Grace has picked up a new habit. She sits on the oriental carpet in my living room then suddenly starts dragging her butt across the carpet! Then she usually goes back and sniffs the carpet. Her butt looks perfectly normal and there have been no litterbox issues, but this is rather disturbing. I clap my hands and yell STOP GRACE, NO! But she totally ignores me. She is doing it more and more and it seems to me she is marking her territory. Has anyone else seen their cat do this?

Last night Blondie worked up the courage to sleep in my arms again. About 20 minutes into a deep sleep, Grace leapt up from the floor and jumped on Blondie making both of us scream. Blondie quickly retreated back to my feet at the end of the bed. Grace doesn't sleep next to my head all night the way Blondie used to, but she periodically jumps up there wanting me to rub her belly and pet her. Then she goes off when i stop. She does not want Blondie in that location. There has been some wrestling and growling going on the past few days too.

Blondie has started using the bak of door climber which Grace has never used because it wiggles a little when jumping between platforms. I think she feels safe and like she owns this spot.

I know that this behavior is sometimes associated with a problem like worms.

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The little monsters 3

I googled it and anal gland issues could also be the problem especially with over grooming. I will take her to the vet next week. I was hoping to avoid this as I had major surgery recently and can't lift more than 10 pounds for another month. She has never done this in the past so it needs to be addressed by a vet. I'm sure I can get someone at the vet office to take here in and out of my car.

My mums previous cat used to do the bum on the carpet thing, it turned out to be dry itchy skin around his bum because he had an over grooming problem and groomed all the fur off his bum so the skin used to be dry and itched and this is the only way they can scratch the itch.

My Magic will not let Pearl sleep on the bed at night, if she tries to get on he growls and bites her so she goes to sleep downstairs which is a bit sad,
If he is not on the bed in the morning which often he isn't then she will then get on the bed and sleep there for a while.

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Clare
Magic (brown spotted boy born 31 March 2012)
Pearl (seal Lynx Point girl born 1 October 2015)
Bristol, UK

They both over groom to excess. It is getting really bad. Maybe the vet will have a suggestion as their undersides are completely bald and they lick and nibble away constantly. I try distracting them with toys and attention but they usually ignore me and keep nibbling away. I thought I had OCD, these two definitely win. I have been watching Grace closely and I have not seen her scoot today, but I am pretty sure she has irritated her bottom with the grooming. Blondie has started moving to the outside of her thighs which is upsetting. They both have such beautiful fur too.

Usually that behavior signals the anal glands need to be expressed! The vet can do it. It could also signal worms, but it definitely signals that there is a type of "itch" down there.

Jill, I knew you were missing from the forum for a while. Please take it easy and obey the doctor's orders. Weren't you the one who posted about the carrier on wheels?

Hi Sherry. Yes I have the carrier on wheels and luckily it is pretty light weight but the problem is Grace is not. The carrier needs to be put in and out of the car and up on the vet table. I would like to be a bit further along in the healing process before I attempt to bring her in. I can get the vet tech to help me on that end, but here at home I have to get her in the carrier and put it in and out of the car. I am off from work 4 more weeks so I am keeping a close eye on her and will take her in if she seems uncomfortable or starts scooting again. She didn't scoot at all yesterday or this morning so I am keeping an eye on her. She is acting like her normal self racing around, ambushing Blondie, chasing after toys and sleeping away the afternoons. She doesn't pull away when I pet her so I don't think she is in any pain. I doubt it is a parasite, but I can always bring a sample into the vet to check into that easy enough and talk to them about what is happening.

My mum gave her cat omega 3 fish oil (never cod liver as it's bad for them) she either added it to his food or a raw egg and it helped with his fur, we also discovered it seemed to be worse in the winter with the heating on.
Hopefully you will find out what it is.

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Clare
Magic (brown spotted boy born 31 March 2012)
Pearl (seal Lynx Point girl born 1 October 2015)
Bristol, UK

I took Grace into the vet today. She had been scooting quite a bit this morning so I was glad I made the appointment earlier this week. Her stool sample was clear and they emptied her anal glands but they were not all that full. Since she had nibbled a couple of sores on her belly and her tail the vet gave me steroid pills to give her. The vet thinks it is an allergy and noted that they go outside on the patio daily. I managed to trick Grace into eating the pill with a pill pocket around it and some other treats to confuse her. This is going to be tough though because she is not easily medicated. I decided to not give Blondie the steroids because she does not have any cores currently. The vet says if there are no sores then it is classified as behavioral. Sores indicate an allergy. Since the vet had me put them on venison to test if it was a food allergy, I am thinking it is something outside. Last thing I want to do is deprive them of the outside, they would be crushed. But now that it is summer, I will let them out much less. Grace seems to be back to her normal self now. I noticed that Blondie didn't hiss at her. If the rolls had been reversed, I am sure Grace would have hissed at Blondie when she came home from the vet.

I agree some fatty acids will help with this, and that can take the form of a fatty snack like tuna, cheese, yogurt, etc.

Oh Jill, I'm hoping you didn't hurt yourself getting her in and out of the car. Good luck with the pills. Raiden had two weeks of antibiotics to take and I thought I was getting the pills down him until I kept stepping on them on the floor. I wasn't getting any of them down. I added the pill to his food and Legs ended up eating it. So I simply gave up. He had no infection that needed to be cleared up. The vet just gave them as a precautionary thing.

Hope things improve for you and Grace.

Hope things start to get better with the steroids they are brilliant in some circumstances.

I am the expert on giving pills as I spent 3 years giving my previous boy steroids and chemotherapy pills plus a probiotic and the occasional antibiotic on top of that, I had to give them 3 times a day every day for 3 years.
My friends all used to ask me to give any tablets to their cats as they couldn't do it.
I am thinking of getting one of these carriers on wheels as I have a hard job carrying Magic when it's vet time, Pearl is OK as she's tiny.

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Clare
Magic (brown spotted boy born 31 March 2012)
Pearl (seal Lynx Point girl born 1 October 2015)
Bristol, UK

Grace is definitely responding well to the medication already! She even curled up on my lap to day for a little nap and purred! I was so thrilled. I just hope she doesn't need long term steroid use. It is hard on the kidneys for sure.

Sherry, I was careful and it has been 3 weeks since my surgery. I am off from work for 3 more wonderful, cat filled weeks! I am not going to want to go back and my cats are really going to miss me.