Feline issues

Factual Questions
1

You may have known me from my previous feline-related thread:

Felicide

Well, I’ve got other issues besides the little WMD.

My older cat, Most Gracious Queen Molly has a bad habit of, well, to put it delicately (she’s watching me, so I have to whisper) stinks on me.

I’m not talking about gaseous emissions (that’s reserved for Little Boy), I’m talking about a skunk-like musk odor that comes from her nether regions.

She’s been spayed, so I thought this sort of thing wouldn’t be an issue.

However there have been several times that she will deposit on me a drop or so of this nauseous, horrendous, nasty-smelling substance that is close to impossible to get rid of.

The first time she did it was a few months ago directly before a job interview. Pre-interview, I was sitting on the couch in full interview regalia, she hops up on me and **stinks **me! I had to load up on the cologne just to cover up the smell on my dry-clean only suit and endure a closed-door interview with my potential employers wearing Most Gracious Queen Molly’s ™ musk.

She’s done this several times in the meantime, the most recent is tonight, dammit. I have a date in two hours, and I smell like a dead skunk. I’ve taken two showers, applied numerous applications of rubbing alcohol and can’t get rid of the smell.

There is no way I’m getting laid tonight. I’ll say it again, DAMMIT!

My question is … Is this normal or is this a vet-worthy issue?

2

I’ve never had any female cats do that to me, IME that isn’t normal. Take her to the vet, she might have a horrid UTI type infection, and spayed cats can still get vaginal infections too. How long has this been going on? Has she been grouchier, eating less, less active?

3

Until you get this resolved, I suggest only dating guys named Tom; you’ll save on cologne.

Same goes for job interviews.

4

Likely normal.

Cats, dogs, ferrets, skunks all have anal glands that secrete “musky” material. In ferrets and skunks the tissue is so efficient that they are lousy pets unless the tissue is removed. Cats and dogs normally produce a drop or two a day which is expelled during a bowel movement. There is normally no net build up.

Some animals either have very developed anal sphincter muscles that squeeze out material from the gland, or have a build up overtime that then is forced out as new stuff is produced.

You might wanna see your vet and make sure there is no pathology (infection, etc). Most common methods of addressing the issue:

  1. Hot moist compresses to the rectum 2-3 times a day, 15 minutes each time.
  2. Add fiber to diet to create a bulkier BM.
  3. Surgical excision. Great results, tho relatively expensive.

Good luck!

5

PS Any product designed to deal with skunk odor will work well for dealing with this odor problem.

6

Oh yes - anal glands! A friend of mine has a female cat who has to go to the vet to have her anal glands expressed on a regular basis. I told her the vet could teach her how to do it herself since the cat hates the trip to the vet so much. She said she did a lot for her cats but there had to be a line drawn somewhere, and that sounded like the proper place to draw it. Can’t say I blame her.

7

Guess I’ve been fortunate. :eek: Can’t the glands also get infected if they are impacted for too long as well though? Yigggh!