Cat dragging backside along rug

Okay I have another question for you regarding my newly adopted cat Van Gogh. He's a love, and you all helped me with prior things, but since he is here now going on 2 weeks, His stool is still not always firm, and I caught him dragging his butt across the rug like the dogs do. Not all the time. I changed his food (gradually) to Royal Canin for sensitive stomachs and he seems to like it, but still likes the canned food. I have 9 lives and Friskies canned so do you think that might be causing his discomfort?
He has a great personality and completely different from my previous cat, Buddy.
Would like to get his digestive system stable. He weighs 12.4 lbs . He was 12.6 last week. The vet said he looked a bit "fat", so I scaled down the amount of food, but his poop is still not always firm.

[PrettyKitty1]

My cat used to do that, too. They simply drag their behind to clean themselves. Think about it, as clean as you may like to be, would you lick an area dirty with poop stuck to it? No, right? So, he is trying to rid himself from the feces.

You will not be able to help his digestive issues with commercial diets much less Friskies. Friskies made my cat bleed through the butt when he was only 3 months old. Labels aren't a guaranteed help for your cat. If you read some of my questions and posts about my cat's digestive issues, you will find the fact that I had to switch him to partially cooked meat, chicken, fish and liver along with vitamin supplements and other necessary nutrients myself. If a cat doesn't do well on commercial foods, trust me, not even prescription food will help out. Sorry if I am giving you an alternative that sounds impossible to even think of, but cooking for your cat is easy and it only takes 2 minutes of your time. I promise you, you will not find loose stool anymore but firm, more formed biscuits every day.

I encourage you to visit the site www.catnutrition.org as it is very informative.  The website is dedicated to a cat named Duke who suffered severe digestive issues for a long time (Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which is my cat's same condition). His owner felt desperate, then she started searching for better options other than prescribed medications and food. Her cat is now thriving on his new diet, the one I just mentioned to you, and so is mine. That's why I feel confident and happy to share this with you. Don't let this get worse, because it will if you keep him on commercial foods. My vet even told me Abby would end up with cancer in the colon one day because that's what usually happens. Yes, there are kitties who do well on commercial foods. But I guess your cat as well as mine and many others out there don't, and need to be switched to a diet close to what they find in nature. You can make your own "mouse" and you'll see you will not have a cat dragging his butt or having loose stool. Sometimes meds work, but as a bandage. When you take them off the problem comes back, and your money is already gone. Same with commercial foods. I learned what I just told you the hard way. I have thrown away thousands and thousands of dollars on my cat and his IBD (including tests, meds, prescription foods and expensive commercial foods which claim to be the best at helping with sensitive stomachs, I bought them one by one and none of them worked) when the only thing he needed was 2 extra minutes of my time to cook his chicken and beef.

Good Luck.

[Mrs_Savas]

Actually, there are several brands of cat food that are referred to as "human grade" foods that are excellent for cats with dietary issues, not to mention weight issues.

Firstly, you don't want to give him only dry food as cats don't get enough hydration from drinking water, they need it from their food as well.  Even if it seems like he drinks a lot of water - trust me, it's not enough.  Cats are "obligate carnivores" that get their hydration and their vegtable nutrition from their kills in nature - they don't instinctively drink much water or eat much other than meat.

By Nature's Organic is an excellent option - grain free, human grade good that comes in dry and canned.  Wellness is a pretty good one, but it's a little pricier.  Any of these kinds of foods (human grade, grain free, soy free, low sugars, etc) are pricier than what you will get at the grocery store, but it's worth it.  It's very healthy and convenient.  California Natural is a good one too, but it has some rice.  

It's a good idea to give your kitty a digestive enzyme like Prozyme to help him digest anything that his system isn't handling on it's own sufficiently.

This way, you don't have to cook or worry about nutritional supplements (the supplements on the market are a bit confusing and not all of them are very effective, not to mention that they can be difficult to get your cat to eat!)

I should also mention that anal gland irritation or infections can casue the "scooting" behavior, but since you had him looked at by a vet, I would assume that this was ruled out.  If not, look  to see if there is any redness or swelling around his anus.

Keep us posted!

[paintsflowers]

Well, went to my Vet just to ask about the "scooting" across rug and he said it might be the anal sac, but would have to sedate him to do a rectal. I will have to wait on that because I will be going away for 6 days and don't want to traumatize Van and then be gone, so unless he increases this action, I will see to it when I get back. My tenant will be watching him so at least he won't be alone.
I also bought Wellness dry and canned food. It is pricey, but if it works, it will be worth it. I will add just a bit with his Royal Canin dry food (which is good too)
I could not find the Natures Organic or the California Natural.
I really look forward to all your input since you all seem to have quite alot of experience with felines.

[PrettyKitty1]

Glad you took him to the vet. That is the most important thing you could do. We can only help so much. My cat used to do this a lot but only to clean himself. So, hopefully your cat's situation gets resolved at the vet's.

Cooking for your cat isn't hard and it is not rocket science. Nutritional supplements are available online at a very cheap price, and if you think about it you would only need very little supplements if you get organs like liver heart, and other components like bones an muscle. But, if you find that these foods are doing him good then that's all that matters. I tried Wellness and it did nothing to help my cat, his scooting and his diarrhea along with the bleeding got worse, but my cat's case is different from yours in the sense that my cat had IBD. I also tried Nature's Organic, California Natural........nothing. That's why I find cooking for my cat better, healthier and wiser because I know what I'm putting in his meals, you can't say so with commercial foods. God knows what they're putting there. I will never trust labels after what I went through, but if any of these foods help your kitty then it'd be very, very good. It is sad that at this point, with all the problems caused by food (IBD, cancer, UTI, Obesity, Diabetes etc) some (not all) DVM's still think highly about commercial brands. I guess it makes their lives and job easier since these companies keep claiming they have what it takes to bring your cat back to health.  Commercial wet foods made my situation worse. That's why I don't believe in labels.

Anyone who's had a cat with food related problems should never recommend commercial foods no matter how expensive or "good" they say they are.

I wish you and your beautiful kitty good luck, and hopefully this isn't a food related problem.

Come back with updates...k?

[zodiacqueen]

Hi, I really don't think the booty sliding deal is enough to put your cat through a rectal.  I've seen many cats do this and they were/are normal.  Skunkie, my kitty does this when she gets dingle berries hanging from the hair on the bag of her lets near the booty.  That's how she gets it off!  It's cute, and glad that I don't have carpets!  LOL  We've had other cats in the past that did the booty glide, too mostly for the same reason.  But, one of them had an anal gland problem, like some kind of swelling.  It wasn't bad enough to treat.

I will bet that the stool issue is probably unrelated to the booty gliding.  I'd say it's most likely diet related.  There were some good suggestions in the posts above that are worth following!

[PrettyKitty1]

Another thought, the supplements manufactured for cats and dogs are NOT complicated or tricky to use. You don't even need to know math or good English to understand what you need to do. I'm in this, trust me....reading labels in vitamin supplements isn't hard.

'Add one tablet to each meal or give it as a treat twice a day'  Complicated? Nop.

And hey, another option which I am looking into right now is the BARF diet, mentioned to me by one valued member of this community, Ghilly. If your cat happens to be suffering diet related problems (and I will pass her advice to me on to you) google BARF and you'll realize how many cat owners are into feeding teir cats the proper diet instead of commercial foods.  :)

[paintsflowers]

You are probably right on because I believe my beloved Little Annie must have eaten the commercial food about the time of the Chinese scare. She was a little over 13 and suddenly developed Lymphoma of the intestines. Within one month she lost 3 lbs. We tried everything and Prednisone as last resort. I finally had to put her down and was devastated February of this year. So now I am so wary about digestive problems. Of course I have no history with Van so I will take it day by day. If this Wellness food doesn't work, I will let you know. Meanwhile, how, what, and how much do you cook. What supplements do they like. My last cat wouldn't take anything that didn't smell like tuna.

[PrettyKitty1]

My vet said Abby would end up with colonic cancer, because digestive issues lead to some sort of cancer sooner or later.  You can try to prevent this from happening by simply switching your cat to a healthier diet. Your idea sounds very good. Give that food a shot, and if it doesn’t work it just means no food out there will cure your cat. Diarrhea is very uncomfortable, and you can easily get rid of it without wasting money at the vet’s.

Right now I am slowly transitioning to cooked meat to then introduce him to raw foods. So far I have been successful. I get my meats and chicken at Publix, so I know I shouldn’t fear any strange parasites or toxoplasmosis if I start to feed him raw foods. I put some water in the frying pan, put ground beef, just a little, and cook on low heat for about 1 minute or so. The inside of the meat should not be completely cooked. I also add liver. I try to add organs of the same animal. For example, if I am feeding him chicken thighs then I’ll add chicken liver and chicken heart for taurine. I got my vitamin supplements on a website called Drs Foster and Smith. Once the food is done I add a vitamin tablet, a digestive enzyme and probiotic tablet and a product called Missing Link which comes in powder and has bones and other goodies. The correct amounts to add to the foods can be found on the label and it shows you how much to add depending on the cat’s weight. Mix it all together. These supplements are chewable, so that means they have good flavor. I crunch the two tablets (vitamin tablet and enzymes and probiotic tablet) and add that to the food along with Missing Link. Done. Total time: Approximately 3 minutes.
Once you get the hang of it you’ll see how easy it is. You’ll safe time, vet visits and money. It's been almost 3 weeks and I have not seen diarrhea or blood in my Abby's butt. He has more energy, doesn't feel the need to keep gorging on the food (in other words, his system is more stable now) and trips to the litter box are less frequent. He urinates a lot because of all that moisture plus I add a bit of water which becomes flavored with the meat and tasty supplements, and he likes it, and his feces are formed, not loose, and just the normal amount for a cat his weight and size. Heaven in my house I tell ya.

If your kitty doesn’t have a diet problem, then at least these tips will help you the next time you get a cat with digestive problems, so they don’t end up with cancer and spend their entire lives suffering chronic diarrhea, gas, etc.