Booty Scooting - advice and opinions please

[Ducky]

This is about Lucy, my foster (or not!) kitty, whose long story is here: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=8700&p=60370#p60370

Shortened: Lucy has a food allergy, although I'm not sure what to. She's been on Hills z/d for well over a year and tolerates it well. We've had a few phases of her going off it, and I worry that if she refuses point blank one of these days, there'll be nothing else to feed her. So this last few months or so, I've tried her on Kattovit Sensitive single-protein (chicken) from Zooplus, on-and-off with the z/d. She seems to like it and I haven't noticed her having any reaction to it. However, I have noticed an increase in booty scooting activity over the last few weeks.

She's flea'd and wormed. As an indoor kitty, I am also in the enviable position of being able to keep tabs on her toilet activity and I have noticed nothing untoward going on (certainly nothing that doesn't belong there). Often they might seem a little small and 'bullety'. She's been an occasional booty scooter since she's been here but not to the extent I'm seeing now. In the last week, I've seen her do it four times. Maybe when I wasn't working from home, I wouldn't have seen her do it, so there's nothing to say that it isn't an ongoing issue.

She always does it post-poop, although she never seems to leave anything behind (sorry if TMI). She's semi-long hair and I had thought it might be because of this... so after one of the last occasions I wrapped her in a towel and unceremoniously gave her a bit of a 'trim' (which she still hasn't forgiven me for).

She is a little overweight... she's maybe 5kg or so and 'short' with it. After a year on steroids for her allergy, and being an indoor kitty, we're still struggling to get the weight off her. This probably means she can't quite reach all the way round to do her housework (although she does clean herself regularly).

Another thing that has struck me, is that she seems to actively seek me out and do it right in front of me (albeit out of arms reach!). Her litter tray is in one of the spare rooms, but she won't do it in there... she'll run either into my bedroom or the living room - wherever I happen to be - and sit down in a bit of a hurry, and off she goes, along the carpet... Every time, I shout at her to stop and get up and shoo her away.

I've read that a diet which causes softer poops, can sometimes mean that the anal glands are not exercised when kitties poop, leaving them feeling uncomfortable. Hers don't seem to be like that though. I haven't read too much into any link between constipation and booty scooting however. I did try to sneak some slippery elm bark into her food a few days ago but she wouldn't eat it. I'm limited in what I can give her to eat to disguise it. I have some psyllium husk, but I don't want to make her constipation worse. She doesn't often drink water; I mix her hypoallergenic canned food with warm water to make a soft pate' and she pees fine so I don't think she's dehydrayed.

This is really starting to gross me out. Why might she be doing this? None of the others (4) do it. I've not heard of cats scentmarking or claiming territory in this way.

Before I go shelling out for a carpet cleaner, and/or dragging her off to the vets, what else could I possibly try?

Edited to add: I did read about possible hairballs... she's medium-length haired and is often preening and grooming. I ordered some Gimcat hairball paste to try. I've only just started her on it. Is it worth continuing her on it just in case?

Edited again to add: on a few occasions, I have heard her heaving in the early mornings... I rarely find anything to show why or where however. A couple of times, there's been a wet patch on the carpet. Could this also point to hairballs?

[fjm]

It could be anal glands or something else physical, but the fact that she seeks you out to do it makes me wonder if it has become an attention seeking game. She obviously gets a big reaction from you every time, which can be very rewarding. I would try completely ignoring her when she does it, and playing fun games with a feather on a stick or other favourite toy when she approaches you politely. In more normal times it would be sensible to get her checked by your vet to rule out a physical problem before trying a behavioural approach, but that may be tricky at the moment.

[Ducky]

That's an interesting thought. I'm here almost all the time right now, so she sees me more than she ever has and gets a lot more fuss and attention. She sleeps on my bed every night and is often found trotting along in my shadow.

We did have an issue with her pee-peeing on my clothes, pyjamas, etc, that I'd left lying around... sometimes on the floor, most times on the bed. She still used her litter tray fine and had no signs of a UTI. I ended up buying a 6' x 6' PVC shower curtain and laying it across the bed and taking it off only for bedtime. It's been a while now since we've had any pee warfare...best part of a year I'd say. Maybe this is her new way of communicating.

TBH I'd rather it was something physiological that could be treated! Psycological issues are a lot more challenging.

I have a Pet Remedy diffuser here, I'll try putting that on in bursts. I'm giving her the Gimcat hairball paste daily too and will keep an eye on her #2s. She loves it. I just hope it doesn't set allergy symptoms off.

I've also ordered her a little harness and lead. She's still (officially) a foster kitty (although that's a sore subject) so I can't let her out to roam but maybe this will be a way of getting some extra stimulation into her life.

[MeganAndCleo]

Hi Ducky,

Any updates on the scooting?

My cat is facing similar problems to this and my vets are stumped. She also seeks me out and sometimes scoot right in front of me. She has been tested for parasites and her anal glands also seem fine. We tried a novel protein diet but things did not improve.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Best,
Megan

[susand]

I had a cat that did this and like you the vets were a bit stumped as his anal glands weren’t blocked. It turned out to be faecal tenesmus, caused by constipation. He WAS pooing but not emptying his rectum completely. He had diarrhoea sometimes which was probably caused by liquid from the backed up poo from the constipation (yes, constipation can cause diarrhoea!). Obviously, the fact he was pooing and even had bouts of diarrhoea made the diagnosis of constipation difficult but that’s what it turned out to be. The clue was he mainly scooted just after pooing and left skid marks on the carpet (yes, I agree - yuk!)

Constipation isn’t the only cause, anything that causes a sensation of something being stuck in the anus, like you are halfway through a poo, is called tenesmus. Colitis (inflammation of the colon) might also cause it. A rectal tumour could also do it.

If constipation is the cause, a laxative might help but should be prescribed by the vet, not over the counter in case human laxatives are toxic to cats. Grass eating might also help. If he is an indoor cat there is “kitty grass” you can grow on a windowsill, although my cats never took to it.

Some cats scoot if they have urinary issues, like cystitis or urinary crystals.

Anything that causes an itchy bum, such as worms or a dermatitis type problem round the anal skin might also trigger scooting behaviour. Poo itself can be an irritant causing soreness and itching in the skin round the butthole. In fact my vet told me to put sudacrem on Parsley’s behind. That was fun. Every time he sat on the furniture he left a greasy deposit. Also, it didn’t stay on for long because he kept licking it off! I found the best solution was to clean his bum with the sudacrem but wipe most of it off afterwards.

[MeganAndCleo]

Hi Susan,

Thanks for the information. I’m going on months of persistent scooting and it seems like my Cleo has either colitis or maybe constipation.

Unfortunately we can’t avoid the endoscopy here ($4k in California ) so we can’t confirm the colitis. I’ll discuss the constipation idea with my vet.

Thanks again!