My cat chews her rear and cries after litter box. Is she in pain?

Excessive grooming of the rear may indicate fleas or worms. The area she's paying attention to is classic for flea allergy. The most common worms are tapeworms, which your pet gets by grooming and ingesting a flea carrying the tapeworm eggs. A broad spectrum dewormer can be gotten from your vet as well as a topical or oral flea control such as Cheristin or Comfortis. You might also consider asking your vet for a dose of Capstar. It helps get the problem under control by killing the fleas on the cat starting in five minutes but only lasts for 24 hours. You also need to treat your home environment. If you use a pest control service, tell them you are having a flea problem and they can adjust their treatment. Use a premise spray that also contains an IGR, insect growth regulator. This will keep eggs and larvae from maturing into adults and helps break the life cycle. Also, vacuum EVERY DAY, throwing out the bag or emptying the canister every time into an outside receptacle and spraying the contents with insecticide to kill the fleas you’ve vacuumed up. Treat your yard as well, since fleas are opportunistic and will hop a ride into your home on your pant leg without you knowing it. Concentrate on areas under bushes, in the shade. Fleas are less likely to be located in open sunny areas where it gets hot. You might want to consider boarding your cat for the day at your vet, to give you the opportunity to flea bomb your house without having to worry about your cat. They can bathe your cat and give a dose of Capstar while you take care of the problem at home. Be patient, you may have to repeat these steps multiple times 10-14 days apart to help break the flea life cycle.

She could have a problem with her anal glands. She could have an infection in her glands or just need them expressed. She really should be checked by a vet, especially since she seems lethargic. Your vet can do an examination to determine the exact cause and then recommend treatment. She might just need an expression and an antibiotic. Without having a diagnosis, it is hard to recommend a treatment.

This looks like a moderate inflammation/infection of the skin surrounding the area. It could be due to urine scald, which means that there is some other problem causing the urine to collect there. This could also be due to Ace not being able to groom herself properly. It's difficult to tell with all the fluff, but Ace appears to be a big kitty. If Ace is obese, then she will not be able to properly groom herself back there and could explain why she's going after her tail - she can't reach the spot she needs to groom, so she grooms the nearest spot she can reach. I've provided a link below to some good information about cat obesity, so you can check if this is a problem and help correct it if needed. http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/Health_Information/obesity.cfm Unfortunately, this does need evaluation and treatment by a vet, because this problem can get much worse. If you can flush the area with cool water twice a day, then it will provide some relief and help prevent further damage to the skin. It's not an emergency, but it would be good to have her seen by a veterinarian at your next convenience. I hope that helps and Ace gets better soon.

Based on your description I'm wondering if Scarlet may be having an issue with her anal gland. If you are seeing a consistent scab and she's licking & scratching as persistently as she is, I'd be a bit concerned about an infection. I recommend having her seen by a vet, as she may need a prescription of antibiotics to clear the issue. Hope this helps.

This usually happens when there is something painful in the pelvis or lower spine. This can be due to arthritis in the area, nerve pinching, or infections around that area. In order to narrow-down the cause of this and get some good treatment, I recommend having her evaluated by a veterinarian sometime soon within the next week or so. I hope that helps and Askher gets better soon.

She may have an anal sac abscess, or she could have a little bit of colitis and she just hasn’t had a bowel movement for you to see the full effect of what is going on. Look all around her rear end for any wounds . If it continues then she should be evaluated by a veterinarian soon. Best of luck and I hope she improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

It sounds like Lacey doesn't feel well. Cats can get infections of their anal sacs, which are around their rear end. If she is licking a lot then that is a possible cause. Of course many other problems could be going on as well. I would really recommend that she be seen by a veterinarian. They can determine in something is wrong with her rear end, and if so recommend a treatment plan. I hope she improves quickly! Thank you for using Pet Coach.