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?
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?