Expert: Jessica - 8/26/2009

Question
I recently adopted a 11 week old kitten. I have noticed that her butt is always dirty and smelly. I took her to the vet and he thought it might be diaherra. I haven't noticed any diaherra in the litterbox or anywhere else. The vet gave me some medication to help, which I've been giving her for the past three days, but no change yet. Otherwise, she is the typical healthly kitten. I was just wondering if you had experienced a similar problem.
Thank you.

Answer
Hi Anna-Marie.  It could possibly be the food you're feeding.  You may want to experiment with that a little bit, but make any changes very slowly so that you don't cause stomach upset.  Generally high quality foods are going to cause the least stool odor, so things without corn or other grains will be good to try.  Also, if you happen to be feeding any hairball treats or supplements, I would do without those until you see firm evidence of hairballs (she is too young for hairballs yet).  They tend to cause a bad stool odor and because many of them contain greasy lubricants, they can stick to the fur around the anus.

But I'm wondering if perhaps your kitty might have overactive anal glands.  These produce foul-smelling fluid that is stored in two sacs just inside the anus.  Generally, the amount of fluid produced is small, and it is expressed with the stool when the kitty has a normally formed bowel movement.  When bowel movements are continually soft, or when too much anal fluid is produced, the sacs become full, and the fluid can squirt out between bowel movements.  It tends to be released when the cat is surprised or puts up a struggle, and some cats will try to empty the sacs by scooting their behinds along the floor.  Just a couple drops of the fluid can clear out a room!  And the smell can be difficult to get out of the fur, even with shampoo.  When the sacs become full, it's usually a good idea to have them emptied by a veterinarian so they don't become impacted and infected.  The vet actually has to insert his finger into the anus to drain the sacs.  But the cat feels relief once the sacs are emptied.  If the problem arises over and over again, surgical removal of anal glands may be the best option.  There is speculation that long ago, cats may have squirted anal fluid voluntarily for self defense, in the way that a skunk sprays musk.  But today, anal sacs and fluid are of no use, so removal poses no threat.

If this isn't it, perhaps she just hadn't learned how to groom herself so well from mom.  You may want to take a cat bath wipe once or twice a day and give her a little help down there.  Kittens often neglect their grooming but tend to get a little tidier as adults.