My Cat is "Scooting"

blue_monday_88

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To give an example...he drags his butt on the floor (or furniture...or my freshly washed comforter...) after he poops

What could cause this? He has just done this in the past 2 days. He had a "dingleberry" off his butt the other day, but it seemed like a fluke (he didn't have diarrehea or runny poops) but now it happens frequently. Any advice would be appreciated.
 

jennyanniedots

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I don't know the proper terminology, but cats and dogs sometimes scoot when their anal glands need to be expressed. My sister has to do that with her cats, and I haven't experience it yet, so I don't know a whole lot about it. (Other than it's somewhat unpleasant but necessary.) Maybe a call to the vet could clear things up?

Good luck!
 

sibohan2005

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Could be a blocked anal duct, in which case you would need a vet to clean it out. Or as it is in the case of my kitty Duke he is too how do I put this kindly.... well "rotund" to clean himself properly. Somtimes he's good but it somtimes falls to mommie to make sure he is free of klingons.
 

amyh

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His anal glands may be impacted, infected, or just uncomfortably full. Generally scooting is a sign of an anal gland issue that needs to be addressed by a vet....
 
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blue_monday_88

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Originally Posted by AmyH

His anal glands may be impacted, infected, or just uncomfortably full. Generally scooting is a sign of an anal gland issue that needs to be addressed by a vet....
Funny you mention that...my vet just called (cassie has a URI and they called to make sure she's responding well to meds), and I asked about it. They said he may need his anal glands expressed.

If anyone has had experience with that, let me ask a question -- would "dingleberries" or "feces stuck to his fur" be a side effect of that? I ask b/c he doesn't have diarrhea, he does have sometimes "not-totally-firm" stools" but no other symptoms...his fecal matter was recently tested for parasites, so that's out of the question. Would any of that have to do with anal glands impacted? Thanks for the feedback!
 

buzbyjlc10

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Ollie does this occasionally (minus the dingleberries though)... and I definitely mean occasionally - maybe once or twice a week at most... he's a bigger cat, not fat but pretty big boned (ie: he's 14 pounds and the vet says that's a perfect weight for his body structure) and I notice that he occasionally (usually on a full belly) can't reach his leg far enough over his head to properly and completely clean himself.... so I think he just gets itchies there when he can't clean himslef correctly and therefore scoots - if I catch him, he gets a firm "Hey!" or "No!" (even though scooting looks adorable, haha) and he stops and 9 times out of 10 will then clean himself... he only ever does it on the floor, thank god cuz I have old carpets in this apartment and will have to pay for steam cleaning anyhow.... Oliver was just to the vet and checked out (plus I used to tech) so I know it's not his anal glands, but if your vet thinks it might be, I'd bring him in - I can't imagine that's comfortable at all!!!

PS: is your cat long or short hair? Longer haired cats are prone to dingleberries and most people just keep their cat's bum area cut shorter to help prevent that problem... depending on your cat's temperment you may or may not be able to trim the area, carefully, yourself... I do this to my dog since she's lab/chow and the chow-ness gives her some longer butt hairs (she gets SOOOO embarressed when her daddy has to help her with dingleberries!)
 

petnurse2265

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Anal glands are 2 scent sack that are located at about 4 0'clock and 8 0'clock around the anus. Normally when an animal defecates as the stool pushes through the anal gland will get emptied onto the stool as its's coming out as a way to scent it. Sometimes the fluid in the anal gland gets a little to thick, or the opening gets plugged, or even if the stool is too soft it doesn't empth the anal gland so it get full and very uncomfortable. A trip to your vet will help bring relief to your kitty, and stop the scooting. Sometimes it is a once in a blue moon thing that the get plugged and with some animals it becomes a regular occurance, so keep a watch out for scooting (they can also get the anus swollen and irrited from scooting which will make matters worse).
 
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blue_monday_88

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Originally Posted by BuzbyJLC10

PS: is your cat long or short hair? Longer haired cats are prone to dingleberries and most people just keep their cat's bum area cut shorter to help prevent that problem... depending on your cat's temperment you may or may not be able to trim the area, carefully, yourself... I do this to my dog since she's lab/chow and the chow-ness gives her some longer butt hairs (she gets SOOOO embarressed when her daddy has to help her with dingleberries!)
Napoleon is short-haired, so I think the dingleberry thing is just a combination of his looser stools and him being too "lazy" to clean himself ha ha. I just brought him to the vet and nothing major (although I got a $100 bill for my troubles
) happened, she drained one gland but it was so minor, she said he might have expressed it the next time he "went." I felt so bad for my little buddy. He was upset. But he's back to normal now
 

danalee2682

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Clinton occassionally scoots too. I think his problem is eating my hair. He likes to nurse on me at nap time. Is there anyone in your home with long hair that kitty could be getting into?
 

shambelle

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Teddy had his glands expressed and he's VERY happy. He was scooting all over the place. My vet did it for free - when Teddy was in getting his dental done. It was a big relief.

In the same vein, my brother's dog was scooting and had looser stools - she needed her glands expressed as well and my brother said the dog was totally thrilled. : )
 

blackraven514

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Originally Posted by blue_monday_88

To give an example...he drags his butt on the floor (or furniture...or my freshly washed comforter...) after he poops

What could cause this? He has just done this in the past 2 days. He had a "dingleberry" off his butt the other day, but it seemed like a fluke (he didn't have diarrehea or runny poops) but now it happens frequently. Any advice would be appreciated.
When my cat did that, it was because she was contipated. She would scoot out of the litterbox and then lick her butthole. Kind of gross, actually. It was because of a change in diet and after some Laxatone and few days she was better.
 

minncat

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I have a medium haired cat who does this occasionally, only when he has runny poop or a piece stuck in his hair or butt.  He is just trying to wipe it off. 
 

brand leesnider

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These are all great comments. Question... Did you ever examine your cat's poop? 
 
 
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