What is the butt ghost?

September 27, 2005 5:07 PM

One or more times weekly, my cat Cooper is afflicted with a very strange problem. The skin on his lower back - near his tail - starts twitching. Like, a lot. He'll stop; turn his head with a sort-of pissed off look and STARE at the spot on his back while it continues to twitch. Eventually he starts licking the spot furiously. After a few seconds of licking, he'll explode from his position and go galloping across the room or - many times - the entire house. It can go on for as many as 10 minutes at times; this series of behaviors. It seems like he’s trying to run away from this invisible force – this “butt ghost” as I’ve come to call it. Can anyone explain this?
posted by cbecker333 to Pets & Animals (17 answers total)

Sounds like tail chasing. But not with the tail. If he doesn't have a flea (or other pest) problem just enjoy the antics. It really sounds like he's just entertaining himself.
posted by snsranch at 5:19 PM on September 27, 2005

Sounds like a muscle tic is pissing the cat off, his antics are a way to overload the stimuli until it stops. I sometimes have this in my eyelid, and if I didn't know what it was it'd cause me to do odd things.
posted by edgeways at 5:27 PM on September 27, 2005

Oh dear. I really, really hope that the above posters are correct, and that it's not Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome. (Also see this site for a short narrative about how hard this is to to get diagnosed.)

I'm sorry if I've overreacted here, but I would urge you to look into it (one cat-owner to another). Good luck.
posted by CiaoMela at 5:37 PM on September 27, 2005

One of my friends likes to annoy cats by briefly and repeatedly touching just the tips of their fur on their back, which causes a very similar muscle twitch to occur. I've never heard of it being auto-generated but maybe that's just a very twitchy cat.
posted by matildaben at 5:51 PM on September 27, 2005

My cat occasionally does this, followed by a burst of energy. I just chalk it up to being her "crazy hour". I wouldn't really worry about it; cats exercise themselves from time to time.
posted by interrobang at 6:22 PM on September 27, 2005

Response by poster: I suppose its possible that he has some degree of hyperactivity/hypoglycemia however I don't think he has the full blown disorder that document describes. He has been inconsistent in terms of apetite from time to time. But, he has never gone for his tail or the tip of it, nor has he displayed any of the more dramatic symptoms described in that document. He doesn't get depressed or scared from what I can see. He sometimes obsesses about getting outside but many cats do.

I'll work to get him eating more and see if that helps. We feed science diet - some of the canned and some of the dry. I recently introduced our three cats to cat-safe raw food in an effort to bolster their nutrition. Cooper vomits every time he takes even a few small bites, and he's generally not interested in it. Our other cats love it and don't seem to have issues. I'm not sure if thats related.

Thanks for all the input!
posted by cbecker333 at 6:28 PM on September 27, 2005 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: After reading that narrative I can tell you Cooper's symptoms are nowhere close to the degree of disorder their cat was experiencing. It is never related to us touching him, is always short lived, and certainly does not include any violent attacks on himself. Thanks so much for the info though...will be good to know if this should start affecting him or our other cats in a serious way.
posted by cbecker333 at 6:37 PM on September 27, 2005

Is something stimulating his ass button?
posted by junkbox at 6:46 PM on September 27, 2005

My cat also does this, punctuated by bouts of pinning her tail down to try to make it stop moving or actively spinning around trying to catch it (and we know that her claws are too long when she sticks to herself). We just thought it was because she's a tortie and therefore...special.

She doesn't do it too much, though, and it doesn't seem to discombobulate her any more than is normal.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 7:22 PM on September 27, 2005

Cats often twitch their skin where an itchy spot is. Fleas tend to congregate around the base of the tail and under the chin (at least when my cats have had them), maybe that's what's causing the itchiness.

Anyway, I've seen one of my cats do this - it's almost like he's disconnected from his body, somehow, because he'll look at it for a bit like he doesn't know what's happening, then frantic licking, and then he'll take off like he's been shot out of a cannon. I just chalked it up to weird cat behavior.

If you've checked the skin in that area and there's no sign of problems (dry flakes, sensitive at other times, etc...) then I wouldn't worry too much.
posted by Liosliath at 7:56 PM on September 27, 2005

Whenever my cats have done this, it's due to fleas - it's bad at certain times of the year, and is usually an indication that it's time to redose them with their shots. It may also be the other more serious things mentioned in the thread, but hopefully, it's the relatively easy problem of fleas.
posted by Cyrie at 8:00 PM on September 27, 2005

cbecker333, I'm glad that those symptoms don't match Cooper. Sounds like he's just engaging in one of those crazy cat behaviors that make us love them.
posted by CiaoMela at 8:31 PM on September 27, 2005

Response by poster: I check him for fleas pretty often and he's been clear lately. I re-applied some frontline recently too. His skin appears normal, not irritated or flaking.

you guys rock, all this is good info...
posted by cbecker333 at 8:33 PM on September 27, 2005

Response by poster: junkbox - I think the ass button is different. Its a good thing; I call it 'elevator butt' when they lift their rear to get it rubbed harder
posted by cbecker333 at 8:35 PM on September 27, 2005

My old cat did that for 9 years of his life. We brought him to the vet for it already when he was a young lad. First diagnosis: inflammation in the anus (he did have it at that time), medication. When the butt-chasing started again I went back to the vet and we do that butt-check all over again. He's fine. Vet has no answers. Later, second diagnosis: epilepsy, heavy pills that made him sleep all day and look generally bored and depressed until I stopped giving him these things. "Buttghost" re-appears later, I bring him to the vet, now they reckon he is depressed so I get cat-prozac. This too puts him in general constant weird (unhappy) mood and I take him off that. At the end, one single vet diagnoses him as having diabetes that has gone untreated for years, and suggests to my mother that she put him down. She does (without telling me, I wasn't home).
In short - the mystery buttghost thing was never really solved but always have a vet check for diabetes every dang time you visit!
I do really wish I had a better answer, since I know exactly what you mean having watched that behaviour for nine years. My cat didn't seem to like his buttghost much, he always made frustrated sighs after chasing it.
posted by dabitch at 12:06 AM on September 28, 2005

Butt Ghost: ROTFLMAO!

When Demi Moore's career goes (oh so toned) belly-up*, maybe MeFites can put up some scratch and approach her about making some soft-core porn. One guess what the title will be!
*too late!
posted by rob511 at 2:47 AM on September 28, 2005

Our cat did this until we changed her food (to Authority lamb). We think it was a food intolerance/allergy; itchiness had been driving her crazy. The new food changed her whole personality -- she seems much happier now.
posted by futility closet at 4:57 AM on September 28, 2005