cat rubbing his butt on the floor!

[SunShineSally]

Okay so my cat rubbed his butt on the floor! he never did this before! he doesn't have worms or anything like that what could it be? could his butt just itched for no reason? or is it something serious. My dog did it all the time but never had worms or any issues to worry about. But I never saw or heard of a cat doing that. He also hasn't done it again and he did it earlier this afternoon

[rhubarbarin]

My guess? He ate a long human hair and needed some extra help getting it out of there!

[katelove]

Could be impacted anal glands.

[Chamomile Girl]

Are you sure he does not have worms? My cats have only ever done that when they had tapeworm...which is really easy to pick up and also very easy to get rid of. If you cat keeps doing this bring a stool sample into your vet and they can tell you for sure.

[Ola_]

If it was a dog I'd vote for anal glands also. It can be a chronic problem, or can occur because of insufficient fibre in the diet or soft stools that are not expressing the glands properly.

[SunShineSally]

Originally Posted by Chamomile Girl

Are you sure he does not have worms? My cats have only ever done that when they had tapeworm...which is really easy to pick up and also very easy to get rid of. If you cat keeps doing this bring a stool sample into your vet and they can tell you for sure.

He is a solid black cat with maybe at the most 10 white hairs on his chest so if he had worms it is so easy to see them. also he is an indoor cat and I do not leave milk out and we haven't had mice in forever (the vet said those are the main ways that cats get worms)

If it is the anal glands what do I do for that or does the body take care of it on it's own? He still has yet to do it again, We only have one room with carpet and it is so cold out that is the room we all are in

[2xy]

Just out of curiosity....how does milk give a cat worms? I've never heard that one before.

Tapeworms come from fleas. If you even brought one flea into your home (on a pantleg or something) and your cat ate it, he could get tapeworm. They spend most of their lives INSIDE the animal's body, so it's not easy to see them no matter what color your cat is.

He could have worms, or he could have an itchy butt, or he could have had a dingleberry that needed to come off. If he doesn't do it again, I wouldn't worry about it.

[SunShineSally]

Originally Posted by 2xy

Just out of curiosity....how does milk give a cat worms? I've never heard that one before.

Tapeworms come from fleas. If you even brought one flea into your home (on a pantleg or something) and your cat ate it, he could get tapeworm. They spend most of their lives INSIDE the animal's body, so it's not easy to see them no matter what color your cat is.

He could have worms, or he could have an itchy butt, or he could have had a dingleberry that needed to come off. If he doesn't do it again, I wouldn't worry about it.

I have no idea but that is what the vet had told me he hasn't done it again! I think he may have had an itchy tushy or as you said a dingleberry thanks for all the replies!

[Naturalyst]

Ascaris (roundworms) eggs could be brought in on your shoes - they are common. Infection could cause the itchiness that leads to butt rubbing.

We've only had indoor cats and had to deal with it twice (thankfully, only twice in a decade). Only noticed after the cats :Pukeand we saw the worms themselves.

[BreaMarie]

You could take a wet, warm paper towel and wipe off the cat's butt to see if that helped. You may want to have someone else hold him still for the procedure, since he probably won't appreciate it

[katelove]

Originally Posted by SunShineSally

If it is the anal glands what do I do for that or does the body take care of it on it's own? He still has yet to do it again, We only have one room with carpet and it is so cold out that is the room we all are in

They'd probably need to be manually expressed. If he hasn't done it agan though then hopefully it was just a one off problem lke an itch or something.