and maybe he is just very sensitive to things like that.

Since you are going to change out food anyway, why not start mixing the 'new' food with the 'old' as you transition them, instead of waiting for the 'old' bag to be done? That is generally the best way to go with any food changes, just to let their digestive systems slowly get used to the differences. You might get the added benefit of see less butt scooting sooner!!

I definitely agree and I will buy a new bag of food soon to start the transition I'm hoping the slightly softer stool is the issue and I'm hoping as he gets older he will grow out of this issue... I'm also hoping he grows out of the Pica because I've had to put away all my nice blankets and I want to use them! Haha

 

[war&wisdom]

Do you mean that he just likes chewing on things? Or does the vet actually think he has pica?

 

[Tupperware Chip]

Do you mean that he just likes chewing on things? Or does the vet actually think he has pica?

He eats fabric if we leave it laying around the house. The vet isnt sure if its 100% Pica or not because he eats only specific types of fabric and doesn't just go after all fabric. He ate a small chunk out of a handmade knitted blanket and ate a hole out of my cotton pajama pants. Luckily he passed the fabric and didnt need surgery but now we are extremely diligent to not leave fabrics laying around. He also doesn't do it while we're home he only eats fabric when we leave the house.

 

[war&wisdom]

Aw, it sounds like it might result from separation anxiety. Hopefully things will get easier as he gets older!

 

[Tupperware Chip]

Aw, it sounds like it might result from separation anxiety. Hopefully things will get easier as he gets older!

I never thought about that but that would make sense !! Its too ironic because our resident cat had separation anxiety and would puke when we left the house and we always wanted another cat so it was a win win to adopt another kitten and save him from euthanization. It resolved my resident cats anxiety but now we have another anxious kitty haha. We leave radios on and lights on to help and that seems to be somewhat effective.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I have heard that cats who suck/chew on wool (and maybe other materials as well, I am not sure) might have their urge reduced with a higher fiber diet. That is just a hopeful thought on my part for you!!!

But, as he ages, hopefully if it is related to separation anxiety, it will lessen. Calming products could help with that maybe as well. I keep referring to Bach Rescue Remedy which are drops you can rub into a cat's ear that helps with calming, but are a bunch of others on the market - just search 'cat calming products' on the internet. Not all of them work on all cats, so you might need to do some experimenting.

 

[CHIKITTIES]

This may not relevant to your kitty but we used to have same issue time to time. When we switched to all wet diet (then all raw eventually), they completely stopped scooting. Or it was age related - I never knew - but timing wise, I thought food change solved issue.

 

[Margret]

Aw, it sounds like it might result from separation anxiety. Hopefully things will get easier as he gets older!

The feline version of thumb sucking? Could be.

Margret

 

[danteshuman]

I was going to suggest wet food or wet food with pumpkin but someone already did. I would try more wet food and less dry food. I always gave my cats a wet food dinner and in 13 years they never needed to be expressed (though one did get brown crusty things out of the anal glands I would wet wipe away.)

My new kitten is fed twice a day with wet and gets dry food in between provided he finishes his wet food. I would bring in a stool sample and ask the vet one more time to check his glands.

*About the seperation anxiety: I have heard that switching your actions you take to leave can help lesson the anxiety. I would look into ways to help him. He may get anxious, start sucking then start chewing on the fabrics.