White Bumps On Butt?

[Animal Freak]

Hey, everyone. I'm afraid the topic I'm posting about isn't the most pleasant. My seven year old, neutered, male, arthritic, purebred Napoleon tends to get poop stuck in his fur and, well, that happened today. Honestly, he took off out of the litterbox like something bit him and left a turd on the floor right in front of me as he was running. I checked and he still had some on him, so I had to wash him off. While doing this, I noticed a white bump on his butt and couldn't get it off. Then I realized it was on both sides, perfectly across from each other which seemed kind of odd to me. I couldn't remember ever noticing it before, but I checked the other two cats just in case. Neither had this. So now I'm wondering what this could be and what caused it. We're thinking about taking him to the vet to get it checked out and getting his back end shaved as well so we don't have to worry about the turds so much.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated in the meantime though.

 

[mikameek]

I have absolutely nothing to offer in regards to this but wanted to bump and add that the tortie in your picture is ADORABLE. Though, I might have a bias because her lower lip reminds me of my girl.

 

[stephanietx]

Is it possibly tapeworm segments? They're white and about the size of rice.

 

[Animal Freak]

I have absolutely nothing to offer in regards to this but wanted to bump and add that the tortie in your picture is ADORABLE. Though, I might have a bias because her lower lip reminds me of my girl.

Thanks. I'm in agreement with you, she is pretty cute. But I'm really biased. She means a lot to me.

Is it possibly tapeworm segments? They're white and about the size of rice.

Don't think so. I've never dealt with tapeworms and it's hard to get a good look considering he doesn't like his backend being messed with in general and has arthritis on top of that, but it didn't seem like something sticking to him. It didn't come off despite being rinsed and wiped.

 

[neely]

Is it possibly tapeworm segments? They're white and about the size of rice.

It's difficult to say whether or not it's tapeworms without actually seeing your cat but I agree with stephanietx this is a possibility. Please read this Article and scroll down to the part about the rear: The Healthy Cat: Eight Things You Should Check

If the white bumps you described do not go away please contact your vet and keep us posted on his progress. Best of luck!

 

[talkingpeanut]

It sounds like it could be his anal glands. The vet may need to empty them.

 

[Animal Freak]

It's difficult to say whether or not it's tapeworms without actually seeing your cat but I agree with stephanietx this is a possibility. Please read this Article and scroll down to the part about the rear: The Healthy Cat: Eight Things You Should Check

If the white bumps you described do not go away please contact your vet and keep us posted on his progress. Best of luck!

Thanks! I was going to try to get pictures today. I didn't want to do it yesterday since I already had to wash back there and showed my mom to get her opinion, and he certainly wasn't getting any easier to handle. I also try to limit messing with his back legs due to his arthritis. However, I checked today and the bumps seem to have shrunk considerably. I could barely see them and almost gave up and let him go right before I noticed two slightly paler little spots. I don't think I could have gotten a picture even if I tried since it took three hands to hold him and one to move the fur around and it honestly still wasn't enough hands.

We are still thinking about taking him to the vet though. My only hesitation is that I really do hate to put him through it. No matter how many times he goes, it doesn't get any easier. But we'd like to go ahead and get him shaved/trimmed back there and then we can just keep it short.

It sounds like it could be his anal glands. The vet may need to empty them.

I was actually looking into that shortly after posting this. If this is the case, then it's pretty funny timing. It was actually a little over a week ago that we had to take the dog to the vet to get her anal glands emptied. And when I was researching it, I read that it could happen to cats as well, but it wasn't as common. I even thought, "Well, with my luck it'll probably happen to one of them." I didn't know it would happen so soon though. Or that I'd actually see them.

 

[1 bruce 1]

It sounds like it could be his anal glands. The vet may need to empty them.

Yep, it might be some swelling from impacted glands.
We've had a cat that has dealt with this a few times!

 

[epona]

Sounds like an anal gland issue to me - the either side of the anus thing that you describe is where the anal glands empty.

One of my kitties occasionally has his anal glands emptied by the vet - he has occasional issues with soft stools, and it is the passage of normal stools that empties the anal glands naturally, so a period of soft stools can cause an issue.

 

[Animal Freak]

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad it's not something worse. I'll check him again when I get home today and we'll get him to the vet sometime this week.

 

[Animal Freak]

Hey all. Just wanted to let you know we got Ash to the vet Wednesday. The vet expelled his anal glands and gave us some calming/pain relieving medication that we can use so we can groom him better and avoid getting poop stuck in his fur.