Female Cat With Chronic Anal Gland Issues

[shofman]

My 8 year old female Russian Blue (adopted about age 3) has had chronic anal gland issues for the past couple of years. Yes, this is not typical in cats (lucky us). About two years ago, she developed an anal gland abscess on her right side. The day I was taking her into the vet, it opened up. It was then cleaned, and she recovered quite fine. Less than years later, the same thing happened on her left side, but the anal sac ruptured, and she had to be sedated and the sac repaired. She then recovered fine.

My vet told me to put her on a high fiber diet, as it appeared her anal sacs didn't express themselves enough on their own, and a high fiber diet may help, as well as regular anal gland expressions. She has been on Hills Prescription Diet W/D for about 6 months now, and I have been taking her into get her anal glands expressed every 6-8 weeks for the past 6 months.

Two days ago, I am getting her ready to take her in for her anal gland visit and I notice that she has not touched her litter box since I cleaned it over 24 hours ago. She goes in normally 2-3 times a day at least.

At the vet, she was x-rayed, where they found a full colon, and an enlarged/full bladder. There was no obvious reason for this (no blockage on the X-rays).

She was referred to an emergency/specialty vet because this is not a common issue in female cats (lucky us again). She was sedated, and they put a urinary catheter in her. It has since been removed, and still no obvious reason for her not urinating. The second vet said she looks to have control over there bladder right now. Urinalysis and culture are inconclusive for an infection. The second vet also said that a cat should not need regular anal gland expressions. This is not normal. She and a surgeon recommended anal gland removal surgically. Also found were small (nonthreatening right now) hernias near her anal glads, which we have to keep an eye out for for possible worsening, and then surgical repair. I'm curious if the Hills was a poor choice, and I've heard a lot of the vet prescribed diets are trash. I'm an animal person, I work in the animal field, and I know a lot about cats, but I'm a little out of my element here.

Would a different food be better? I've been seeing a lot of good about Wellness Core. And maybe some added canned pumpkin?

 

[shofman]

My 8 year old female Russian Blue (adopted about age 3) has had chronic anal gland issues for the past couple of years. Yes, this is not typical in cats (lucky us). About two years ago, she developed an anal gland abscess on her right side. The day I was taking her into the vet, it opened up. It was then cleaned, and she recovered quite fine. Less than years later, the same thing happened on her left side, but the anal sac ruptured, and she had to be sedated and the sac repaired. She then recovered fine.

My vet told me to put her on a high fiber diet, as it appeared her anal sacs didn't express themselves enough on their own, and a high fiber diet may help, as well as regular anal gland expressions. She has been on Hills Prescription Diet W/D for about 6 months now, and I have been taking her into get her anal glands expressed every 6-8 weeks for the past 6 months.

Two days ago, I am getting her ready to take her in for her anal gland visit and I notice that she has not touched her litter box since I cleaned it over 24 hours ago. She goes in normally 2-3 times a day at least.

At the vet, she was x-rayed, where they found a full colon, and an enlarged/full bladder. There was no obvious reason for this (no blockage on the X-rays).

She was referred to an emergency/specialty vet because this is not a common issue in female cats (lucky us again). She was sedated, and they put a urinary catheter in her. It has since been removed, and still no obvious reason for her not urinating. The second vet said she looks to have control over there bladder right now. Urinalysis and culture are inconclusive for an infection. The second vet also said that a cat should not need regular anal gland expressions. This is not normal. She and a surgeon recommended anal gland removal surgically. Also found were small (nonthreatening right now) hernias near her anal glads, which we have to keep an eye out for for possible worsening, and then surgical repair. I'm curious if the Hills was a poor choice, and I've heard a lot of the vet prescribed diets are trash. I'm an animal person, I work in the animal field, and I know a lot about cats, but I'm a little out of my element here.

Would a different food be better? I've been seeing a lot of good about Wellness Core. And maybe some added canned pumpkin?

Also worried that the constant anal gland expression may have caused the hernias? Is that possible?

 

[FeebysOwner]

So sorry to hear about her problems, poor girl! I don't know about the food, but if the hernias are bothering her she might have been holding her poop, and along with her pee, just to avoid the pain/irritation caused by using the litter box.

Feeby (14+) had a couple of bouts with anal glands becoming clogged last year, and the vet thought her age/arthritis/lack of properly cleaning herself attributed to it. Her stools have always been fine, so that was not part of the issue. For many months, I cleaned her behind nearly daily to 'massage' the anal glands to mimic what a cat does when cleaning themselves, which along with defecating allows the glands to express naturally. Although, for whatever reason, she all of sudden stopped allowing me to do what I called her 'booty duty' - that was months ago. Fortunately, so far no more anal gland issues. I did however also start giving her Glyco Flex for her arthritis - so, maybe she just cleans herself better now??

Ask about the hernias and how much pain/discomfort they might be causing her, and if that could have contributed to her holding her pee/poop. Also, ask if you would clean her behind a few times a week, if that could help with expressing her glands naturally and avoid the manual expression by the vet. (I used hypoallergenic cat wipes.)

In terms of food, Feeby has been on Hill's C/D and Royal Canin SO (both dry and canned) for 10 years because of her bladder surgery for stones. While a lot of people say this stuff is bad, I am not going to stop using it for Feeby because she hasn't had a recurrence of stones since.

 

[white shadow]

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Hi shofman and welcome to the forum !

My vet told me to put her on a high fiber diet, as it appeared her anal sacs didn't express themselves enough on their own, and a high fiber diet may help, as well as regular anal gland expressions......

The second vet also said that a cat should not need regular anal gland expressions. This is not normal.....

This tidbit might help by way of background, explaining in plain language how things are supposed to work:

Cats have two anal glands, one on either side of the anus, glands which store a strong-smelling secretion whose odor is distinctive for the individual cat. Since cats can't leave sticky notes to communicate, they use scent messages to say, "I was here," and "This is me." When a cat poops, adequate pressure from properly firm poop passing by the anal glands squeezes out a thin coating of the secretion to coat the stool.

If the poop is too soft to stimulate the anal glands when the cat poops, over time the glands' secretions can thicken and harden and the glands become impacted. Impaction is painful and can lead to infection or even rupture of the glands and can cause or complicate constipation. Impacted anal glands themselves are effectively constipated. Impaction requires vet treatment to clear the glands.
LINK: What Goes Wrong? felieconstipation.org (my bold)​

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[LTS3]

Some cats need a little help with their anal glands. It wouldn't hurt to try expressing the glands yourself at home weekly or however often you need to. A super stinky odor from back there is usually a good indicator that the glands need to be expressed. Ask your vet to show you how to express the glands. Doing it yourself means you don't have to pay the vet to do it. You may need an extra pair of hands to hold the cat. It can be a messy job so I recommend doing this in the bathroom with the door closed, wear old clothes, and have plenty of paper towels on hand.