Proper aftercare for cat after abscess anal gland rupture/vet visit??

I had the terrible misfortune of finding out my 7 year old girl had an abcess anal gland about 3 days ago. It came on fast and was terrifying. I had to wait till the next day to even get her into the vet and by that time the abscess was huge, thankfully I have animal experience and a life of being raised on a farm, so I immediately got a cone on her and cleaned the area with peroxide. However on the day of the vet, and in fact as we where packing her into her soft carrier it ruptured! The smell was horrendous. At the vet the doctor didn't believe it was a anal gland problem, but I was willing to bet money on it (I did a fair bit of research) and whammo, once the visit was over and they called to tell us what is was, sure enough it was the anal gland. (for those curious we went to the Bamfield Vet Hospital that's attached to the Pet Smart)

Anyway. She's back home with amoxacillin and pain meds and I keep pretty much every surface she sleeps on clean, as well as gave the hole in her rump a gentle saline and warm water rinse the day after the vet visit. I work from home so keeping her fed and hydrated isn't an issue and I do just that.. but the vet's assistant did not give us after care help. Hell I had to phone back and ask when to take her cone off (2 weeks they said). I don't really trust any of them due to the whole experience and want to know from someone with experience with abscess anal gland what I should be doing?

How long should I leave the cone on
Should she, or shouldn't she lick it?

Should I clean it or leave it be?

When will she start using her litterbox? (Unless she used it while I slept I haven't seen her use it yet, and it's been a night and a day since the vet)

Anyway. Thank you so much in advance for any help.

My cat had abscessed anal glands at least 6 years ago (??). My memory of it is all vague given how long ago it was, but I don't remember doing a lot in particular other than keeping him in a separate room (so other cats would not inspect the area in question!!) with the cone on his head for some time period. He used the litter box fine and everything healed uneventfully. I don't remember cleaning the area.

Hopefully the recovery for your kitty goes as smoothly as it did for my kitty.

Yeah. I'm thinking it may be best to leave it. This initial clean was due to the vet having missed parts on her fur. Thank you for the response!!

OH! And I forgot. How did you prevent it from happening again? Diet change or??

He never had this problem again. I do get my kitty's anal glands expressed every so often by the vet to make sure that ikky stuff does not overfill the glands etc (he just seems to create lots of ikky stuff in them). I suppose that one has to feel confident that the glands have completely healed before one would express them but we've never had a problem doing this (although he does *hate* it as it is not comfortable to have done so we don't do it more than necessary)

Ah yes! I heard about that. I think that will be what I do for sure.

When my girls anal gland ruptured, the Vet had up put a warm compress on it a couple of times a day to try to draw out anything that might still be in it.  I think she actually enjoyed having that on, as she never fought it .  She never wore a cone or anything like that.  She just went about her business and within 4 - 5 days it had scabbed up nicely.  She was on an antibiotic however. 

As far as I know, there is nothing you can do to prevent anal gland issues in the future.  It either happens or it doesn't.  There have been discussion about different diets, etc, but no conclusions ever reached.  My girl was eating raw when her's occurred, which presumably is the best she could be eating, so go figure.  Sometimes things just happen.  Thankfully, with her, it hasn't happened again

that your little one heals quickly with no further issues