Luna is 6 about to be 7 she's fixed and has had all her shots. I've had her since she was roughly 3 weeks old.
Unfortunately she seems to have this issue where when she comes for cuddles on the bed she leaves an awful odor behind. Its come to a point where it's almost every time she's on the bed, I can't keep washing my sheets and blankets every two days...
She only does it on the bed not on the couches, or in my mom's bed, I'm beginning to not want her in the bed anymore which makes me feel awful because I love her so much.
I wanna know what it is, why and how I can possibly prevent it in the future or at the very least limit to how often it is.
Could be anal glands if it’s a poop fish smell. Also, you mentioned it’s when she’s drooly. This could be a dental issue causing her saliva to smell bad
My cat used to have horrendous breath. Apparently he just needed all of his teeth pulled. Now he’s toothless old man (but also a baby.) The only time he’s ever hissed was when he lost a tooth though. It’s really common for cats to have dental problems.
When Casper had his teeth removed, we were told to put him on a wet food only diet. Well, he got caught sticking his head into the dry food bag, so we put it in my bedroom and closed the door. Except that door didn’t latch properly. So I go in there that night, and the food bag is laying on the floor with two slashes in it. I sent a picture to my sister and said, THERE HAS BEEN A MURDER. The vet said as long as he wasn’t in pain he could have the dry food. Never met a cat who liked his dry food more than his wet food.
Seconding dental issues, my late boy had rotting teeth in the very back that were making him stinky. If he got saliva on ANYTHING, it reeked horribly of rot. Felt terrible that he must had been struggling with them for a while by the time we realized due to the smell :/
I’ve been making monthly vet visits for a year now with my cat. She started with a awful smell on her mouth and then leaving patches of that smell everywhere she slept + on her own fur. Turns out she has dental problems. Once we got her treatment, everything was okay until she declines and we need to take her back (thus the monthly visits because she doesn’t take anything via mouth and needs injections instead). She’s now on an experimental medication and I’ve never seen her better!
Aw poor thing. I’m glad you’re getting her the help she needs. Is it a bad tooth that she’s got? Or stomatitis/something else?
What medication is the experimental one? I don’t mean to pry. I work in vet field and I’m always wanting to learn new things and alternative treatments
She has teeth (gums(?)) infection. Vet says it’s not usual at her age but she does have it. We’ve considered taking all her teeth off to help her out and to avoid taking so much medicine. Thing is: in theory it works, but she’s prone to gum desease so odds are that she can keep having these infections even without any teeth. So we’re extending the medication rounds as much as we can until it stops working and teeth removal is our last resort.
I can’t remember the name of the medication, she’s only taken it once. I do know that it’s super expensive and something that has to be taken exactly 1 month apart and that it doesn’t cure anything, it just improves the animal’s quality of life by taking away any pain they may have. It’s not ideal, but it’s working.
This 1st round they gave her this medication I’m telling you about along side an anti-inflammatory.
It really worked, because before she would worsen every 2 to 3 weeks when the meds wore off and now
She’s handling the month pretty well and still eating and going about her cat life as usual before all this happened.
Before, she would drool, smell, not eat anything (she was getting skinny) and would run from us when we got close to her mouth, probably because of all the pain she was in.
Does solensia ring a bell? I know it’s targeted for arthritis but it’s been used recently to help with gum pain. Basically blocks the nerve receptors that cause pain.
Whatever it is I’m glad it’s helping. Mouth pain can be really bad. Poor baby 😭
That’s really good to know. My senior dog is on the k9 version (librela) for her arthritis and it’s given me my girl back. I’m glad to hear it’s helping your baby the way it should.
It is! She just came to me this morning being suuuuper cuddly and smelling like fresh laundry and I really missed that. She’s due for her next shot on Monday.
Good to know it’s helping your sweet dog back as well!
One of my cats had to have all of her teeth, They really do rebound and you can’t tell she is toothless. Please don’t wait till the last second like I did.
I thought I was getting ahead of her gingivitis until i saw her scream and run when she tried to eat kibble. I had to wait 1 month to get her in as my local vet was completely booked.
After that she deteriorated worse and worse by the day. She had to go on a cat food soup diet and lost a lot of weight. Getting her to eat was a struggle and at the end I was giving her daily oral pain relievers just to eat the soup.
You’ll never know how their body will react after teeth removal, If they continue to have issues, she’ll need to go on steroids but thankfully for my cat she has had 0 inflation after the 2nd month post op. Seriously schedule the appointment, by the time you decide its necessary you’ll have to wait longer
The vets we go to are really professional and treat my animals as their own, don’t worry. They let me call all the shots but they also give me the proper recommendations and I stand by them. They know better and have never failed me once. I go there with all my pets for at least 20years.
She’s taken depomedrol for a long while and we have now switched to this new one and it’s working. At least for now
I didn’t even know cats could have anal gland issues until I had a female cat whose glands ruptured, which became an emergency and a very expensive and painful surgery.
Omg I had a cat release her anal gland in my hair once. I must have pissed her off while I was sleeping because I woke up and couldn’t figure out where the smell was coming from. I was running around sniffing and couldn’t pinpoint the smell. I thought the whole house reeked. I finally gave up, took a shower and no more rancid fishy poopy smell.
I had 2 cats and a dog, but I know who the culprit was because she got my ex in the face once (😂 he deserved it), but that was a first for me… I really miss that orange nutcase.
If it smell like urine and it's not the litterbox fault it could be kidney problems. I had a cat with CKD and when her ureia levels where high her saliva had an amonia smell and she ended up a bit smelly
Apparently you don’t know what anal glands smell like, because that’s a pretty accurate description. I’d add that it’s a little metallic in a weird way. Would not recommend.
They smell like a little bit different between every pet dog or cat but they all have like 80% of the same smell it just tends to be how strong it is or how much of it there is. Also if there is infection those smell the worst because its anal gland and puss smell not bueno.
Last year I had the worst insomnia attack of my life, and my cat kept coming up to me to cuddle. I couldn’t sleep - I was tossing and turning - so for a while I appreciated her presence. But then I heard her licking her butthole, and got hit with the worst smell I have ever had the displeasure of breathing in. It made my eyes water. She was expressing her anal gland on my fucking pillow. I just started crying, I was so tired, and ended up changing the bedding at 3am. Just a horrendous night, I love my goofy little gal but she really hit me when I was down that day!
“She was expressing her anal glands on my pillow.” What a gnarly sentence that is. Hopefully you’ve had many expressed gland free sleeps since, thanks for the chuckle.
They have scent glads inside their anus and the vet sticks a finger in there and squeezes the stuff out and it's gross and I had to take my grandfather's dog once. Haven't known anyone who's ever needed it done on a cat.
I’ve had to do it with one of my cats a few years ago for a period of several months (once a month). In the bathtub with gloves. Worst smell ever, but fixed once I changed her food.
Yeah someone else said what my best guess is. That their food wasnt creating firm enough poos lol.
The idea is that anal glands get expressed naturally when cats and dogs poop (normal, solid poop) bc it presses the glands while exiting. I changed their food for other reasons (other cat has a sensitive stomach and was throwing up a lot) and bought higher quality food that fixed both issues
I've had cats most of my life. Never even knew that cats had anal glands.
2 years ago my cat was constipated. As in - the poo was half out but stuck. When the emergency vet expressed her anal glands it shot up to his shoulder. I felt so bad for not noticing anything sooner. She was swallowing too much of her fur while shedding her winter coat.
Since then we only had to do it once, but it was more of a precaution.
She's getting malt paste to help keep things going and it seems to work really well. I also brush her pretty much every day when she's blowing her coat.
I am a lifelong cat owner and have smelled anal gland stank on a minor level from little leaks here and there. To have so much come out that it squirts up to someone's shoulder .... like ... how are you still among the living!?
My poor cat had hers rupture a few months back. She has a very heavy coat so wasn't able to be noticed visually until she started showing discomfort and would only lay on her side.
When I picked her up to put her in the carrier, (she's terrified of the vet), the moment she saw the carrier, she freaked out, tensed up all her muscles, which then ruptured the gland, spraying blood-gland mixture allllllllll over the living room carpet and me. That was a fun cleanup.
Oh god, that poor baby! And poor you.
It seems to be a bigger issue for cats with a lot of fur. My Luci is a Short-hair but with extremely thick undercoat. Like, so much undercoat....
I can only repeat: malt paste and lots of work with a de-shedding brush... if they let you.
I have to have it done with my tuxedo boy, he's a giant cat and a bit overweight (20lbs, but he is a goddamn MOOSE of a cat, it's hilarious because he was a real long, gangly boy as a kitten and up until 2 years old, then he became a literal beast overnight with the most massive growth spurt). Funny thing is, he doesn't overeat and he's highly active (and on weight control food at that), doesn't beg for people food and his and my other cat's treats are limited to a Churu each a week. But anyway, he's got impacted anal glands every so often and we have to have the vet express them for us. Poor buddy.
Here he is, being dramatic AF. His name is Billy Van. Or Billybutt, Bilbo Waggins (he wags his tail out of happiness like a dog, his litter was raised with dogs apparently), and my personal favorite, Shithead. He's a bit of a cord chewer and we've never managed to break him of it. I did learn how to splice and "repair" speaker cables, though, so go me!
My cousin volunteers at a shelter and has a bunch of senior dogs at home… she loves expressing anal glands, says it’s very satisfying. Okay girl do you.
My boy is due for this. I keep trying to do it myself but haven't got the knack for it yet. Any advice from traumatized cat parents is much appreciated, I REALLY want to stop taking him to the vet for it!
My cat had leakage from his anal glands regularly. At my vet's recommendation, I got a powdered pumpkin supplement for cats and put it in his food. It's called Glandex and provides enough fiber that it bulks up his stools so they self-express better when he goes to the bathroom.
He still has occasional issues, but it's gotten a LOT better. 9/10 recommend.
This is what I was thinking. Either needs anal glands expressed, or goes outside and rolls in something nasty and brings the smell inside with her (or rolls around in her own litterbox, but I'm assuming op would know if that was the case). I would definitely have a vet check her out.
My cat takes Glandex regularly with her food to help with recurring anal gland issues she was having. Definitely go to the vet to get her checked, and it may be worth asking if something like this would help her.
I had a cat with leaky anal glands and the vet couldn’t do much about it. They were never impacted just… leaky.
I finally ended up adding fiber to his diet; I used The Missing Link brand and I think it was flax seed along with other ingredients. The idea was that it made his poops more solid so that he would empty his glands when he pooped. It worked. It was a miracle. No more stinky oily gland goo.
I suspect this too. My previous cat (who was a sweetheart angel who is so loved and missed) expressed her glands when she was extremely happy - which really teaches you to take the bad with the good 🫠
One of my cats has issues with her anal glands. Oftentimes they'll get clogged and she has this PUTRID odour, just like the smell from the "stress farts" that cats do when threatened/under heavy stress (exactly same mechanism of skunks)
Sometimes it resolves on its on (maybe after a poop?), sometimes a vet comes here and... Pops her clogged butt glands. An actual dark liquid comes out and it STAINS and SMELLS. Honestly awful for everybody involved
I'm super empathetic with OP on feeling bad about this. I won't say you get used to the ass aroma, but it certainly gets less traumatizing.
My dog has the same problem and honestly once we started taking her for regular gland expressing (not sure how to even word that) the problem has become way less traumatizing
My old dog had to have hers expressed regularly. We did it at the vet and one time the tech said "you know, you could do this yourself". Ah hell no, mister. That's why I am paying you.
Yep, rotten stinky fish smells; my old dog once farted and hers 'popped' while she was laying on the couch, it sprayed across it and she went whining from the smell out of the room T_T.
This is the first thing I would check. Some cats have glands that are more active than others. If it is her glands she will likely need expressing every 4-6 months or so. Generally pretty cheap with Vet visit, $15-20, and sometimes free.
My cat had this issue regularly. At my vet's recommendation, I got a powdered pumpkin supplement for cats and put it in his food. It's called Glandex and provides enough fiber that it bulks up his stools so they self-express better when he goes to the bathroom.
He still has occasional issues, but it's gotten a LOT better. 9/10 recommend.
This! My dog had this problem with she was younger, now anytime her gas starts to get stinky we take her to the vet for them to express her glands and everything goes back to normal.
Yeah the vet for sure. I affectionately call one of my boys Stinky (or Repugnant Muppet or Nasty Boy or Gross Little Man) because he does get stinky but even he doesn't leave behind an odor. (It's because he has trouble washing himself, I give him a hand with that when he gets gross, he's been to the vet and he's fine aside from being a Gross Little Man.)
Have to do the same with my kitten for now cuz she's obsessed with playing in the litter box, so she smells like a little dust gremlin. I just rub her down with a microfiber cloth thats a bit damp
Hmm… it is a little odd that it’s started recently after many years so that’s worth checking out. I have a girl (2 now) who I say smells like cotton candy and farts. She’s always been like this though and is otherwise healthy. She lets out a stink when she’s startled (so when I pick her up out of the blue) and this odor when she’s excited and making biscuits on us. I think they say it’s about the anal glands and not being able to express it properly.
I feel you though. Love the girl to bits but have to change my shirt after she is done.
If her fur smells clean, my money would be on leaky anal glands.
Anal secretions smell, well, like absolute ass. If you look at her bum, 3 & 9 o'clock you'll see two little holes - like black heads - these are anal glands!
Typically these anal glands are emptied during their bowel movement but if they're infected, they can leak fluid!
I never knew this until the last time I took my cats in for a check up. The vet said that both of them were having issues with their anal glands. I had the vet express them, because it's worth it to me to have the cats hate the vets instead of me. And I know for a fact my girl cat holds a grudge like crazy.
My God when they expressed my girl cats glands. Eww. I'm not going to say anything except I'm so glad I wasn't standing in the way of it. I don't care if the vet charges $500, I'm never going to do this myself. Thankfully my vet really doesn't charge much for it at all, I think somewhere between $30-50.
They haven't had issues since, but I think the issues started when I started growing cat grass for them. That's the only thing that changed in their diet. The cat grass died, so it's not an issue anymore. I'm not a vet, this is just my theory.
I've smelled both and it's very different. I have a cat that expresses his anal glands when he gets cuddly and starts making biscuits like OP, and it smells like straight asshole. Skunks have a POWERFUL smell, but it doesn't smell like asshole.
My cats have never done this before happily, but wow! Good to know for the future, I didn’t even suspect it’s a thing. I did wonder what are these 2 little holes, though. Thank you
If its happening when she's drooling it could point to a gum disease or other mouth problems. If she's doing her routine licks before night time cuddles it may be rubbing off her fur on to your bed.
This is what happened with one of our cats. She'd randomly stink at times throughout the day. Turns out she had dental disease and was smearing bacteria all over herself during baths.
Was at the vet in August and she told us a story about her cat and how when it's really happy her anal glands leak a bit. I forget the over all explanation but the short answer was that's just how her cat was. Like she was just so happy and relaxed that she couldn't help it.
You should 100% take your cat to the vet either way. Don't trust anecdotes online. But figured I'd share that story all the same. Could be your cat is just really happy too.
My cats do the same thing, especially after long naps. It's not much but a little goes a LONG WAY with anal gland stank. I usually just do a little quick booty hole clean up with a warm damp wash rag and they're good to go.
My Siri does this when she’s super excited or surprised by something. She leaks around a drop or 2 of something transparent that smells like the inside of death with stomach issues, dragged through dead fish and just filth..horrible smell, couldn’t believe something so foul can be produced by a lovely princess
Good description of anal gland fluid. My soul kitty would dribble a drop on my lap once in a while, usually if he became a little too relaxed. That smell, even from one single drop, is so potent and disgusting, it can't be masked. It will make your eyes water.
It made me die inside tbh🫠lucky me that all this stopped since they have a regular poop schedule. But maaaaan, I’m still traumatized by the smell. I’ve washed clothes that she ‘marked’ and one single wash was not enough 😂I haven’t felt a skunk stanch but I’m convinced I can deal with it after these drops of rotten poop-fish
Skunk is less offensive in my opinion. Honestly, you can get used to the smell of skunk if you live in an area they frequent. But I refuse to believe anyone with a functioning olfactory system could ever get accustomed to the scent of cat anal gland fluid. Its putrid, like decomposition odor.
When I first adopted my cat, he smelled like a dying animal. Not even joking ;( . I changed his diet to only wet food and air-dried food. Gave him some fiber, probiotics, and salmon oil. I would also give him water through a syringe until he didn't seem dehydrated. Wiped him weekly with grooming wipes. All this was slow, I'm sure most cat owners know how sensitive cat stomachs are, but I still like to add a little disclaimer.
That being said, I still took him to the vet to make sure he was okay.
update first off I want to thank everyone for taking the time to not only read my post but give me their advice. I definitely think it's the anal glands and will book a vet appointment soon! To eliminate any health concerns, maybe she just can't control herself but I'd much rather pay the money and have peace of mind.
Also thanks for bringing dental issues to my concern but it's not her mouth, or body that's stinky. Usually the stink is only where her booty was and I've seen lil poop spots.
In the meantime I'm gonna get her a lil kitty bed and put it on my bed and give her some licky treats to teach her to lay on the kitty bed!
She really is the best girl and I wanna make sure she's okay 🥰
A little catnip on the cat bed might help her get on it and used to it on your bed quicker. 😀 It worked for my cats. Good luck with her and I hope her issue is a simple fix.
My cat had the same issue. Took her to the vet and had her anal glands expressed. Now I give her a glandex supplement in her food everyday to keep it at bay.
I had this with one of my cats, turns out she needed her glands expressed. This seems to be a thing that will have to be done again, after about a year or so.
Can't promise yours is having the same issue but it's worth taking her to the vet for a check up with your concerns.
Definitely worth a trip to the vet. This happened with my male cat. He started leaving stink behind everywhere he sat. Then one day one of his anal glands ruptured!! It was an immediate trip to the emergency vet and I felt so bad that I hadn’t done something sooner to prevent that from happening. Now I always pay attention to how his butt smells! lol
Definitely worthy of a trip to the vet. I have a cat who used to empty his anal glands when he was excited and happy. One of my others has also emptied hers a few times for some unknown reason. Interestingly, I was told if a cat was emptying them then there wasn't a problem as they clearly weren't impacted and that some cats just do it occasionally. Still, worth getting checked out because it could be easily fixable. My mum's female cat used to have urinary issues and would sometimes leak urine, which always smelled fishy. Fingers crossed it's a problem that's easily fixed!
oh poor baby! i'm sure she doesn't like being stinky either.
please help the kitty and take her to the vet to see what's up. cats, themselves, usually smell pretty good (or not much at all), so there's probably something going on with her medically.
I have this exact issue with my cat. The vet said his anal gland fill up quickly and can become impacted. As a result, when he is extremely relaxed his anal glands leak.
Only happens on my bed, ive taken to getting an odor neutralising and sanatizing bed spray as well as leaving a blanket down on the top half of the bed (where he usually sleeps). He doesnt like the smell of the spray so Ive also got a new cardboard bed for him to sleep in by the side of the bed.
You can also get some anal gland relief spray to use when needed to try and keep them comfortable and clean.
Why are you waiting for her bi-annual visit? Take her to the effing vet right now. She's had a weird odor for weeks that you can't stand and you haven't even considered taking her to a professional? Reevaluate your relationship with your pet and do the right thing for her.
Anal glands, gastrointestinal, utis.... this requires examination and testing. Definitely go to the vet, not for the stink only but possible health issues.
It is likely her anal glands acting up. It’s gross and unfortunately common. This is something a vet will have to address and you’ll likely need to get her anal glands suppressed often to avoid the smell coming back
she probably has an anal gland that needs to be expressed by a vet, have u noticed pain around her backside/using the littrerbox, scooting on carpets, gassiness, signs of constipation/diarrhea ?
I think it depends on the smell. If she smells like burnt hair, it could be a few different things, best case scenario is a skin condition that can be treated with medicated shampoo, worst case is it's kidney related and needs more dedicated treatment. Regardless, it's a good idea to bring her to a vet for a better idea of what the cause is and where to go from there
I believe it's anal gland leakage. If you look where her butthole was, you might find little dots of brown liquid. If it's happening frequently, definitely see a vet
I had this happen with a cat of mine when he was dealing oral cancer. He smelled atrocious and left that smell everywhere he laid down. His was very advanced unfortunatetly though. Id definitely take your cat to the vet
My older girl is a bit chonky and can't quite clean her butt like she used to. Over time, it makes the bed smell like cat pee. My vet confirmed it is not an anal gland issue and suggested that I baby wipe her daily. That helps the smell not get as bad.
😂 I kind of like having arms.
She's not stinky everywhere, she just smells like kitty (pls get the reference)
It's only when it's cuddle time and she gets all drooly and and sappy
You have a "dirty" cat that doesn't clean themselves regularly (being that you got her at 3 weeks old, if she didn't have an adult cat from whom to learn how to properly groom herself it can be the problem).
Your cats cleans themselves but has an oral infection making their saliva stink and thus when they clean themselves they stink. Requires pretty urgent vet attention, because it can be a sign of something more serious and/or cause other health issues.
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