Watch what you feed the kitty.  No human food and he shouldn't be that
messy on his toilet behavior.  And no milk!

Try slowly desensitizing him to brushing and having the fur trimmed in the
anal area. Brush him a little or cut the hair there a small amount, and
reward him with food. Keep doing this over time. He should get used to
brushing and having his fur cut.  If your place is small, provide the cats
with height, if you can. Provide them with window seats (very inexpensive),
or inexpensive cat trees with places they can sit on. Two cats would not
require much room.
Gail

Any time Moe needs to go to the vet, ask if s/he'll do a quick hair
trim around his rear for you.  Will probably take all of 2 - 3
minutes.

Cathy

For a sanitary shave (also called a "panty" shave)?  It should be about
$12.

Yes.  Too many cats in too small of an area can cause stress and
behavioral problems.  If the space is small you need to provide a lot
of verticle climbing space for the cats.

Love your .sig, BTW.

-L.

I trim the cats butt hair when he's just coming out of a nap.  I don't
do anything to a cat who's fighting me.

Several years ago, my mom found a cat by the side of the road, injured.
He had surgery to fix his broken jaw, and he was neutered at the same
time. When he got diarhea a week later, I took him back to the vet, and
they did a quick shave. It was much easier as I didn't have to keep
cleaning him while he was so sensitive. In that case, we had already
spent over $700, so they didn't charge anything for it even though that
was the sole purpose of the visit.

I've had Jay Jay for just about a year now. He is large and long haired
also. When I got him, he was changing foods and homes, so his system
had trouble adjusting. He had some really bad diarhea, and that meant a
mess in his pantaloons.

I tried to clean him up, and while being a gentle cat in general, he
took great offence, and bit my hand. Not bad enough to hurt me, but he
did rip my glove. He also kicks.

So, when he was at the vet, I asked them to shave his rear. They took
him back to get a sample to make sure it was just stress or food
change, and not something more serious. While they were back there,
they shaved just enough to keep him clean. It looked really good.  It
wasn't obvious that he had been shaved unless you knew to look. But he
didn't have any more messes. The vet said it took 3 of them, but they
didn't charge for it; just the exam, fecal exam, and medicine to stop
the diarhea.

Several months later, he did get some softer poo stuck in his
pantaloons again. I had my mom hold him while I snipped off the area
that was messy. He kicked a lot, so it took some patience. He
definitely objected. If gets diarhea again, I'll take him to the vet.
Simple exam and shave.

You might call that groomer again and ask what it would cost for just a
shave on the rear. They had to be quoting you a complete grooming job.
I had my dog professionally groomed last summer. They got out all the
undercoat of a very poofy dog, gave her a great bath, trimmed her
nails, and really had her looking awesome. They spent a couple hours
working on her, and it was $40 something. It was a serious overhaul due
to her extreme undercoat. I normally wouldn't spend that much for
grooming. I'd rather do it myself, but Jenny bites if you pull on her
hair at all. It's not a good experience. Now that I have seen the
groomers at work, I know to use one of those plastic collars. Then she
can't bite, and I don't spend the whole time trying to defend my skin.

Anyway, if they could get out all the undercoat of a seriously puffed
sheltie (think fluffy porcupine), and do a bath, and trim nails for $40
something, they ought to be able to shave a cat's rear end for less
than $20. It only takes 5 minutes (and 2-3 experienced people).  Either
that groomer was quoting a full grooming session, or they are seriously
overpriced. Try calling around, or just take him to the vet.

I would also add that some foods make a difference. Even after his
diarhea ended,
Jay Jay still had very stinky poo. I changed his food, and that solved
the problem. In his case, I switched to Royal Canin's Maine Coon Food.
He isn't a Maine Coon, but he is 18-19 lbs, so the food is ideal for
him. Larger kibbles so he eats slowly rather than inhaling (he was
gaining weight on the old food), and it is intended for larger built
cats. If you having problems with your food, it might be worth a try.