TheCatSite.com › Forums › Ferals and Rescue › Caring for Strays and Ferals › nasty grey sack on anus!!
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

nasty grey sack on anus!!

post #1 of 21
4/5/10 at 6:17am
Thread Starter 
I gasped when I saw this on the tom cat's anus.

He actually has 2. they are grey and id say less than half an inch round. I thought maybe they were bug eggs - so I applied DE to him. One DID fall off - I tried wiping hte other off - but he wouldnt let me.

ANYONE KNOW WHAT THIS IS???? I PRAY its nothing relating to his health.

He got into another fight and has that abscess starting on his head again. I am applying the VET solution twice a day - and will get the clavamox this thursday...

thanks....
Reply
post #2 of 21
4/5/10 at 7:10am
Good odds they are impacted anal glands.
Reply
post #3 of 21
4/5/10 at 7:16am
Thread Starter 
I read up on it quickly - so its not a dangerous issue?

But the clavamox should help with this also? (if thats what it is)

thanks
Reply
post #4 of 21
4/5/10 at 7:17am
Well, the vet can "express" them (as can you, but a warning: it's very smelly). They don't usually go away on their own, but they can.
Reply
post #5 of 21
4/5/10 at 7:21am
Thread Starter 
I should have mentioned... ive TRIED getting this cat to a vet many times. So anything he needs - I have to do. At least i can get close to him - but he doesnt accept TOO much.

But if I try to wipe it will it fall off?? Or i have to pick it - squeeze it?
Reply
post #6 of 21
4/5/10 at 7:26am
You have to squeeze it, preferably with a clean paper towel or absorbent cloth.

Someone here who has done it can tell you exactly how.
Reply
post #7 of 21
4/5/10 at 4:34pm
Wait, one did fall off? I wonder if it's ticks. They turn gray when they're fully engorged. I would think that inflamed anal sacs would be red or angry pink.
Reply
post #8 of 21
4/5/10 at 4:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
Wait, one did fall off? I wonder if it's ticks. They turn gray when they're fully engorged. I would think that inflamed anal sacs would be red or angry pink.
Inflamed anal sac will not fall off. This was something else...
Reply
post #9 of 21
4/5/10 at 4:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
Wait, one did fall off? I wonder if it's ticks. They turn gray when they're fully engorged. I would think that inflamed anal sacs would be red or angry pink.
Ticks is my first guess too. Can you put frontline plus on him? that protects against ticks
Reply
post #10 of 21
4/5/10 at 5:15pm
Thread Starter 
When i went out tonight- the 2nd one ALSO fell off.

There is a third much smaller tan colored one. This looks maybe more like a tick. Ive seen large ticks before - and these were definitely grey and huge. I had always seen tan and not so large.

Thing is - I noticed these this morning - I see this cat twice a day and he always has his tail up too.

This is now a worry. At least they are falling off.... but ew!

I add DE in their food - but I apply it to this particular cat's fur. i cant afford frontline for 10 cats.
Reply
post #11 of 21
4/5/10 at 5:19pm
It could have been a plug coming loose, if they're partially out you can grab them. But surely the OP would smell this - though the plugs smell a little less than just the anal glads being full of fluid.

..Tomas used to have diarrhea problems, hence his anal glands didn't express fully so I had to take care of it. In case anyone is wondering.

If you can take a picture, that could help with identification. But if it is what you make it sound like, it's probably just the glands being full. You can take a warm wash cloth and put it on his butt to help loosen that - if there's another one.
But yes, you'll have to learn how to express them. It's stinky but not too bad.

I've seen ticks on cats' ears, necks, and toes - but never their butts. Why? cause cats can reach their butts and will pull a tick off while grooming.
Reply
post #12 of 21
4/5/10 at 6:16pm
Thread Starter 
the OP - is that me?

A picture - didnt even think of that. Although as stated the big nasty ones are now gone - HOPEFULLY they wont return... but if so I will definitely run and get a camera.

They looked soft... almost like a brain - veined maybe. Since I didnt know what it was - i covered the one that fell off with dirt.

Why dont they pull these off their butts?

thanks...
Reply
post #13 of 21
4/5/10 at 6:22pm
Still sounds like ticks to me. I don't think DE would kill or repel ticks.

Impacted anal glands can be very serious, and require surgery.
My Bibbs had blocked anal glands. The vet taught me how to express them for her, but I was never any good at it, you have to get just the right spot, and could do damage if you don't.

This doesn't sound like that to me at all, but of course without seeing it we are all guessing anyway.
Reply
post #14 of 21
4/5/10 at 8:51pm
Plugs? Sure, Lucky sometimes has them, but 1/2 inch????? That is HUGE for a plug! A plug looks more like a huge blackhead, at least that's what the outside of Lucky's does look like when she has them... That is some very interesting talking right here!
Reply
post #15 of 21
4/5/10 at 8:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
Plugs? Sure, Lucky sometimes has them, but 1/2 inch????? That is HUGE for a plug! A plug looks more like a huge blackhead, at least that's what the outside of Lucky's does look like when she has them... That is some very interesting talking right here!
do you mean slug?
Reply
post #16 of 21
4/5/10 at 9:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sharky View Post
do you mean slug?
No, I mean a plug, from the anal sacs - Lucky sometimes gets her anal sacs plugged. It happened a couple of times it looks like a BIIIIGGG blackhead (the tip of it, when it is coming out).
Reply
post #17 of 21
4/5/10 at 9:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
No, I mean a plug, from the anal sacs - Lucky sometimes gets her anal sacs plugged. It happened a couple of times it looks like a BIIIIGGG blackhead (the tip of it, when it is coming out).
oh not a pretty picture...
Reply
post #18 of 21
4/5/10 at 9:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sharky View Post
oh not a pretty picture...


Imagine me going to the vet with her... "what seems to be the problem" uh... My cat has a big zit at 10 O'Clock and 2 O'Clock!
My vet was laughing..... Then he showed me how to express it, but everything they do looks so much easier when they are the ones doing it! He told me to not worry about it, but watch if it didn't come out and it became infected - he said some cats were just made different...
Reply
post #19 of 21
4/5/10 at 11:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
he said some cats were just made different...
Interesting way of putting it.

As for 1/2 inch - I somehow doubt they ran for a ruler in anticipation of measuring it. Size could be an exaggeration. No offense meant - but if my husband was the one relaying the description, by the 3rd or 4th telling the thing would be a foot long.


Do share a picture, it won't be anything any of us haven't seen before.
Reply
post #20 of 21
4/6/10 at 6:35am
Yeah, reading further it sounds like ticks to me, too!
Reply
post #21 of 21
4/6/10 at 7:50am
Thread Starter 
Maybe less than half an inch - but not much less - they were big for sure.... No one could miss seeing these things - and like I said I see him twice a day and so I believe they appeared within 24 hours.

and this morning he had nothing at all - not even the smaller tan thing - which didnt look like a tick - but I suppose it was more likely than the bigger grey things. If it was a tick - I did apply DE so maybe it fell off due to that??

So..... Ill just keep you posted if they appear again - or (hopefully not) on another cat. Wish I had taken a picture had I known this was such a mystery.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Caring for Strays and Ferals
TheCatSite.com › Forums › Ferals and Rescue › Caring for Strays and Ferals › nasty grey sack on anus!!