An old issue: Matted feces on my cat's behind

Hello All,

Here's the story:

About a year ago, I rescued a stray cat from the woods by my cottage.  It was very evident that he was familiar with humans, as when we brought him home - he knew how to use the litterbox.  It was also evident that he had been somewhat mistreated, as his nails were cut far to close to the paw - and he was extremely skittish and nervous.

Over the past year, he has become much better - somewhat affectionate (only with me), and always quite clean. 

I have just moved out of my parent's house into my own apartment, and brought him with me.  He does not like moving at all - it was very stressful for him.  Now, he doesn't seem to cleaning his bum on a regular basis.  I am noticing the smell when he wants to snuggle (which is a rarity), and I feel bad for the poor guy.  He is so skittish though, there's absolutely no way to get near him to remedy the problem.

Thoughts? I am stressed out for my poor boy. 

Thanks,

Michael

Sorry to hear your baby was so stressed from the move, but as to be suspected from most cats when moving. I would suggest a Feliway diffuser

to plug in. It can help w/ the stress & hopefully it will get better, & hopefully will his grooming.

You can find them on amazon for far better prices than a pet store. (usually around $50.00) here is a link to some.


The only other thing I can think of if he won't let you near him to use wipes, is maybe have the vet lightly sedate him, so maybe they can trim the hair

back there down, so the poopy doesn't have any to stick to. By time it grows back, hopefully he will have resumes cleaning himself again.

Hopefully someone w/ more experience w/ this will come along w/ more suggestions for you.

The Feliway diffuser is still probably a good idea, as your kitty gets used to a new space.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Thanks for the suggestion of the Feliway diffuser - will definitely try that out!

I second the Feliway diffuser to help with stress issues. Has anything else changed, like his diet?

MichaelOH said:

Thanks for the suggestion of the Feliway diffuser - will definitely try that out!

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Your welcome!

Other things have changed - yes.  During the day, he had company, as my mother is retired and stayed at home.  He doesn't have anyone during the day now, and I think that probably is a huge change for him.   That being the case, I had taken to leaving dry food for him to munch on - but then I read that dry food is a major contributor to diarrhea, I have been cutting that down.

So yes, those are some other changes that have impacted him.

Cats can be stressed out to the point of not grooming regularly, but what concerns me is the "matted feces" because that usually signals digestive issues. This is specially true if he is grooming all other parts of his body except his rear.

The "dry food diarrhea" is often not really a diarrhea, but newly formed stool being pushed around a hard, impacted stool, causing the "matted feces" around the anus. I have seen this numerous times with cats fed mostly dry kibbles.
 

Canned food diet is much better for cats; there are many canned food with quality protein on the market now. Catinfo.org has been very helpful in providing food information for me. If you already feed him wet food, you can slowly cut out the dry food, eventually making it 100% wet food. Catinfo.org has a section on how to switch food from dry to wet. (Very, very, slowly. Switching food too fast can lead to liver disease.)

I would also check out websites dedicated to Feline IBD issues.

How many hours is he by himself on an average day? Perhaps you can ask a friend or your mom to stop by to spend an hour with him on a day that you are gone for a long time. If no one you know is willing to do that, cat sitting services are available in most cities.

Even if your cat doesn't want to come out to meet the sitter, the presence of some one is comforting to him. When my schedule was off-the-chart busy a few years back, I asked a friend in the same neighborhood to drop by in the afternoon in my absence, a few times a week in addition to using Feliway diffuser. My cat wouldn't play with him, so he would brew some tea and catch up on phone calls for an hour. This made her feel that she wasn't alone (some one is there and "talking to her") and gave her something else to think about, other than "What happened to my priestess? She has been gone for a long time-did she get eaten by a predator?"

If he sleeps in your bed, you can make a "Dummy Mommy" (Well, "Dummy Daddy" in your case) by placing a pillow or two, lengthwise, under a cover to look like a person sleeping. My 2 cats were often found bookending "Dummy Mommy" when I got home. Draping the outside of dummy with your sleep shirt makes it even better.

Adding a tall cat tree by a window is also a nice thing for him. Cat equates heights to well being. The view of the outside world (and birds) provide him some entertainment while you are gone. Plus, it will make him feel more secure in his surroundings. Cats are often anti-social are very insecure in his environment.

Do check out books by Linda Tellington-Jones about TTouch for animals; it is very helpful in taming skitty cats.

Also, has he had a visit to the vet recently to rule out anything medically wrong?

Angels mommy said:

Sorry to hear your baby was so stressed from the move, but as to be suspected from most cats when moving. I would suggest a Feliway diffuser

to plug in. It can help w/ the stress

Click to expand...

So I wanted to ask anyone who has used the Feliway diffuser their experience with it.  I have a cat, Gabriel, who has quite a bit of stress and separation anxiety.  I live in an apartment that faces the parking lot so there is noise all the time too, besides the fact that my other cat, Poe, thinks it's his job to hide and jump out and scare Gabriel, which doesn't help. 

I had tried the Feliway once with Gabe but it seemed to make him sick and he vomitted several times.  Then a few weeks later he had a major dental issue and I found out he has feline stomatitis.  In the mean time his vet put him on cyclosporine to treat the stomatitis after a long trial of other treatments.  So now I'm trying to figure out if Gabe was vomitting due to the stomatitis or as a reaction to the Feliway.  I would LOVE to find something to help him with his anxiety, but I don't want to re-introduce something that could make him vomit. 

So I wondered if anyone else had issues with vomiting when introducing Feliway.  When I returned the Feliway to the Petsmart the woman said she'd never heard of vomiting as a reaction to the Feliway, so now I'm thinking maybe it was the stomatitis and not the Feliway that caused it. 

Any info would be appreciated. 

Chloespriestess said:

Cats can be stressed out to the point of not grooming regularly, but what concerns me is the "matted feces" because that usually signals digestive issues. This is specially true if he is grooming all other parts of his body except his rear.

I believe what you are seeing is not diarrhea, but newly formed stool being pushed around a hard, impacted stool, causing the "matted feces" around the anus. I have seen this numerous times with cats fed mostly dry kibbles.
 

Canned food diet is much better for cats; there are many canned food with quality protein on the market now. Catinfo.org has been very helpful in providing many with food information. (But please, if you switch, do it very slowly, as changing it abruptly can lead to liver failure. Catinfo.org has a section on how to switch food.)

You also might want to check out websites dedicated Feline IBD issues.

Also, has he had a visit to the vet recently?

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This does sound like my cat, for sure - he does groom other parts of his body regularly.   When I look at the litter box, there are fully-formed examples of his poo. 

He is probably due to see the vet - however, even that is a challenge as the cat carrier to him symbolizes trauma and stress (or, that's what it seems like to me!)

kittymommy said:

So I wanted to ask anyone who has used the Feliway diffuser their experience with it.  I have a cat, Gabriel, who has quite a bit of stress and separation anxiety.  I live in an apartment that faces the parking lot so there is noise all the time too, besides the fact that my other cat, Poe, thinks it's his job to hide and jump out and scare Gabriel, which doesn't help. 

I had tried the Feliway once with Gabe but it seemed to make him sick and he vomitted several times.  Then a few weeks later he had a major dental issue and I found out he has feline stomatitis.  In the mean time his vet put him on cyclosporine to treat the stomatitis after a long trial of other treatments.  So now I'm trying to figure out if Gabe was vomitting due to the stomatitis or as a reaction to the Feliway.  I would LOVE to find something to help him with his anxiety, but I don't want to re-introduce something that could make him vomit. 

So I wondered if anyone else had issues with vomiting when introducing Feliway.  When I returned the Flyway to the Pet smart the woman said she'd never heard of vomiting as a reaction to the Flyway, so now I'm thinking maybe it was the tomtits and not the Flyway that caused it. 

Any info would be appreciated. 

Click to expand...

 I too, think the vomiting was because of his dental issue and not Feliway. I have used their deffuser and spray for years but I have never seen any adverse reaction to either.

The poor health could also be the cause of his stress. When we don't feel well, we are anxious too. (We also don't like to rough house either.)

Cats are always so good at hiding anything from us that when we do see stress (physical or mental) manifesting, it is often just the tip of an iceberg. How does he show his anxiety? Are there specific things he does because he is anxious (such as over-grooming, inappropriate elimination or chewing things)?

Chloe ... yes, he lost his best friend (an older cat) to cancer a couple years ago and since then Gabe has been anxious and scared very easily.

I have seen, in a multi-cat house hold where one cat dies, the surviving cats start to act strange. I think, a part of it is their need to re-establish the pecking order; Was the deceased cat the old and wise leader and Poe and Gabe the underlings?

Other reason is just the change in the environment after the death. This is true even with cats that were not chums. It's still a major change in their lives to not have the nemesis and not have to prove themselves to each other.

I would try Feliway for Gabe. It won't cure his anxiety, but I think it will take some edge off, Other than that, lots of TLC and one-on-one play.

Also, "Healing Touch for Cats:The Proven Massage Program for Cats" by Dr. Michael W. Fox is very helpful for kitties needing extra love.

Chloespriestess said:

I have seen, in a multi-cat house hold where one cat dies, the surviving cats start to act strange. I think, a part of it is their need to re-establish the pecking order; Was the deceased cat the old and wise leader and Poe and Gabe the underlings?

Other reason is just the change in the environment after the death. This is true even with cats that were not chums. It's still a major change in their lives to not have the nemesis and not have to prove themselves to each other.

I would try Feliway for Gabe. It won't cure his anxiety, but I think it will take some edge off, Other than that, lots of TLC and one-on-one play.

Also, "Healing Touch for Cats:The Proven Massage Program for Cats" by Dr. Michael W. Fox is very helpful for kitties needing extra love.

Click to expand...

Yes, the cat who passed (Cole) was the eldest cat, he was Gabe's big brother in many ways.    I think I will try the Feliway, and your suggestions on the Massage for Cats book, I will look into that too, it sounds like something he'd really benefit from and enjoy.  Thanks for your help!