Anal Gland Questions/Issues/Inconsistencies

Let me preface by saying sorry for the very long post. I'm just very puzzled that now all of my animals in the house have the same issue, 2 cats, 1 dog.

Previous to purchasing a house in the country, we lived in a 'city' area. Both cats never had issues with anal glands ever. I fed the same food and the same water. After moving to a small town and now having very hard water, now my female cat, Lexi has had 3 ruptured anal glands and my male has had one. We recently within the past 8 months adopted a 5 year old dog, and the previous owner confirmed she never drug her butt at home (previously lived in 'city area, no hard water'). Now, all of the animals including the dog have anal gland issues. I've also within the last month switched the cats and dog to Science Diet food. The fiber content for both cats and dog went from around 3% to about 10% or higher. My male cat Diego has now been to the vet within the last month to have his glands expressed and now they are full again. I've been putting a warm compress on him today since my vet is not open on Sundays.

We have recently purchased a whole home water filtration system, and I'm hopeful this helps. But I just find it interesting that previous to moving to the small town with hard water, none of these animals had anal gland issues. My two cats are around 9 years old and are not considered overweight. They have had very good health all their life until recently with the gland issues.

I've also tried the canned pumpkin, the dog throws up on it, and the Lexi hates it. Diego enjoys it, but it goes bad too fast to just give a very small amount to one animal daily. I've also thought about surgery, but it's a bit expensive and my vet recommends against it as it could lead to incontinence. I'm just at my wit's end with all these issues when clearily it wasn't until we moved here!

Another interesting note, I've asked the vet does he see a lot of anal gland issues, and he said never all in the same house. So of course, that's my luck!

It might be a good thing to have the water analyzed. Is it city water, or do you have your own well?

It is city water. But I got to wonder if there isn't some bacteria that is causing these issues among the animals

And thank you for replying

I've never heard of water being the cause of anal gland issues.  But the fiber content of the food could be the cause, I would certainly think.  Why, may I ask, did you end up changing their food?

If there is not really good reason, have you considered going back to their old diet?  Or, if that diet is not available and maybe that's why you changed, have you considered something else with a lower fiber content closer to what they were getting before? 

Did your Vet recommend the Science Diet?  Most Vets do, but it's really not the best food around.  There are lots of better foods, many of them less expensive too! 

If you want to talk nutrition, head on over to the Nutrition Forum!    We LOVE talking about cat food

Mrs. Green Jeens - Thank you so much for posting. My vet did recommend the Science Diet so that the fiber would bulk up their stools to hopefully help this issue. It does seem to be working for my female, but now the male is having issues. So maybe I just need to mix the old and the science diet. Yeesh!

I did however, have a friend of mine come over to help express my males gland and it was very very nasty, green in color and pus. So it's infected which is strange because his overall attitude has not changed at all. So I'll be watching him for a few days.

Well, maybe I misunderstood.  So your Vet recommended the new food AFTER they all had anal gland issues?  This increase in fiber I can understand then, since the anal glands get naturally expressed when the stools pass by on their way out.  A nice firm stool does the job normally. 

Sorry, I thought you changed their diet before all this started.  So what food did your Vet recommend.  I know it's Science Diet, but which one?  Is it a prescription one?  I like your idea of mixing it with the old one until maybe we can figure this out.  There are other ways to increase fiber, BTW.  What were you feeding them before?

My dog has issues with her anal glands and I have found it has really improved since switching her to raw, which works a lot better at making her stool firm than the high fibre diets the vets recommend. 

MrsGreenJeens - Yes, the vet recommended after all of this started. I currently have them on Science Diet Hairball Control Light. They probably should be on the senior version since they are a little over 10 years but the fiber percentage isn't as high with the senior formula. They used to be on Purina One Salmon & Tuna. I originally had them on Chicken and Rice Purina One but then thought my girl kittie developed food allergies, so we switched to the Salmon & Rice and she seemed better, but then I realized that she just likes to groom herself. She never chewed herself raw. I also tried a grain free diet, duck and green pea, and of course my male had a major reaction to it, he started vomiting everywhere. It has been quite the journey as far as food trials. I just feel hopeless with these animals as I'm sure most do when anal glands continue to rupture. My vet also told me today that due to the scar tissue build up from the surgeries I will most likely have issues with both cats for the remainder of their lives.

Also, I would definitely be more interested in a less expensive food for the cats and dog. At over 100 a month, that's a lot!

jcopeland0909 said:

MrsGreenJeens - Yes, the vet recommended after all of this started. I currently have them on Science Diet Hairball Control Light. They probably should be on the senior version since they are a little over 10 years but the fiber percentage isn't as high with the senior formula. They used to be on Purina One Salmon & Tuna. I originally had them on Chicken and Rice Purina One but then thought my girl kittie developed food allergies, so we switched to the Salmon & Rice and she seemed better, but then I realized that she just likes to groom herself. She never chewed herself raw. I also tried a grain free diet, duck and green pea, and of course my male had a major reaction to it, he started vomiting everywhere. It has been quite the journey as far as food trials. I just feel hopeless with these animals as I'm sure most do when anal glands continue to rupture. My vet also told me today that due to the scar tissue build up from the surgeries I will most likely have issues with both cats for the remainder of their lives.

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Wow, that's a lot of different foods to have been trying.  Maybe that's why your bill has been so high? 

The bad news here is the scarring.    So is that from the ruptures?  I think I would still start up a new thread in the nutrition forum and see what people over there think.  Honestly, I've never read of a thread over there about food for helping with anal glands, but there is always a first, especially since your Vet said to go with high fiber.  So maybe you could title it "good high fiber food?", then describe your problem. 

Look what just popped up on another thread about anal sacs!  Kind of interesting:

"Below is some recommendations on trying to prevent anal sac impactions in cats. In addition to these recommendations some of the literature suggested that overweight cats have more of a problem with anal sac disease so trying to get her weight down may also be helpful in that area. Please call me if you have any questions.

AG impactions. Possible reasons are mild dehydration, some type of dietary sensitivity that's causing the AG orifices to swell and not allow emptying as the AG normally would during defecation, constipation, and the cat's anatomy. canned-only, high protein, low carb, fish protein free diet; poultry based is often best. Wellness, Instinct, Evo 95 or Fancy Feast Classic often work well. Adding a little fiber like Metamucil 1/4-1/2 tsp BID or plain canned pumpkin (not too much) may help bulk up the stools a little.

I had this emailed to me from the vet."