Anal glands burst! Question....

My non-FD cat had to be taken for an emergency vet visit because of a burst anal gland. Didn't even know cats had anal glands. He had been acting like he wanted to pee on the walls the last couple of weeks and took him in to a local vet and they said it might be his uretha. But it wasn't. It was his anal gland that they hadn't even checked. I had no clue cats even had them. I thought only dogs had them. The emergency vet gave him a shot of antibiotic and said to increase his fiber in his food. Said it was rare for cats to have this problem. I changed his diet when my FD cat got DX. I just changed all the food together. Anyone had any experience with anal gland problems in cats? What canned food has a high fiber content. He is not FD, so don't have to worry as much about the carbs, although i don't want him to get FD.

He seems so much better tonight and sleeping well. He ate good tonight too, so hopefully ok.

THANKS for the input all!

lori

 

Our FD neutered male was constantly going in to vet prior to diabetes diagnosis with congested anal glands. They would go in and squeeze them to release the fluid. After that we were told to put on high fiber diet. We tried hills adult Hairball recommended by Petco staff, expensive. Also caused cat to balloon and take on butterball turkey shape. Unfortunately, this caused sudden weight gain. We looked at nutritional info and discovered it was loaded with fat, so switched him to one of Trader Joe's brands. These were all dry foods. But, due to significant bloated appearance, though anal glands were now releasing regularly on their own, we switched to Blue Buffalo Wilderness. He suddenly lost lots of weight and had increased thirst. Which caused us concern and trip to vet. Then he was diagnosed with diabetes. Be very aware of what u are feeding your cat. Something that may help one health issue could get you into trouble with another health crisis. Good luck finding wet food with high fiber, we couldn't but wished we would have just kept taking to vet and have them manually release the glands. Watch for scooting and lots of cleaning in the anal area. All are signs they are congested.

 

Some cats just have overproductive anal glands that may get blocked. Diet doesn't have anything to do with it. One of my civies eats raw and his anal glands ooze stinky goo all the time ohmygod_smile I have to squeeze the goo out every few days :shock: Your vet can show you how to squeeze the anal glands at home to prevent future blockages. I think in extreme cases surgery can be done to remove the anal glands.

 

Also the whiff test - a couple of years ago Zeus started to have a really stinky butt. He would just walk by with his tail in the air and it was just an awful smell. I brought him to the Vet and they expressed is anal glands.... stunk up the whole exam room, but what a difference. He's been fine, in that area, since

 

Lol :lol: That's how I know my civie needs his glands squeezed. Sometimes he'll leave a wet spot on the sofa... or on my lap ohmygod_smile Anal gland secretion stinks REALLY bad. If you express the glands yourself, wear rubber gloves and use lots of paper towels and do this somewhere that will be easy to clean and air out, like the bathroom or basement.

 

The prescription Hill's WD has high fiber. The purpose of the high-fiber food in this case to to make a relatively large diameter stool that sot of squeezes the anal glands when defecating.

 

Exact same experience with Hobbs. They were impacted and infected and basically started leaking. I had no idea what it was so we rushed him to the e-vet at midnight. They cleaned him up and we were home within two hours. This was a few years ago so I'm not sure if he was on antibiotics but likely he was. He also had an e-collar on for a few days. I also had NO IDEA that cats had anal glands. Once we knew what it was, looking at him from above, you could tell that his poor rear end was swollen. At the time I asked his vet (this was when we were in IL) if I needed to have it looked at now and then and they said no. Fast forward a couple of years and he was having some pooping problems. Vet here (in NE) said his glands were "full" they said it was really thick, like toothpaste. They told me he needs to have them expressed every now and then. They offered to show me how to do it, but they only charge $17.48 it and IMO that's $17.48 well spent. I've been having them done when I take him in for checkups (which is every 3 months with his CKD/FD) so that they don't get thick and bother him. I haven't been told anything about high fiber though.

 

Thanks for the responses all. I definetly had a learning expereince. Poor guy! Will know now for the future. Think i will opt for the vet doing the drainage too! Just grossed me out too much!

 

My cat got absessed anal glands about two years ago and our vet recamended feeding her pumpkin every now and then.it has to be plain pumpkin though, no sugar or anything added so check the ingredients on the can before you buy. But make sure not to do too much or the stool will become really loose.

 

A grooming place may be able to express the anal glands. Call around and ask and what the prices are. It may be less expensive than a vet appointment and you can usually just drop by without an appointment. Some places do it as part of a regular service (bath, fur trim, nails, etc) but others can do it alone. But if the glands are definitely blocked, have the vet do it first and do regular expressing by yourself or by a groomer as necessary.

 

This happened with Eleanor.
Started giving her pumpkin and expressing her glands myself.
She hasn't had any problems since she had a dental, I read sometimes bacteria from the mouth can cause infection in the anal glands through grooming.