Cat having back-end secretions + weight loss advice?

[meowpav]

This forum is gonna be a bit gross as I'm gonna talk about my cat's butt secretions, so I'm sorry in advance. Any help/advice/knowledge is GREATLY appreciated.

Just for some background, my cat is a 7-8 year old female cat. My family took her in as a stray in 2017 and she's been living with us and my other female cat ever since. Unfortunately her health has been rocky over the past couple of years as she's gained a LOT of weight since we took her in. Her weight has been a growing concern for me over the past year or two as its started interfering with her health and behavior. A year ago at her last vet visit, we were told that she was having kidney issues, though I can't name exactly what (and my mom lost/threw away the documents so I can't check).

About a year or two ago, we started noticing that any time my cat would lay or sit somewhere, she would leave a light brown spot behind that sometimes looked like a dribble or a smear. For a while, we all assumed that it was pee since we'd been told that her kidneys were having some problems. For a while I ignored/accepted it since my parents are the ones responsible for vet visits/expenses and because it didn't seem like there was much we could do (that I was aware of) to help her kidneys. However, earlier this year there was a day when I'd gone to clean her butt, and in the process of doing so, I saw a dribble of brown liquid come out of her anus. I went to google right away and saw a bunch of results regarding anal gland secretions, and I sort of went with it. The problem is that I'm not entirely sure that she's having a problem with her anal glands as she isn't having any other symptoms like redness or licking (granted she can't reach her butt to clean herself due to her weight). Of course the best solution would be to have her checked out by a vet, but I figured I'd ask here since again, my parents control the vet visits/expenses and my fat cat isn't really at the top of their list of priorities. My bedroom is one of her favorite places to be and as much as I don't want to take that away from her, I just can't continue to have this problem occurring any longer on my white comforter.

Is anyone familiar/experienced with this issue? ANY knowledge or advice is so greatly appreciated ♡
Also If anyone has any advice for helping a lazy, obese cat lose weight is more than appreciated. I love this cat to death and just want her to be safe and healthy.

 

[silent meowlook]

HI. I am not a vet. I do think your cat should see a vet as soon as possible because it could be many different things, I do understand that you don't have control over when your cat sees the vet.

If this was my cat, I would cut out any dry food and feed only canned food. This is only if she will eat canned food only. One thing that is very important to know with all cats, but especially overweight cats, is that they must eat. If a cat stop eating for even as little as 12 hours, it can cause them to get hepatic lipidosis aka fatty liver disease that is a life-threatening illness. So, no matter what your cat must eat.

That being said, some cats are very sensitive to carbohydrates and there are allot of carbs in dry food plus the fact that it is a dehydrated food also isn't good for them. Most cats, if eating a dry diet and are switched to canned only will lose weight on their own.

You don't want to encourage exercise in an obese cat. There is too much weight for their bones to handle and they can hurt themselves. Once they lose weight, they will start to get more active on their own and then you can start playing with them. But when they are overweight, it can be too much strain on their heart and bones.

Anal glands have a very identifiable smell. If it is from anal glands, you can smell it. When cats are overweight and cannot clean themselves, they are prone to getting infected or impacted anal glands. That is something that needs a vet. All of these things can cause leakage and there are to many other things to list.

I have posted a link below. There is allot of good information about cats', diet, and obesity.

Feline Obesity: An Epidemic of Fat Cats

A veterinarian discusses using canned cat food and not dry food as a prevention and treatment of obesity in cats, and what is a healthy diets for cats.

catinfo.org

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. When a cat poops, the anal glands are naturally expressed, but they are also expressed during cat grooming. So, if your cat is not grooming, that is likely contributing to the leakage, if in fact it is anal gland related. While it is typical that the smell is strong, it doesn't always have to be, as was the case with my cat when she had some anal gland build up - also due to her being overweight and unable to properly groom herself. The other thing that can contribute to this is if a cat has looser than normal stools, since the firmness of the stool is what pushes on the glands when a cat defecates. Just another thing to consider that could be a contributor to an anal gland secretion build up.

The fact that your cat has had this going on for quite a while now sounds like it hasn't reached a point of causing any sort of impaction or infection - but that is not to say it can't going forward. In your research, did you read about how to look at her anal glands to see if they are larger than they should be? That would be a clue that the glands are filling up. A cat can be taken to a vet's office with the request for a vet tech to check, and express if needed, the anal glands and it is usually free of charge. You'd have to call your cat's vet and ask to make sure of how they handle it. If it can be done for free, or even a small charge, your parents might be willing to indulge your concerns.

In the meantime, if your cat will lay on towels or blankets, then that is what you can use to place over part of your bed to prevent the leakage from reaching your white comforter. You could also remove the comforter.

Regarding her weight, the very first thing you need to do is determine how many calories she is eating right now. The biggest issue I've seen is that people try to get their cat to lose weight too fast, making the cat and themselves miserable. If you know the amount they are eating before you start a diet, then you can safely reduce the amount gradually over time. This helps the cat get used to a lesser amount of food - both physically AND mentally. Getting a cat to lose weight is a marathon, not a sprint, so it can take a fair amount of time, up to a couple of years, depending on how overweight they are. To reduce their food, it should be done in no more than 5-10% increments at a time. So, if you found your cat is eating 300 calories a day, the first reduction shouldn't be more than 15-30 calories a day, so she would be eating around 270-285 calories a day.

The best way to know if she is losing weight is to weight her at the onset of her diet, and then monitor it weekly. You can do this by weighing yourself and then picking her up and weighing both of you, and the difference is approximately what she weighs. A baby/pet scale is more accurate, but I would imagine that is not something that you can buy for her. For the best outcome, she really shiould not lose more than 1 pound in a month - and about 1/2 pound would be more ideal. You can continue to reduce her calories at 5-10% increments every few weeks, as needed.

If she eats dry food only, you can start her weight reduction diet with what she is used to, and consider converting her from dry to wet down the road. You never want to throw too many changes at a cat at one time.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to try to be as helpful as possible.

 

[meowpav]

This is all super helpful, thank you so much. My cat is due for her annual vet checkup soon so hopefully I can encourage my parents to bring her and get everything checked out. I'll also continue monitoring her and make sure nothing is changing for the worse in the meantime. As for the food, I'll see what I can do. Earlier this year my parents bought an automatic feeder and we scheduled it to let out 1/2 cup (I believe) of dry food twice daily. I'm also looking around for lower calorie/healthier dry food alternatives to what we've been using. Thank you again!

 

[silent meowlook]

There is no dry food that will help with weight loss due to the carbohydrates.

 

[meowpav]

Thank you so much for this! About a year ago I convinced my parents to cut back on the dry food in hopes of helping her weight. We are still feeding our cats dry food but I've been encouraging my parents to feed them smaller quantities less frequently. I have also been looking around for affordable nutritious dry food options to switch to. Just today my parents bought some new dry and wet food from the brand Orijen and while the cats do seem to like it so far, it's definitely a big price jump for us. I'll continue to make slow changes over time and try to cut back a little more on their dry food based on your advice. Again, thank you so very much

 

[silent meowlook]

You can just feed fancy feast. 2 cans a day. It should be better price wise than the one they got. Just remember the worst canned cat food is still better than the best dry cat food.