Does your cat scoot across the floor like this? If it’s new, you might want to make an appointment with the vet, because this kind of behavior can indicate a problem. When cats scoot across the floor, they might just be “messy,” and their fur feels so funny that they think they have no other way of getting everything off. Sometimes, though, this can be a sign of impacted anal glands.
Cats have glands that fill up with a smelly, oily substance, which is deposited on their stools. It’s part of why their stools sometimes stink really badly. This is one way that cats mark their territory in the wild. However, according to All Feline Animal Hospital, if their stools are too soft, or too small, to press on the glands, then the glands don’t express, which means they just fill up.
This condition makes cats scoot across the floor because it’s uncomfortable. They’re trying to rid themselves of the “funny” feeling. Other signs of impacted glands are excessive licking, and a foul smell. Because the glands can rupture, it’s important that you take your cat to the vet as soon as possible, should you notice any of these symptoms.
However, sometimes cats scoot across the floor just because. The video above is of our cat, Kali, who will scoot across the floor pretty much every time she has a bowel movement. The first time I noticed it, I asked the vet about it, and she had us bring Kali in for an exam. It turns out that she just likes to try and clean herself by scooting across the floor.
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen cats scoot across the floor, so we do have the vet look at her during her annual checkup, just to be sure her scooting behavior is just a little quirk of hers. So far, she’s never had an actual medical problem that causes that. So we just watch and chuckle, and try and take video. She actually seems somewhat embarrassed if we see her do it.
