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Long haired kitty - dirty rump

post #1 of 20
2/27/07 at 5:38am
Thread Starter 
Pumpkin is my first long haired cat. I just noticed this morning that she has "poopy butt" (a little mess on her 'britches'). I've never seen a mess like this on her before...will she be able to clean it up or will I need to intervene? Does this happen a lot with long haired kitties? It looks like she sat in some poo. Not a problem, I love her even with a dirty butt but it just surprised me since this hadn't happened before.
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post #2 of 20
2/27/07 at 5:45am
I have long haired cats and this only happens to my boy...the girl is always clean...go Figure! But I keep him shaved back there, it's better for him and for me. If he does get a mess I clean him in the shower with the sprayer.

Good luck!
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post #3 of 20
2/27/07 at 5:50am
It does happen alot with long haired cats. My Persian does have this happen sometimes. I find keeping the fur trimmed around his bottom helps.Usually I put him in the tub and wash his butt when it gets dirty!
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post #4 of 20
2/27/07 at 5:53am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bella713 View Post
I have long haired cats and this only happens to my boy...the girl is always clean...go Figure! But I keep him shaved back there, it's better for him and for me. If he does get a mess I clean him in the shower with the sprayer.

Good luck!
Oh yes I will need the luck.

I'm looking at this sweet innocent looking fluff-ball and trying to imagine a "shower and shave" LOL.... My helper is out of town. Hmmm I'll work on it. Thanks for the help!
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post #5 of 20
2/27/07 at 6:00am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gardenandcats View Post
It does happen alot with long haired cats. My Persian does have this happen sometimes. I find keeping the fur trimmed around his bottom helps.Usually I put him in the tub and wash his butt when it gets dirty!
Thanks! Pumpkin USED to like water...I think that could be changing.
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post #6 of 20
2/27/07 at 6:25am
My Ferris gets poopy butt all the time, as he has soft stool issues. He has really long fur, but because he was a feral rescue, I have no way of being able to trim his bottom for him, as much as I would like to (I keep Ginger's trimmed.) Ferris panics if I try to hold him, and I'm not interested in bleeding and/or getting covered in poo.

Although it is terribly gross, if you leave it alone, the cat WILL clean up it's own bottom. Just kitty nature. I just try not to think about it when he gets poopy butt. Euw.
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post #7 of 20
2/27/07 at 6:41am
Yeah, its always amusing and a bit gross when you see your cat walking away and notice that there's a little extra something under their tail...same thing the others said, trim up the butt fur and the problem should decrease.

I really try not to think about how they clean the poo off themselves...especially when they come up and nuzzle/lick you affectionately.
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post #8 of 20
2/27/07 at 7:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by beandip View Post
Pumpkin is my first long haired cat. I just noticed this morning that she has "poopy butt" (a little mess on her 'britches'). I've never seen a mess like this on her before...will she be able to clean it up or will I need to intervene? Does this happen a lot with long haired kitties? It looks like she sat in some poo. Not a problem, I love her even with a dirty butt but it just surprised me since this hadn't happened before.
I groom my longhaired daily, he has a lot of hair "back there" and I remove a lot every day but I have never seen any evidence whatsoever of dirtyness. I am actually very surprised that he can do his business having all that fur and NOT be dirty but I honestly think it has to do with the firmness of the bowels that determines whether they are going to be dirty back there, and that of course is determined by what you are feeding them.
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post #9 of 20
2/27/07 at 8:11am
Freddie is long haired and gets 'poopy bottom'. I try and keep the fur back there trimmed down and brushed as much as I can... she is not keen on this but it's better than a smelly baby!
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post #10 of 20
2/27/07 at 8:21am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by GingersMom View Post
Although it is terribly gross, if you leave it alone, the cat WILL clean up it's own bottom. Just kitty nature. I just try not to think about it when he gets poopy butt. Euw.
Yeah...I can see that it already looks better. I may give her till this evening and see if I need to 'help'.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Persi View Post
I groom my longhaired daily, he has a lot of hair "back there" and I remove a lot every day but I have never seen any evidence whatsoever of dirtyness. I am actually very surprised that he can do his business having all that fur and NOT be dirty but I honestly think it has to do with the firmness of the bowels that determines whether they are going to be dirty back there, and that of course is determined by what you are feeding them.
I'm surprised too...as I've had Pumpkin for 8 months now and this is the first poopy bottom we've had. Seems like an isolated incident for now. We'll see. Thanks.
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post #11 of 20
2/27/07 at 8:22am
If this is the first time you have noticed it, you may want to check the litterbox to make sure that she's feeling okay. I have 2 LH cats- seems one never has "poopy bottom" problems, the other came and sat with me in my chair yesterday, and I realised something stunk- first thought it was the dog, but the dog was outside ...turd in the tailfeathers ...
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post #12 of 20
2/27/07 at 9:08am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by catsallover View Post
If this is the first time you have noticed it, you may want to check the litterbox to make sure that she's feeling okay. I have 2 LH cats- seems one never has "poopy bottom" problems, the other came and sat with me in my chair yesterday, and I realised something stunk- first thought it was the dog, but the dog was outside ...turd in the tailfeathers ...
Good point. Even though I just scooped a few hours ago it's probably impossible to know...but I'll watch her closely and inspect the 'evidence' as it presents itself.
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post #13 of 20
2/27/07 at 11:35am
My Persian only has the dirty butt if he has looser poop then normal. Sometimes he will manage to steal a little milk and that gives him the runs.I'm carefull but sometimes he manages to steal some cereal milk and then hes a mess!
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post #14 of 20
2/27/07 at 11:39am
Thread Starter 
Well so far her butt is a little cleaner and she hasn't been making any repeat trips to the box or anything. I'll just watch her and make sure she's OK.

The other remote possibility is that the silly girl sat in the tub or the sink and then went to the box. She has done that a couple of times and ended up with just sand stuck to her rump. She is fascinated with water.
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post #15 of 20
2/27/07 at 11:53am
I've had 2 long haired kitties and neither have had dirty butts! Mosi did go through a stage when he would get dirty from time to time but he seems to have got the hang of it now and hasn't got any stuck to him for months. I keep some wipes to hand so that I can wipe him if need be. He does have nice firm poop so that probably helps
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post #16 of 20
2/27/07 at 12:50pm
My Sinbad, who was half Himalayan, had very long britches (which I didn't want to trim) and she'd have that problem occasionally. She didn't want to have to clean herself then -- she used to get the most incredible look on her face if it was ever necessary -- so I'd usually put her in the tub, have just a trickle of warm water flowing down from the faucet behind her, and wash her off with my own hands. Messy, yes, but really no worse than changing a kid's messy diaper. I didn't want to soak her more with a spray. I'd have lots of paper towels handy and use those to dry her off afterward, including her hind feet since those would be wet, and then she'd run off and play.

It's best to take care of this right away, if possible, before it dries.
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post #17 of 20
2/27/07 at 4:36pm
Usually they will clean themselves but not always. I had a Persian some time back, that wouldn't clean her own bottom. It just got worse. I finally had to take her in to a groomer and have her bathed and have a sanitary shave (around the butt and privates). That was before I did my own grooming. So.... if your cat takes care of it, that's great! If not, you may want to try patting the bottom with a warm, wet washcloth or papertowels. Or if worse comes to worse, you can have a groomer give the cat a "sanitary".
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post #18 of 20
2/28/07 at 6:49am
Stan only gets the butt issues when he has soft poo, but just in case I keep him trimmed back there. Now, he's a VERY laid-back little guy, but it's sometimes a two person job (someone has to distract him with food or chin scratches), very sharp scissors make it quick work.

I started this when he had soft poo the first few days I had him and he left poo marks on the window sills
He can eventually clean it off himself, but he had a nasty tongue sore when I got him from the rescue and I didn't want him to lick anymore poo than he had to
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post #19 of 20
2/28/07 at 11:36am
Out of my 5 long hairs I have 4 that will have "cling-on" issues. I try to keep them all shaved back there so we can avoid the problem. I also found that the lower I keep the level of litter in the litterbox the better, when I first refill the litterboxes is when I have the most "cling-on" problems.
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post #20 of 20
2/28/07 at 12:06pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kittycorner View Post
Out of my 5 long hairs I have 4 that will have "cling-on" issues. I try to keep them all shaved back there so we can avoid the problem. I also found that the lower I keep the level of litter in the litterbox the better, when I first refill the litterboxes is when I have the most "cling-on" problems.
Ohhh, that's a good point about the litter level. Besides that possible mess, Pumpkin has a goofy habit of crowding into a box that already has a cat in it too...there's a box for each cat but she'll find the one with an occupant...she must like the buddy system. She's actually been peed on before.
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