Butt scootin'

My wife and I just noticed last evening that our 12 week old Sassy has developed the habit of scooting her rear end on the carpet. Last night it happened after she had moved her bowels in her box. Her movement was a little soft. It didn't appear she had any waste stuck to her.

Her diet is Purina Cat Chow & water, supplemented by Pounce treats and occasional CatSip milk. The Sip milk we started with because she was so little and at first it didn't seem she was eating very well. After 3 weeks she doesn't seem to have grown as much as I remember our older cat in the same time frame. I digress...

Anyway, cause for concern over the scooting or just a bad habit we need to correct?

Thanks, as always, for all the wonderful advice and tips we get from you folks!

Bill

I am curious to see the responses you get because I have a butt scooter! Patches, my tortie, is the only one out of my three that does this!

My Rocky does this as well. I have heard a cat can have worms when they do this but he was checked and doesnt have any. So I dont know why he does it either. Gabby our female does not do this at all. I am curious as well about the responses .

The most common reason is to express thier anal glads. Usually the pooping will express them. If they don't get expressed while doing so, they will scoot. Also, if a cat has worms they can do this but it's not as common. The other reason may be that there was a bit of hair that didn't quite make it out.

Thanks Sandie

Tigger does this every once in a while. When I had her spayed, they had to express her anal glands. The vet says they were quite enlarged, & that even with his mask on, it stunk! :tounge2: I have noticed every once in a while, when she gets up on the blanket, it stinks where she has been laying! I am not concerned because this is rarely. Sandie, I never knew about the pooping thing, though! New info every day!

Our Winnie had this anal gland expression done, too, and thank goodness 'cause she was really starting to stink!

Now I do "maintenance" a couple of times a week with a baby wipe and a lot of patience. When she is crusted up (this is so gross, I'm sorry, but our routine really helps), my husband holds her under his arm like a football, and I attack her butt with the baby wipe. She yells like we're killing her! Sometimes just wiping will make the stuff pop right out of the gland. Other times, I have to yank off the crusties. Pheew, it stinks!

Another suggestion from the vet was to get the low-cal, less-active cat food formula, since it is higher in fibre and might help her clear the glands through pooping, as other cats do.

The things we do for kitties...

Julie

Ewwwwwwwwwww!! :tounge2: