Examination of the Tail,
Anus and Genitalia

A sensibility increase in the cat, a change in his smell or an alteration in the color or consistency of the excrement are signs of possible internal injuries or of a disease. Examine the tail, the anus and the genitalia of the animal when he is healthy to learn how to recognize the normal smell and anatomy of these areas.

1. Put your hand firmly along the tail. You shouldn't find neither protuberances nor warm zones. (the tail is a region in which the cats are in the habit of suffering bites, specially near the base. Take care when the recognition leads to end, if the cat is aching, he can turn against you).
2. If his tail hangs inert, pinch it to know if the cat reacts.(No response means an injury in this area or in the spine).
3. Lift the tail up softly. The anal region must be clean, without rest of adhered excrements. A very intense smell would mean that the cat has unloaded its anal glands. It is a clear signal that he is scared or wounded.
4. Examine the scrotum in search of swelling or injuries, and the opening of the penis or vagina in search of swellings or discharges.
5. Learn how to recognize the habitual position that your cat adopts on having urinated or defecated. Too often the deadly urinary infections are diagnosed erroneously at home as a "simple constipation", due to the fact that a feline's position is to letting a urinary block go away by itself, similar to the one that he adopts on having emptied the intestines.

If the skin of a cat, normally clean, smells to urine, it is a symptom of disease or injury.