Update! A kitty question related to the smell (might be peeing blood :( )

[Vintergatan]

I'm mainly looking for some input here or advice, if possible.

I have 4 cats right now and we're doing pretty well - they are clean, healthy, well behaved and get along well for the most part. But one of them as a really stinky behind

The reason I'm asking here is that I've had cats all my life and I don't ever remember a cat whose behind was so stinky, constantly, that it was very noticeable. It's really annoying me because I love my kitty and she rarely comes to cuddle, but when she does, she always has her tail up and gives me the backside, which is obviously really hard to put up with.

She is 2 years old and she has had diarrheas before. At one point she had blood in her poop so the vet gave us some paste to inject in her mouth, and that paste had a very distinct smell and I think I can kind of smell it still, though this was a year ago at least. In the end it turned out that that blood and diarrhea came from her nibbling on one of our house plants and that that paste didn't help much (till we got rid of the plant).

I don't know if this is related, but she also LOVES hanging around our toilets. She is a house cat (3 out of 4 of our cats are) and we have 3 toilets around the house for them, and she basically loves going around, from one to the other, scratching around it and just hanging out there. She especially loves it when we change the sand, then she makes a round and has to check each toilet out, often peeing in them even if she did her business recently. I guess she is marking her territory because she is the queen of our little community, but I wonder if that could have anything to do with her smell.

I also want to make it clear that it is only her behind that smells, and not the cat herself - she is clean and healthy, no bad breath or anything. And her behind looks fine as well.

Oh, and we only give them dry food - Royal Canine Indoors (which is made to minimize the odour, and it really does help). We give them canned food sometimes as a special treat.

Anyone had a similar issue? Anything that can be done?

[rybett]

Does she maybe need her anal glands emptied?

[Vintergatan]

It did cross my mind, but I've never had an animal with that issue so I'm not sure of the "symptoms". I was always under an impression that if an animal has that problem, the odour would be obvious from a distance? To be perfectly honest, I can only smell my cat when she is close to me and when she turns her back to me.

Are there some obvious tell tale signs of it I can look for? Like some swelling or something?

[Skeen]

My Stevie has a smelly backside, but she doesn't smell at all like poop.  I've had her in to see the vet about her anal glands and he said there was nothing wrong with them.  They're probably a bit overactive but not getting clogged so if we can live with it just to leave her alone.  Since Stevie doesn't like having her glands emptied, we have followed his advice and everyone is happy, lol!

[Vintergatan]

Aww, good for her
I'm not sure that I'd describe it as poop smell as such, but it's definitely some weird strong smell. It might as well be that the glands are a bit too productive but it doesn't seem to be bothering her much. We're supposed to take her for re-vaccination in a couple of months so I'll point it out to the vet and see what she says ^^

[kellyponyfeathers]

I think skeen and rybett are right; probably anal glands. One of my.cats has a stinky butt too. It doesn't smell like poop; it's a musky smell similar too a skunk's (the cat family and the skunk/weasel/otter family are in the same taxonomic order Carnivora, so they're fairly closely related). If her glands were bothering your cat, she'd be trying to empty them by scooting her butt on the floor. But it sounds like they're just "overactive" like skeen said. My cat's the same way. It doesn't bother mr much, so I've never askef my vet about it. But if it's really bothering you then talk to your vet. Anal glands can be surgically removed, but it's not cheap, and it's a bit risky. If the vet accidentally cuts a little too much, then the animal loses tone around the muscles that keep the butt hole closed. That means the animal loses control of when it poops and becomes incontinant, so not good. I used to work as a vet tech, and one of my bosses was experienced at anal gland removal surgeries. But they always made him nervous; he said they were tricky.

[Vintergatan]

Oh, I'd never subject the poor thing to something like that unless it was for her own good, yikes, it sounds bad
But it does sound like we got to the bottom of it, so thank you all for the input. I guess it's good that she is not as cuddly as my other two cats that love to go into my face she keeps more to herself so I definitely don't mind it.

On an unrelated note, I don't know how a skunk smells, I don't even think I've seen one in person, although I'd love to ^^

EDIT: ok, so I've googled it a bit and I'm pretty sure that's it. At one point, some months ago I saw a bit of brownish sludge coming out of her anus but I just thought it was poop, now it seems that it was probably the extra liquid. It crossed my mind that since she's so bent on marking her territory (only around toilets though, fortunately) that she might be making them more active that way, or something of a kind She does also often lick herself so I'll be sure to ask the vet to check her out, just to make completely sure that it's not giving her problems.
Thank you again!

[kaoskat]

I'd talk to my vet about it when I went to be safe if I were you, but like others have said she's likely fine.

[kellyponyfeathers]

Oh, you're in Iceland! No skunkies there, I guess, though there are European species, I think. Ferrets are also in the weasel family, so their musky smell is kind of similar.

And yes, the surgery is really only recommended for pets with serious anal gland problems. Some (usually dogs) get lots of infections in their anal glands, or they just get swollen with too much fluid that the animal can't squeeze out without help, and it happens about every week.

[BrightSide]

Gary Pudding has a cat form of IBS.. and as much of a cute little fluffball as he is, sometimes he really does not smell like a bed of roses.

My mother detests having to wash him.. my gosh, I have never seen a teensy little cat get so vicious in the space of 10 minutes!!

She swears by baby powder when he's having a poorly tummy. Just stick some of it on a cotton ball and powder kitty's bottom. As it's intended for babies, it's not toxic.. she sometimes uses baby shampoo to wash him as well, it doesn't hurt them.

[Eskara1862]

Gary Pudding has a cat form of IBS.. and as much of a cute little fluffball as he is, sometimes he really does not smell like a bed of roses.

My mother detests having to wash him.. my gosh, I have never seen a teensy little cat get so vicious in the space of 10 minutes!!

She swears by baby powder when he's having a poorly tummy. Just stick some of it on a cotton ball and powder kitty's bottom. As it's intended for babies, it's not toxic.. she sometimes uses baby shampoo to wash him as well, it doesn't hurt them.

Misty used to have feline IBS.  What she did in the litter box smelled so bad she wouldn't even bury it.  She'd take care of business and bolt! Used to be I'd take her to the vet about every other month for it because of her tummy troubles.  Bloody stool should never be ignored.  When I switched her to raw, all those issues stopped.  Turns out her tummy can't handle highly processed food.  Raw's more expensive than canned or dry, but it sure saves me a ton of money on vet bills!

[kittybethy]

I hope the poor kitty gets to smelling better!

[Vintergatan]

Hey guys, I think Nala (the kitty in question) might be peeing blood
I'm trying not to panic here since our vet told us last year that it does happen and it doesn't have to be too serious, but, you know, it's hard not to.

So the reason I can't be 100% sure is that we have three other kitties using those toilets, but I do think it's her because she goes and pees often.

Ok, so as hinted above, her toilet habits have always been a bit excessive. Ever since she was a kitten she loved hanging arund toilets and scratching around, and as I mentioned, every time we change the sand (which is often) she has to go and use it even if she did her business shortly before. She also tends to take her time peeing, like, she would be in the peeing pose for a few minutes even. But now I've noticed it even more. For the past few days she's been going to pee very often, always taking her time and producing very little pee every time (that I caught her). Now I'm noticing that some pee in the boxes is tinted red and the reason I think it's her is because the area with the blood is quite small, just like she tends to pee sometimes.

I've been observing her closely these days and apart from that she acts normally and she is happy and cheerful. I've touched her all over today, when I noticed the blood, just to see if she would wince at some pain or if I would feel anything odd, but nothing The vet is closed for today so I can't call and ask, or take her there til tomorrow.

any ideas? Any advice? She is two years old, spayed and has never had any medical issues (I've had her since she was a kitten).

[Psivampyr]

My first question is- is she fixed? If she's not fixed she could just be having her "time of the month".
If there is blood in the pee, it might be a bladder infection. The vet can give you some antibiotics for her, like our doctor would do for us if we had one. My brothers cat had one once and we gave her meds from the doc for 2 weeks and she was fine after that. I hope your cat feels better. I am sure when your vet is open you can take her and she will be right as rain in no time.

[Vintergatan]

Yes, she is fixed. I just found a small pool of blood in the bath tub and as I was just reading online that often happens when they have a urinary tract infection poor kitty. She is here sleeping between my keyboard and screen all cuddly and peaceful, she really doesn't look like she is in pain or discomfort.
I'll be calling the vet first thing in the morning when they open.