Little poops on the carpet and scooting marks

by Cyndy
(Calgary)

Just in the past two days my 8 year old female cat started leaving little dry poops on the carpet and what appears to be scoot marks along with them - brown skid marks??

Could this be constipation?

My thoughts: Yes, your cat might be suffering from constipation.

Some other signs might be frequent but unsuccessful visits to the litter box, and yelping or howling while having a bowel movement. It may not be that severe, though.

It's fairly common for the hair to intertwine around the bowel movement to the point that things don't come quite all the way out. This is especially true in medium to long haired cats.

Your cat may have some discomfort from this and try to dislodge it by dragging, or the skid marks may just be from your cat sitting down prior to dislodging.

There are some treatments, such as lactulose, that your vet may prescribe. Or, your vet may prescribe a commercially available hairball remedy or change in diet.

Be aware that the available literature warns that long term constipation in cats can lead to serious bowel conditions, and long term use of laxative type remedies can deprive cats of nutrition. Your vet can explain the risks.

What a beautiful cat!

Update: Cinnamon's "cat scooting" problems turned out to be anal sac related. In some cats, the anal sacs have to be expelled from time to time.

My cat rubs herself on my rugs almost always after pooping

by Michael
(Cranston, RI)

PLEASE, I am at wits end. My cat is 3 years old and almost every time she poops she rubs her hiny on the rug.

My vet has cleaned some stinky glands near her bum but it didn't help. Anyone have any suggestions? I am really at wits end.

My thoughts: I've been reading up anal gland disease (or anal sac disorder) and this problem can be chronic. Another reader's cat recently had the same or similar problem.

I've seen cats rub like that if they have constipation, which is often caused by fur in the stool.

When the rubbing behavior is caused by some sort of anal gland disorder, however, then treatment is needed. This includes manually expressing the gland, and/or antibiotic treatment. In more serious cases, surgery is required.

If your cat is still having a problem with this after having treatment, then it would be logical to assume that either the treatment was not completely effective, or the problem simply has recurred. Your cat may need antibiotics, and another manual treatment.

I would call the vet and see what, if any, additional treatment is required. Here is an article that explains more about anal sac disorder.

Perhaps someone else has more insight on this problem and will comment as well.
-Kurt

Cat scoots butt on carpet and leaves racing stripes

by B.
(Fishers, IN)

Our 8 year old, overweight cat is having a sanitary issue using the litter box. After basically wiping her butt on the carpet to clean herself, she still smells of urine and poop.

You can tell by the hair around her butt that she is not cleaning herself very well. Could this be a medical problem, or is this a sanitary problem?

We have taken her to the vet once, and cleared, but it is getting worse. Please let me know of any similar situations and the solutions that might work.

B.

My thoughts: I'm sorry to hear your cat is not feeling good. One of our other readers thought her cat, Cinnamon, might have constipation because she was leaving scooting marks on the carpet.

Her problem turned out to be related to anal sacs. In some cats (and dogs), the anal sacs may get impacted and need to be expressed. They can also abscess and get infected.

Other readers have reported similar cat scooting behavior, and their problems were either anal sacs, intestinal parasites, or a different type of bowel problem.

I would think your vet would have checked for these things and at least attempted to express the anal sacs if needed, but if not, it's worth exploring.

In addition, if your cat is not cleaning herself as well as she should, it could be because she's not feeling good.

Now, is that due to an anal sac problem causing her some pain and discomfort? Or is it due to some other health problem? I don't know.

Some cats will spend extra time licking the anal area if they have an anal sac problem, but your cat may not.

I would always err on the side of caution and suggest following up with your veterinarian for guidance.

I hope that helps and please keep us updated.
-Kurt

Cat rubs her behind against the floor

by Jess
(IL)

My cat is having troubles using her litter box. Just recently she has been doing something oddly strange and kind of gross. She will go and use her litter box but she isn't completely done when she leaves her litter box.

She didn't finish pooping all the way and she rubbed her behind against the floor and scraped the excess poo off.

She has never done that before. It is really disgusting I know, but could it be the food she is eating?

I tried to take a quick look just in case if she were bleeding or something and she also won't let me.

Whenever I try to pet closer to her lower back/tail area, her fur twitches and she looks at me with a mean look on her face.

My thoughts: I'm sorry to hear your cat is having troubles. Other readers who have described similar problems often had cats with one of the following problems:

Their cat's anal sacs needed to be expressed.

Their cat had too much fur in the gut, preventing the stool from coming out all the way.

There was loose stool, which could be diet related, or caused by parasites or some other medical condition.

Those are just some of the possibilities, of course, and only your veterinarian can tell you whether or not your cat is ill.

If she were my cat, I'd place a call to the veterinarian, especially if it seemed like she was experiencing pain.