Relationship between anal glands and constipationn

Ritz doesn't seem to be able to express her own anal glands. Every time I take him to the vets (several times over the past three months--FLUTD), the vet has had to express her glands. Last Friday the vet said they were "gigantic".
On the other hand, she is prone to having hard stools (blood ON stool, not in). This was true before I transitioned her to Raw feeding and persists now. I thought by definition almost, if the cat has firm/hard stools, the anal glands express themselves.
Or, am I mixing apples and oranges?
Thanks.

Thanks.
A quick read and these words jumped out at me: "chase their tail". And here I thought this was just cute behavior on Ritz' part.

Now that you mention it, she had been having hard stools, one in fact had blood on it (on, not in) around two weeks ago. So, the vet ordered a urine sample. Which showed crystals. It was when I brought Ritz in to the vet three days ago (her UTI-ish symptoms were worsening) that the relief vet said her anal glands were "gigantic". Which puzzled me because I thought hard stools would by definition express the glands.
Guess I was wrong.

And she continues to lick her private parts, even after the Metacam and expression of her anal glands. It was not a good Saturday.
She's playing, eating and urinating normally. A little distant yesterday but good cuddle session this morning (she knows who feeds her). No soft stools this morning; I'll see/not see when I get home from work today.
Yes, I'm watching her like a hawk. She will be going back to the vets in around two to three weeks so they can get express her bladder and get a urine analysis.

Any possibility that it would explain struvites in her urine?

Sample from the refrigerator....Not enough urine in her bladder on Friday to do an analysis.
Ritz hasn't pooped since Sunday morning/evening (loose stools). She normally poops every other day, so I'm not concerned about no poop. What I am concerned about is her anus; it looks irritated and red and has two dark spots on it (dried feces?). I ran my hand lightly over her anus while she was on my lap, and she turned around and tried to bite me.
Her "gigantic" anal glands were expressed Friday by the vet and they looked raw and irritated then, too. She continued to have soft BMs until Sunday, and she finally ate some bone. I am concerned/catastrophizing that bacteria could have entered into her anus through either the expression of the anal glands or from her loose BMs. Should I be worried?
Her regular vet returns tomorrow, Wednesday.
Other than the pooping issue, she is eating, peeing and playing normally.
Thanks.

I have an appointment with her regular vet for late tomorrow (Wednesday). I hear "Neo-Predef" works wonders.
And based on other advice on these forums, going back to feeding Commercial Raw, not Frankenprey, until I get her--and my--health issues resolved.
Too much stress for humans and animals.

Vet felt a medium amount of stool in the colon that "needed to get out" so he gave Ritz an enema. The stool was in segments, not one one piece, which is good. He said her anus/anal glands looked normal, rectal exam normal, felt no weird bumps.
I asked "why won't she poop", he kind of shrugged his shoulders, and I asked "because of [change of] diet" and he kind of shrugged and said, "maybe". (I'd transitioned her from commercial raw to raw before understanding what I was doing; Ritz suffered for it.)
This was at 5:45 p.m. so I took her home to learn first-hand what were the results of a cat being given an enema.
I was warned about the nausea, but not the drooling and smacking of lips. I was surprised at how relatively little she pooped given she had not had a BM since Sunday morning (benefits of raw diet). No loose stools, only firm, hard, small stools. More or less normal (for her). One piece had some bright red blood on it, which I am not surprised or worried about: been there, done that.
Funny (not in a ha-ha way): she kind of rolled in the litter box after she used it, I think to get rid of some of the liquid enema that was on her back side.
She was showing some of the side effects of the enema 12 hours later, but seemed well enough 16 hours later for me to go to work. She ate an ounce of CR beef and kept it down. Appetite a bit off.
I kind of wished I'd waited another day or two to let her digestive system work itself out. Ditto with the relief vet giving her a shot of Metacam (especially since the relief vet said FLUTD flare ups usually resolve on their own.) She didn't have side effects from the Flagyl or Baytril I had to give her in June/July for her UTI, so I was somewhat unprepared for the reactions she had to the Metacam and enema.
Advice, cross-talking, feedback welcome.
Thanks for being here for me.