dgk wrote:

I noticed Nipsy (3 yo long hair) pulling himself across the wood floor
with his front legs and I started to panic thinking that his rear legs
were paralyzed. I was already mentally driving to the emergency vet.
Then as I got up, so did he, and proceeded to walk across the floor
normally.

None of my cats have done this before but I've read about it and I
suppose this means impacted anal glands? Or at least something around
his butt itches. It looked normal and clean although a bit hard to
find through all that hair. No matting or "residue". Could be worms I
guess but that would be odd in the middle of the winter and I've
noticed nothing in the litterbox.

Oh well, I'll call the vet when they open. Inconvenient of course, but
certainly better and cheaper than dealing with the emergency vet and a
saddle clot. That scared the crap out of me until he started walking.

Dogs are more apt to scoot than are cats, but cats will do it for
several reasons. Sometimes it means there's something caught in the fur
near the anus that your consciously clean cat can't remove any other
way. (Their tongue isn't for large fecal matter. I've noticed that cats
with diarrhea won't clean themselves especially well around that area.
It can't be a particularly savory task for them under such conditions.)
But since you made an inspection, that can probably be ruled out.

Most often scooting means something wrong with the anal sacs, which
secrete a musk oil that cats use for territorial marking. It could be
any number of problems with the sacs--usually impaction, but also
inflammation, infection, or even tumors. Check his stools in the litter
box. If there are signs of diarrhea, chances are the sacs are impacted.
Normal stools will allow the sacs to expel, but loose or runny stools
can cause impaction, which the cat will treat by scooting and grooming
that area.

You're doing the smart thing by calling the vet. If there's an
underlying cause for the impaction, the scooting could continue to the
point of the sacs abscessing or rupturing. Hope you can get him in soon.