Cat smells like poo , but no visible residue, help!

Hi everyone!
We have a strange issue with Calypso, she has started to smell like fecal matter a couple of times per week, but we can't seem to see anything on her fur. More odd, the smell seems to linger on her sides and/or shanks, which then gets transferred to the couch, the blankets on the bed, and just this morning to my nostril after I pet her for 5 seconds, and then mistakenly rubbed my own face afterwards...
:-(
We use the pine litter, but don't have the fall-through tray box. We are starting to think her litter habits might be the cause of this, as she seems to spend an inordinate amount of time in there scratching about when she does her business...

Any re-directs to another part of this forum, or ideas would be great.

My first thought on this is that she might have impacted anal glands. Is she rubbing her butt on things, like carpet? Even if she isn't, that could very well be the problem. I would call the vet and mention it. They may need to be expressed (squeezed out) and the "matter" in there is smelly and kinda unpleasant... so you might want a vet tech to do that for you.

Thanks for replying so quickly! But, I think this is not a health issue, but, rather, a hygiene issue. There's not any carpet rubbing, she has normal BM's every day, there's just a lingering odor, which I assume is from the litter box, although we do clean it regularly. Anyone with more ideas about how the feline pine litter might be involved with this, or other non-health-related suggestions, please weigh in!

i'm going to second addie's thought. my Worm doesn't rub his butt on the carpet but at least once a month he will come out of the litter box smelling like poo. She more than likely had a greater amount of "juice" in her glands and released it and it spritzed on her. its normal and yes anal glands STINK. the one thing we all hate getting on us at the vet office cause no matter what you do to clean, the stench does not come out. you can try and use baby wipes to clean her hind end.

I'm going to third that suggestion. It's such a simple thing to check and take care of that it would be silly not to consider it. And if that does happen to be the problem, ask the vet (or vet tech) to show you how to express them yourself.

This is EXACTLY whats happening with my kitten D:

she looks clean my smells like poop! and I think she spends alot of time "burying" when he does his no2's.
He scratches the walls, air and tray trying to bury.. There is plenty of pellets too.

when he pees he doesn't bury at all though..

Did the wipes help his smell OP?

scotfold said:

This is EXACTLY whats happening with my kitten D:
she looks clean my smells like poop! and I think she spends alot of time "burying" when he does his no2's.

He scratches the walls, air and tray trying to bury.. There is plenty of pellets too.
when he pees he doesn't bury at all though..

Did the wipes help his smell OP?

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Good question. You probably didn't notice that this thread is 4 years old. The people who posted back then may not be watching the thread any more and you're likely to get more attention if you start new thread with your question.

i have the same problem with my cat except he smells like urine so i tried giving him a bath with safe cat shampoo and the smell is almost gone im thinking about giving him another one tommarow SO MY POINT IS YOU SHOULD GIVE YOUR CAT A BATH I HOPE IT HELPS

How strange! 

I don't really have any ideas but you might want to bath her. And, she might have been able to go in the litterbox for a poo, and then she might be able to carry the smell.

it could be the litter box.she getting smell on the cat.or infection.