Cat in obvious pain

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

DeirdreKM

Member Since 2012
My non-diabetic kitty, Chloe, is in obvious pain. She is constantly licking her bottom and crying. The vet says because she is overweight she has a hard time cleaning herself and the accumulation of fecal material on her bottom is what's bothering her. He recommended we clean her with baby wipes. We try, but she howls in pain. I think all of this is due to changing her diet. When Sasha was diagnosed with diabetes we switched both cats to Fancy Feast Classic and Purina DM dry. She never had any problems with her bottom on the old food, even though she was overweight. I'm thinking one of these new foods is making her stool more acidic. Does anyone have any similar experiences?
 
Did the vet check her anal glands to see if they need to be expressed? She could have a ruptured anal gland or an infection in one and that would be very painful.
 
If it's not a medical problem (i.e. glands or UTI or something along those lines) and is related to food, I would suspect the DM dry to be the culprit. Dry food is notorious for causing crystals and other painful digestive issues for cats because it doesn't contain enough water. If you were already feeding dry before, then there's quite possibly a different ingredient in the DM dry that is exacerbating Chloe in some way. The reason I blame the dry is because I haven't yet heard of any kitties having issues like you describe who are just being fed Fancy Feast Classics, however, I've heard of numerous issues associated with the DM dry.

Are you home testing? If not, you don't want to get rid of the dry for your diabetic just yet because it will lower BGs significantly, anywhere from 100 to 200 points or more, requiring a dose reduction. If you're not home-testing and don't lower the dose when you remove the dry, you can end up with a serious situation on your hands.
 
She could also have urine scalding, irritating her bottom. Since she can't clean herself, due to the obesity, the urine and feces just sit there on her bottom and inflame the skin.
 
I have a disabled rabbit with urine scald. We had the vet shave her - we wash her butt twice a day and apply cream to the sore bits. Pick her up - is the fur coming out? are there red raw sore bits?

Did the vet test for urinary tract issues?

Sometimes wet food can make the stool softer... you could try another brand.

Wendy
 
What causes urine scalding? Could that be due to a change in food also? She did have her anal glands expressed when this first started happening. But it just gets worse. I want to switch them back to the dry food they were on last year to see if it helps, but I'm worried its too high carb for Sasha. The DM is only 13% carbs and their old food is 40%.
 
Urine scalding is caused by an animal being unable to lick themselves. They may not have the same mobility they had when they were younger. They may be severely overweight and not be able to reach.

If urine is leaking out, unknown cause, and then the cat is unable to reach in order to clean themselves, you can get urine scalding, sores, tenderness.
 
Rather than wiping, you may want to try rinsing with a mild spray of water.

You may need to carefully trim away fur if it is collecting debris.

Rubbing on the equivalent of severe diaper rash is very painful.

After you have rinsed away any debris, you pat dry with a non-linty cloth, then pat on a protectant layer such as mineral oil.

Repeat as needed until raw skin has healed.
 
I was cleaning Baloos (GA) butt with a baby wipe, no harsh chemicals, we use it at work for the kittens.. but it still really bothered him and MADE the skin raw.. so I got some cream from the vet after they shaved him back there and cleaned him up.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top