Anal Gland Expression

katgoddess

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Do any of you regularly have to express the anal glands for your cats? Do you do it yourself externally or bring it to the vet to have it done internally?

Tofu started scooting a few times during the past two days, so I brought him to the vet's to have it done and they said it was full.

The vet recommended I have it done every 3 months.
Does this mean his poops are not firm enough to express the glands itself?
 
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katgoddess

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Thanks, Chris.


As my dog has this issue as well and needs hers expressed every 4-5 weeks, I'm very familiar with it, but was wondering how many people on TCS actually have this done regularly for their cats. I've read that it's not a common problem in cats, so I was surprised to see Tofu scoot and then find out his glands were full.

Just wondering if anyone goes through the same thing.
 

lyrajean

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Our Midori scoots quite a bit... We've never had to take her to the Vet for this but we do compress her butt with a warm wet cloth to get the balls of dried anal gland gunk off her.
 

binkyhoo

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My Hoots used to get anal gland infections and would have bloody stools. I took her to the vet every 3 month for a squeeze and it was so traumatic for her that I decided to have them removed.

It was not fun, but turned out to be a good call.
 
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katgoddess

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Originally Posted by binkyhoo

I took her to the vet every 3 month for a squeeze and it was so traumatic for her that I decided to have them removed.
Do you remember roughly how much the procedure cost to have them removed?

Well, I've noticed that Tofu continues to scoot maybe once a day even though his glands were expressed just days ago. Is that normal?

I always thought that scooting = glands are full and it's irritating them, but it can't possibly be full again in just a matter of days?!
 

lyrajean

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Parasites (worms) and other problems can make their butt itch and cause them to scoot too...
 

kalikat

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We had to have one of my son's dog's anal glands removed due to recurring infections & swelling. He said that if they both had to be removed she wouldn't be able to control going to the toilet.
 
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katgoddess

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Thanks for your responses. To ease my mind, even though Tofu was dewormed just a month and a bit ago, I brought in a fecal sample to the vet's yesterday to have it tested. It came back negative, no worms.

I think a physical examination again is required if the scooting continues, but I haven't seen him do it for a couple of days now. Fingers crossed.
 

blueandfrodo

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frodo has problems with his anal glands every now and then too. he has had to have them expressed 3 times at the vet. my vet suggested adding bran to his food to help to bulk up his stools, like all bran cereal. i didn't do it because i was worried i would give him too much and then he would get constipated. he has been doing well lately. it has been a year and no problems. usually he gets them expressed once a year, so guess his problems are not too bad.

about the scooting for a few days after the expression. it makes sense to me that she may still be uncomfortable for a few days. if her glands were really blocked and full it would be painful and the pain and irritation wouldn't go away right away. if i remember correctly, the first time that frodo had it done he scooted for a few days afterwards but was ok after that. i would just keep an eye on her and see if she stops after a day or two. if not, then i would take her back to the vet.
 

binkyhoo

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Originally Posted by KatGoddess

Do you remember roughly how much the procedure cost to have them removed?
If I remember well, It ran $280 in Wisconsin. That was 5 years ago. Call your vet. He/She can give you an estimate easily.
 

rang_27

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I express my Levi's regularly because he does seem to have issues. I do it myself expternally and that seems to do the trick. Isaac is naughty for me so I have to take him in for a sanitary shave every few months & they often do that with the shave. Jordan & Maggie have no issues.
 

jaffacake

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Kitty would scoot when he was constipated. Do you think that could have been the problem after the glands were expressed?
 
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