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Butt dragging kitty

urstwile
December 9th, 2005, 03:18 AM
I've seen this in dogs before, but never in a cat.

My cat of 9 years has just recently started dragging her butt on the carpet after she comes out of the litter box, in the past week or so. :confused:

Has anyone seen this before? I never have, so I'm surprised.

We've been using a different litter lately, that we got as a giveaway from one of my coworkers who was renting her condo to some people who ended up flaking on her. It's called Feline Pine, could this be the problem? I'm thinking it might be, it's the only thing really new that I can connect to this behavior.

Otherwise, she seems fine, her appetite's good (TOO good, but we've been strict about her food in the past month to help her shed some weight).

She still sleeps on me like usual, and chills out with me like usual, isn't acting all that odd to me in any way that I can see, although my husband thinks she's been acting strangely in the past week or so, but I think that's more about cutting back on people food treats than it is illness.

I looked at her butt, and didn't see any um (sorry if I gross anyone out) crusties, so I'm not sure why she's doing this all of a sudden.

If anyone has a clue, please let me know!

jawert1
December 9th, 2005, 09:00 AM
First off, welcome :) I would suggest getting her to the vet's for a checkup. Even indoor cats can sometimes get worms, so it might be something as simple as that or more involved :/ Either way, her behaviour is out of the ordinary enough for you to notice it and reach out for advise, the vet can tell you definitively :) Good luck and let us know how she's doing :pawprint:

MOOSEDRY
December 9th, 2005, 09:56 AM
she might need to have her anal glands expressed. one of my cats has a real problem with that, and i have to have the vet express them for her on a regular basis. scooting her bum could be an indication of that.

tracy :party:

urstwile
December 10th, 2005, 06:59 PM
Thanks for the replies from both of you. She is overdue for a vet visit, and if she's still doing it at the next visit, I'll definitely bring it up.

I've never seen a cat do this before. Moose, does your kitty do this when her glands need to be expressed?

MOOSEDRY
December 10th, 2005, 08:14 PM
hi there. no, my kitty doesn't do the butt scooting, but a lot of cats do when they need their anal glands expressed. my vet was very surprised that cline kitty wasn't doing the scooting, as her glands were quite blocked the first time she was checked for that. it's prevalent in overweight cats (cline is a 9 year old who weighs about 16 lbs - and she's not a large framed cat!). anyway, it's a really simple procedure (the vet can do it without anaesthetic in about 10 seconds), that is very cheap (my vet only charges $15.00 for the service). i usually have to take her in about once every six months or so to have it done. your kitty will appreciate the relief. having blocked glands isn't painful for them, but it is uncomfortable. by scooting, she's trying to fix it herself.

let me know how it all turns out. sorry to take so long to respond. i'm in nova scotia, and we were slammed with a winter storm thru the night and were without power for a spell.

take care!
tracy :)

CyberKitten
December 10th, 2005, 09:57 PM
It does sound like anal glands but it please take your kitty to a vet to make certain - get her a checkup!!

urstwile
December 28th, 2005, 09:01 PM
Hi all,

Sorry I've been bad about posting back, but work was crazy for me, since we're off the entire week between Christmas and New Year's, and had tons of deadlines that needed to get sewed up before we took our break.

Took Darla, the butt scooting kitty, to the vet just the other day, and in fact, it was her anal glands that needed to be expressed, which the vet did at the visit. So all's well. She had a full checkup, and apart from a little overweightness (she's 13 lbs, is probably best at 9 or 10), she was fine, got her checkup shots, etc. Everything else just fine and normal.

I also discovered, in the small world department, that my vet is one of our new neighbors. I'd had no idea he was a vet, but when he walked into the office, my jaw hit the floor, as he lives two doors down. Talk about a small world! :crazy:

Thanks all for all your input! :)