Cat drags her rear across her scratching box

My mom's 7 year old longhair indoor (apartment) cat (she never goes
outdoors) has a corrugated scratching post on the floor, and for the last
2 weeks she occasionally drags her rear end across the cardboard.
I've seen her do it across the carpet once, too.

I know it's sometimes an indication of tapeworms (or an impacted anal
gland). She was just examined about a month ago, and her a stool sample
tested negative for parasites. The vet told me that the stool sample
isn't tested for tapeworms. We examine the stool on a regular basis to
see if there are little white rice looking things. My mom even breaks
the stool apart to see if anything is there and it looks clean. There's
also nothing around the hair at the anal region (other than an occasional
small thin piece that sticks to the hair). She's active, has a nice
coast of hair, and has a good appetite. Her main problem is that she
lost alot of her small teeth before we adopted her, and her remaining
teeth have some tartar problems. She also sneezes on occasion (once
every few days) and we just finished giving her anti-biotics for an eye
infection. I'm guessing that she may be allergic to the carpet dustmites

What I did find underneath her corrugated scratching board were about 8
very little, hard black dots that seemed to have two miniature white dots
on one side. I'm assuming these were dried up dust mites, but they could
also have been dirt.

Anyone have any ideas or knowledge as to how to treat the above. I'm
taking her back to the vet in a few weeks for a booster shot. Comments
on boosters would also be appreciated. It's mandatory for animals to
have rabies shots every 3 years, but I hesitate to do that since this
animal never leaves the apartment.

On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 19:09:28 GMT, Moe Hair wrote:

My mom's 7 year old longhair indoor (apartment) cat (she never goes
outdoors) has a corrugated scratching post on the floor, and for the last
2 weeks she occasionally drags her rear end across the cardboard.
I've seen her do it across the carpet once, too.

I know it's sometimes an indication of tapeworms (or an impacted anal
gland).

I think that is classic for anal glands. You can deal with it yourself
but is not something you want to do. I just watched it being done for
one of my cats. Not pleasant for her, me, or the vet.

Take her to the vet soon.

On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 19:09:28 GMT, Moe Hair wrote:

My mom's 7 year old longhair indoor (apartment) cat (she never goes
outdoors) has a corrugated scratching post on the floor, and for the last
2 weeks she occasionally drags her rear end across the cardboard.
I've seen her do it across the carpet once, too.

I know it's sometimes an indication of tapeworms (or an impacted anal
gland).

I think that is classic for anal glands. You can deal with it yourself
but is not something you want to do. I just watched it being done for
one of my cats. Not pleasant for her, me, or the vet.

Take her to the vet soon.

dgk wrote in
news
My mom's 7 year old longhair indoor (apartment) cat (she never goes
outdoors) has a corrugated scratching post on the floor, and for the
last 2 weeks she occasionally drags her rear end across the cardboard.
I've seen her do it across the carpet once, too.

I know it's sometimes an indication of tapeworms (or an impacted anal
gland).

I think that is classic for anal glands. You can deal with it yourself
but is not something you want to do. I just watched it being done for
one of my cats. Not pleasant for her, me, or the vet.

Take her to the vet soon.


Now you have me wondering about something. We recently started giving
her Petramalt to help her pass her hairballs through the intestines.
Petramalt loosens the stool so I'm now thinking that may be causing the
"scooting" problem. I just read on about.com that harder stool empties
the anal glands.

http://cats.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/analglands.htm

"Some veterinarians believe the anal gland is vestigial because it
requires hard feces to properly express. They argue that the commercial
cat food we give our kitties produces softer "poop," which doesn't exert
the necessary pressure to make the gland work right."

dgk wrote in
news
My mom's 7 year old longhair indoor (apartment) cat (she never goes
outdoors) has a corrugated scratching post on the floor, and for the
last 2 weeks she occasionally drags her rear end across the cardboard.
I've seen her do it across the carpet once, too.

I know it's sometimes an indication of tapeworms (or an impacted anal
gland).

I think that is classic for anal glands. You can deal with it yourself
but is not something you want to do. I just watched it being done for
one of my cats. Not pleasant for her, me, or the vet.

Take her to the vet soon.


Now you have me wondering about something. We recently started giving
her Petramalt to help her pass her hairballs through the intestines.
Petramalt loosens the stool so I'm now thinking that may be causing the
"scooting" problem. I just read on about.com that harder stool empties
the anal glands.

http://cats.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/analglands.htm

"Some veterinarians believe the anal gland is vestigial because it
requires hard feces to properly express. They argue that the commercial
cat food we give our kitties produces softer "poop," which doesn't exert
the necessary pressure to make the gland work right."

1. She should be checked for all parasites (tape worms included. They look
like rice on the rear end fur of the cat)
2. Anal glands should be checked
3. Long haired cats sometimes get stool stuck to the fur and will try and
get it off by scooting. You can trim the hair near her anus.
Gail
"Moe Hair" wrote in message
et...
My mom's 7 year old longhair indoor (apartment) cat (she never goes
outdoors) has a corrugated scratching post on the floor, and for the last
2 weeks she occasionally drags her rear end across the cardboard.
I've seen her do it across the carpet once, too.

I know it's sometimes an indication of tapeworms (or an impacted anal
gland). She was just examined about a month ago, and her a stool sample
tested negative for parasites. The vet told me that the stool sample
isn't tested for tapeworms. We examine the stool on a regular basis to
see if there are little white rice looking things. My mom even breaks
the stool apart to see if anything is there and it looks clean. There's
also nothing around the hair at the anal region (other than an occasional
small thin piece that sticks to the hair). She's active, has a nice
coast of hair, and has a good appetite. Her main problem is that she
lost alot of her small teeth before we adopted her, and her remaining
teeth have some tartar problems. She also sneezes on occasion (once
every few days) and we just finished giving her anti-biotics for an eye
infection. I'm guessing that she may be allergic to the carpet dustmites

What I did find underneath her corrugated scratching board were about 8
very little, hard black dots that seemed to have two miniature white dots
on one side. I'm assuming these were dried up dust mites, but they could
also have been dirt.

Anyone have any ideas or knowledge as to how to treat the above. I'm
taking her back to the vet in a few weeks for a booster shot. Comments
on boosters would also be appreciated. It's mandatory for animals to
have rabies shots every 3 years, but I hesitate to do that since this
animal never leaves the apartment.

1. She should be checked for all parasites (tape worms included. They look
like rice on the rear end fur of the cat)
2. Anal glands should be checked
3. Long haired cats sometimes get stool stuck to the fur and will try and
get it off by scooting. You can trim the hair near her anus.
Gail
"Moe Hair" wrote in message
et...
My mom's 7 year old longhair indoor (apartment) cat (she never goes
outdoors) has a corrugated scratching post on the floor, and for the last
2 weeks she occasionally drags her rear end across the cardboard.
I've seen her do it across the carpet once, too.

I know it's sometimes an indication of tapeworms (or an impacted anal
gland). She was just examined about a month ago, and her a stool sample
tested negative for parasites. The vet told me that the stool sample
isn't tested for tapeworms. We examine the stool on a regular basis to
see if there are little white rice looking things. My mom even breaks
the stool apart to see if anything is there and it looks clean. There's
also nothing around the hair at the anal region (other than an occasional
small thin piece that sticks to the hair). She's active, has a nice
coast of hair, and has a good appetite. Her main problem is that she
lost alot of her small teeth before we adopted her, and her remaining
teeth have some tartar problems. She also sneezes on occasion (once
every few days) and we just finished giving her anti-biotics for an eye
infection. I'm guessing that she may be allergic to the carpet dustmites

What I did find underneath her corrugated scratching board were about 8
very little, hard black dots that seemed to have two miniature white dots
on one side. I'm assuming these were dried up dust mites, but they could
also have been dirt.

Anyone have any ideas or knowledge as to how to treat the above. I'm
taking her back to the vet in a few weeks for a booster shot. Comments
on boosters would also be appreciated. It's mandatory for animals to
have rabies shots every 3 years, but I hesitate to do that since this
animal never leaves the apartment.

"Gail" wrote in
k.net:

1. She should be checked for all parasites (tape worms included. They
look like rice on the rear end fur of the cat)
2. Anal glands should be checked
3. Long haired cats sometimes get stool stuck to the fur and will try
and get it off by scooting. You can trim the hair near her anus.
Gail

We constantly check the rear and the stool for tape worms and none have
been found. She occasionally has some small thin amounts of her stool
stuck to the air, and licks it off. That could cause the scooting, but
I'm starting to wonder about the Petramalt, as her scooting started
around the time we started giving it to her. I wonder if there is
something about a softer stool and not being able to empty the anal
glands as was written on about.com.


Moe Hair" wrote in message
et...
My mom's 7 year old longhair indoor (apartment) cat (she never goes
outdoors) has a corrugated scratching post on the floor, and for the
last
2 weeks she occasionally drags her rear end across the cardboard.
I've seen her do it across the carpet once, too.

I know it's sometimes an indication of tapeworms (or an impacted anal
gland). She was just examined about a month ago, and her a stool
sample
tested negative for parasites. The vet told me that the stool sample
isn't tested for tapeworms. We examine the stool on a regular basis to
see if there are little white rice looking things. My mom even breaks
the stool apart to see if anything is there and it looks clean.
There's
also nothing around the hair at the anal region (other than an
occasional
small thin piece that sticks to the hair). She's active, has a nice
coast of hair, and has a good appetite. Her main problem is that she
lost alot of her small teeth before we adopted her, and her remaining
teeth have some tartar problems. She also sneezes on occasion (once
every few days) and we just finished giving her anti-biotics for an eye
infection. I'm guessing that she may be allergic to the carpet
dustmites

What I did find underneath her corrugated scratching board were about 8
very little, hard black dots that seemed to have two miniature white
dots
on one side. I'm assuming these were dried up dust mites, but they
could
also have been dirt.

Anyone have any ideas or knowledge as to how to treat the above. I'm
taking her back to the vet in a few weeks for a booster shot. Comments
on boosters would also be appreciated. It's mandatory for animals to
have rabies shots every 3 years, but I hesitate to do that since this
animal never leaves the apartment.

"Gail" wrote in
k.net:

1. She should be checked for all parasites (tape worms included. They
look like rice on the rear end fur of the cat)
2. Anal glands should be checked
3. Long haired cats sometimes get stool stuck to the fur and will try
and get it off by scooting. You can trim the hair near her anus.
Gail

We constantly check the rear and the stool for tape worms and none have
been found. She occasionally has some small thin amounts of her stool
stuck to the air, and licks it off. That could cause the scooting, but
I'm starting to wonder about the Petramalt, as her scooting started
around the time we started giving it to her. I wonder if there is
something about a softer stool and not being able to empty the anal
glands as was written on about.com.


Moe Hair" wrote in message
et...
My mom's 7 year old longhair indoor (apartment) cat (she never goes
outdoors) has a corrugated scratching post on the floor, and for the
last
2 weeks she occasionally drags her rear end across the cardboard.
I've seen her do it across the carpet once, too.

I know it's sometimes an indication of tapeworms (or an impacted anal
gland). She was just examined about a month ago, and her a stool
sample
tested negative for parasites. The vet told me that the stool sample
isn't tested for tapeworms. We examine the stool on a regular basis to
see if there are little white rice looking things. My mom even breaks
the stool apart to see if anything is there and it looks clean.
There's
also nothing around the hair at the anal region (other than an
occasional
small thin piece that sticks to the hair). She's active, has a nice
coast of hair, and has a good appetite. Her main problem is that she
lost alot of her small teeth before we adopted her, and her remaining
teeth have some tartar problems. She also sneezes on occasion (once
every few days) and we just finished giving her anti-biotics for an eye
infection. I'm guessing that she may be allergic to the carpet
dustmites

What I did find underneath her corrugated scratching board were about 8
very little, hard black dots that seemed to have two miniature white
dots
on one side. I'm assuming these were dried up dust mites, but they
could
also have been dirt.

Anyone have any ideas or knowledge as to how to treat the above. I'm
taking her back to the vet in a few weeks for a booster shot. Comments
on boosters would also be appreciated. It's mandatory for animals to
have rabies shots every 3 years, but I hesitate to do that since this
animal never leaves the apartment.

On Sat, 18 Sep 2004 05:24:21 GMT, Moe Hair wrote:

"Gail" wrote in
nk.net:

1. She should be checked for all parasites (tape worms included. They
look like rice on the rear end fur of the cat)
2. Anal glands should be checked
3. Long haired cats sometimes get stool stuck to the fur and will try
and get it off by scooting. You can trim the hair near her anus.
Gail

We constantly check the rear and the stool for tape worms and none have
been found. She occasionally has some small thin amounts of her stool
stuck to the air, and licks it off. That could cause the scooting, but
I'm starting to wonder about the Petramalt, as her scooting started
around the time we started giving it to her. I wonder if there is
something about a softer stool and not being able to empty the anal
glands as was written on about.com.


That's my understanding. Jackie has diarrhea and that seems to cause
the anal sac problem.