Stinky rear end

Raven is 5 months old and was bottle raised by me so didn't learn proper kitty care from mom.  She is raw fed and doing great.  Right now she is teething but this has been going on before she was teething.  Her rear end is really smelly, there is nothing on it, no anal gland weepage or anything like that.  She has been to the vet and nothing is wrong with her.  Is there anything that we can do to help?  It's pretty rank, it's not gas, it's just her rear end is super stinky like she doesn't clean it properly, even though there is nothing around her rectum or anything on it to make it smell it just smells.

That's a new one on me.  Does it smell like poop?  If you wash her back end, does the smell temporarily go away?  If so, then I'm guessing it IS a matter of her not cleaning herself properly.  But since she is eating raw, her poop shouldn't have much smell anyway, and should be pretty hard in the first place so shouldn't get stuck in her fur.

Are you giving her probiotics, just in case?.  It's been awhile since I had young ones (5 1/2 years), so i can't recall if this might be something that just goes along with teething .  Course, you'd know that anyway...your dad is a retired Vet, isn't he?  (I think I'm right on that, but might have you confused with someone else...the older I get, the worse my memory gets ) 

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
That's a new one on me.  Does it smell like poop?  If you wash her back end, does the smell temporarily go away?  If so, then I'm guessing it IS a matter of her not cleaning herself properly.  But since she is eating raw, her poop shouldn't have much smell anyway, and should be pretty hard in the first place so shouldn't get stuck in her fur.

Are you giving her probiotics, just in case?.  It's been awhile since I had young ones (5 1/2 years), so i can't recall if this might be something that just goes along with teething

.  Course, you'd know that anyway...your dad is a retired Vet, isn't he?  (I think I'm right on that, but might have you confused with someone else...the older I get, the worse my memory gets

) 

Click to expand...

your memory is still good

You are correct my dad is a retired vet and I work for another vet.  He is baffled and thinks it could just be lack of education about proper cleaning.  It comes and goes.  She is NOT one that I can wash off other than maybe using a baby wipe, she is a spit fire of a little kitten so baths are out of the question unless she's sedated lol.  I don't think anything medically is wrong with her as she's had bloodwork done and it was pretty much normal.  I'm not giving probiotics but that is a good suggestion.  I will start doing that.  She was a lot more smellier when she was canned food fed, so raw has helped more with that but we still get some odors every now and then.  She is a face rubber so likes to be in our face to snuggle so we get up close and personal with her behind lol.

I'm ashamed to admit that Bertha is a little too fat to reach her backside, so she sometimes has a smelly butt. I use kitty wipes (available at many pet stores) to clean up her rear. They're only damp, so she doesn't get soaked like a bath would. I can't say she enjoys the process, but it's not messy and they're easily disposed of. You might want to try something like that with your kitty.