The care and maintenance of a cat's butt (TMI)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Poor little Cookie Monster has a problem, which means I have a problem: whenever she takes a dump, she hops out of her tray and drags her butt across the kitchen floor. While this is amusing to watch, it makes a dreadful smear of shit on the tiles which I have to clean with bleach, on a daily basis. (Added to this is the problem that Cookie absolutely loves the smell of bleach, and tries to lick it off the floor, which is rather dangerous.)

Cookie, who is a good-natured cat normally, really doesn’t like going to the vet. She lets us know this by going completely and utterly ballistic in the surgery, flailing around the room, growling, howling, and slashing at anything she can reach. One time she bit me so hard on the hand that she hit an artery, and the vet ended up dressing my wound instead of treating the cat.

So now, when I turn up wearing a zipped-up heavily scratched leather jacket and thick gardening gloves, I see the vet go pale. But clearly there was a problem, so I took her anyway, and, after I’d retrieved Cookie from the ceiling and got her in a vice-like headlock, the vet gamely squeezed her her anal glands. A nasty stinking liquid squirted out of them, and after I’d got her home, she no longer did the butt-smear thing. Unfortunately, a few weeks later, she started doing it again. So back down to the vet, who by this time was clearly terrified of Cookie, another wrestling match and another squeeze.

Alas, this week she’s started doing it again.

Now, I’d like to save the expense of repeated visits, and for the sake of the vet’s nerves, the cat’s sense of serenity, my kitchen floor, and my sanity, does anyone know how I could perform the procedure myself? It doesn’t seem to be that difficult once we’ve got the cat restrained for a few seconds, but I don’t want to hurt her. Is this a simple procedure?

2

Maaannn…you are brave. I have heard it is a nasty job, but if your cat needs it often I can see why you want to learn how. Sorry, I don’t know the procedure, my cats (and dogs) go to the vet for that. But I do know that if it is happening often, there is a surgery that can fix it.

I feel for you, I have a cat who is a devil to bring to the vet. No bad injuries yet, but the whole event leaves me so stressed out I usually schedule her appointments for Fridays so I can go out for a few drinks after.

3

Our kitten did that. She had infected anal glands, so the vet put her on antibiotics and told us to change her diet- the glands are supposed to empty themselves when she uses the litterbox, but sometimes they get clogged.

Ask about diet stuff and maybe antibiotics? I imagine emptying the glands is something that you could learn to do, but I’d findout if there’s some permanent way to fix it, instead. You’re brave. Urk. That’s one of the foulest things I’ve ever smelled.

4

Just a comment about the bleach really: cats love it because they are attracted to the smell of amonia. Humans think bleach zaps all; cats see it as a mixture of kitty crack, and curiously enough, like a calling card from another cat. This is why some cats will pee in a bleached area. Try disinfecting the floor with something other than bleach.

As for the gland problem: well, if it can treated once and for all, it’s obviously the better solution. If it’s something you’re going to need the vet to do, then perhaps before a vet. visit, you could pop a sedative into Cookie’s food? At least your cat won’t be as distressed at each visit.

5

I’ve never known a cat who would fall for putting drugs in their food. In my experience they invariably turn their noses up at it and leave it.

I’m thankful I’ve never had to deal with a cat who had this problem, but if there was a more permanent way to deal with it, I’d do it. Ewwwww…

6

My roommate’s kitty, Naughin, was recently engaging in the butt-dragging activity taht is often indicative of either impacted (blocked) anal glands or worms. A trip to the vet confirmed he had neither–just mildly constipated. In an case, in searching for possible causes and treatments, I found this page, with instructions for manually expressing the glands:

If the impaction has persisted for too long, the fluid inside may thicken to the point where only a veterinary procedure will extract it, of the gland may abscess. It should be done as soon as kitty shows the signs of impaction. Hope this helps.

7

Next time you take the cat to the vet, ask him to teach you how to do it. It’s not hard - one of our cats needs it about every 6-8 weeks. Groomers also know how to do it, if that helps.

8

Cat’s really aren’t that difficult to give a calming pill to - honest! When we moved half way across the country, kitty was to ride in the U-Haul truck, up front with us. The vet gave us a couple of pills for the journey.

We wrapped the cat in a thick towel, pinning her legs to her torso as we mummy wrapped her. Then DH gently pried her mouth open, dropped in the pill, and held her for awhile until he was sure she swallowed it.

She was very mellow for a couple of days <g>

9

Wrapping your kitty in a towel is what I was going to suggest. Ages ago I saw a bag-like contraption for this sort of thing. It had an opening for the cat’s head that could be adjusted with the velcro closures and then another opening for the paw or what have you. Maybe your vet knows of them.

You can also clip her claws to make her a bit less slashy. Clippers can be found at any pet supply place, just be sure to stay away from the quick of her claws.

I know someone who puts a thin sock over their cat’s head when they have to do the butt squeezin’ on their kitty. I’ve never done it myself, but it calms their cat right down.

10

Ermm, that’s the sock that calms the cat right down. The squeezing of the kitty tushy calms no one. At least not how it seems in my previous post. Or at least it doesn’t calm me down, never having had the ocassion to squeeze a cat’s butt. Not sober at least, unless you count that one time, but we won’t because we were all sworn to secrecy. And I can’t speak for either the cat or the cat’s owner on this issue of squeezing and any resulting calmness.

I’ll go now.

11

:smiley:

Ashes, Ashes, that was funk, funky.

12

It is rather easy to give my cats doses of tranqulizer. The trick is to get them into a loving, trusting mood, and then when they are not expecting it:

  1. Put the pill in your right hand while loving on the kitty with the left
  2. This is hard to describe – gently pull their mouth open with the index finger on your right hand. While the jaw is open, wrap your left hand around the back of the head and put your thumb and index finger each on a hinge of the jaw. The cat may try to back away at this point, but if you keep a gentle grip on the head they aren’t going anywhere.
  3. Use your right hand to place the pill on the very back of the tongue and let the mouth close. Keep the head tilted upwards, and gently stroke the neck until the cat swallows.
  4. Open the mouth again using the above method and check to make sure they have swallowed the pill. If not, start over.

With my Azzy-cat it took two times, but my Raiju never has a problem with it.

The problem with some tranquilizers is that they don’t work very well, but it can’t hurt to try. Your cat might be a bit more relaxed, and anal-squeezings are probably best handled with a relaxed kitty.

I feel for you. Sounds awful.

13

Ok, I did it last night.

It was gross, but successful.

She didn’t kill me, just looked very hurt. At first. Then she got a bit freaked, but didn’t lash out very hard.

Afterwards we chased each other up and down the stairs, which she appeared to enjoy.

Hopefully doing this regularly will save a lot of money and distress.

14

If you haven’t already done so, it’s probably worthwhile to talk to your vet about your kitty’s diet. Often, a diet that’s too rich can contribute to the anal-gland problem. Switching your cat to a lighter formula could alleviate some of hte problem.

15

She has been on the vet-prescribed diet food for fat kitties, and I mentioned this but according to the vet the problems are caused because she’s a little porky. Maybe she needs a little more fiber. Thanks for the advice!

16

Our new kitten had this issue when we first got him. Switching food helped his “assbleeding” as my friends call it and our other cat’s allergies.

Sometimes you can get his glands to ooze by pulling up on his tail gently. Maybe that will help with expressing manually if you have to.

17

may I say, “ugh” :stuck_out_tongue:

However, the dog I nanny has a similar issue. She is this beautiful golden retriever who was going to be a show dog, but her teeth came in crooked and so her previous owner (and vet) sold her. She will get blockage once in a while and cannot have a rabbit (what we call the dog’s deposit) until the vet goes in a cleans her out. Luckily it doesn’t happen enough to warrant me learning this invasive procedure.

yek

18

Well goddamnit, after all that I get up this morning and there’s another smear of shit on the kitchen floor.

Back to the vet this weekend, I guess. :mad:

19

My cat has long hair, so little dingleberries are always trapped around his butt. I don’t know what to do about this for a number of reasons:
-My cat is Satan incarnate. No really. His eyes glow red.
-He’s not social at all. He is wild and psycho, and will only stand to be touched when he comes to you.
-My cat is evil.
-I tried to brush him the other evening, and received three puncture wounds for my trouble.
-My cat is incorrigibly bad. It’s possible to train most cats, but mine is deaf as a stone because he’s albino. So, basically, I haven’t found a way to tame him yet.
-My cat is evil.

Ok, yeah, but I love him. I tried once to tape his legs together so I could throw him in the bathtub and soap him up real quick, but it didn’t work. I gave him weekly baths from the time he was a kitten, knowing he’s be long haired and white, but apparently my goal of getting him used to it didn’t work. I have considered sedating him, but regardless of whether he would take it, I wouldn’t know what to give him. Is there anything I could use that I don’t have to get from a vet? I have considered taking him to a groomer, but I can’t afford it. I wouldn’t want those poor people to bleed just to wash my cat, anyhow.

He also has this tail funk…I don’t really know what mange is but I thought it made their hair fall out, and he has plenty of hair. It’s on the top of the base of his tail, about 4 inches along his tail are grody, the fur is greasy and dirty, and when you look at the skin (if you can hold him still) it looks flaky, or scabby. I probably would never have noticed if he wasn’t pure whire, another reason the dingleberries are a problem.

Any suggestions about my cat’s butt?