Many questions, including anal glands, medication, and possible IBD in my kitty

Hello again,

If you stalk this site like I do, you may be aware that I have been trying to figure out my cat and her appetite and bad smelly poos and whatnot for the past few weeks.  I finally decided this warranted a visit to a new vet (I just moved)  I luckily found a vet that actually listened to me, explained things, seemed to care, and likes to talk more than I do.  I do have a few after the visit questions that I thought I would ask here instead of bothering the vet if not needed.

First lets get the nasty out of the way.  My kitty has been scooting her butt lately.  I knew this meant something not good, since she was doing this when I first got her 6 years ago.  I was right, the anal sacs were nicely full again, in fact the vet tech said she had never seen so much, um.. sac debris?  I felt bad, but they said she did really good, and right now she seems much happier.  However, if I am petting her and I get to close to her nether regions, shes get pretty angry.  Does the nether regions hurt, or is she just traumatized that her anal glands were cleaned out, and she was in a very embarrassing position?  There is some stuff still in her fur, I imagine it it what they cleaned her with.  I would like to clean that off, but not if it hurts.

2nd, medication.  After determining she is not FIV or Feline Leukemia positive (woot)  the doc thinks she may either have an infection in her gut, IBD, or allergies to food.  This is because her poo can be loose, stinky, but she will only eat what she wants.  Anyways as a first step, he prescribed Metronidazole for 10 days to see how her poo is.  They also gave her the pro-biotic Pro-Pectalin.  She has had two doses of each, and I swear she is much more energetic than she has been in the past few days (As we speak, type, whatever, she is in a box playing, she NEVER does that)  Anyways I was just wondering if anyone has experience with these meds.  Oddly getting the pill down her throat is much easier than I thought!  The vet did say if this works, they will take her off and see how she does.  If she gets bad again, she may be on this long-term.

3rd, I have no knowledge of IBD in kitties.  If she does have this, I guess how would her lifestyle have to change to make her happy?  Different foods, medications, supplements?  I just don't know, and am quite curious, so any info on this is appreciated.

To think this all started because she needs to lose weight, this has been a battle since September.  Her old vet didn't seem concerned, or not enough time had passed? At least I found what seems to be a very nice vet, and support staff, on the first try!  These are just the first steps to figure out my kitties problem.  The vet told me every step to take if one doesn't work, and for that I was very happy.  I like to think ahead!

Again thanks for any info about anything, or experiences, or even concerns.  I know some cats do not react very well to medications, so far this kitty is doing ok.  She even went poo normally!

Honey kitty appreciates advice too, I am sure this is a wild adventure for her!

I can answer briefly (cause I don't know that much!) about some of the issues and will refer you to other resources for the rest.
Ritz has to get her anal glands expressed about once or twice a year. Yeah, it hurts afterwards for a day or two or three, but much longer than that and I'd call the vet.
Cats express their anal glands naturally if their poop is the right consistency, on the firm versus soft side. So that may explain why her glands needed expressed manually--her poops are soft.
Don't know about the drug Metronidazole -- hopefully other posters will chime in. I've heard of it. (Ritz tends to be constipated so don't have the diarrhea problem) Also, has her poop been cultured (?right word)?
Giving her a probiotic is a good ideal, in my opinion, though Pro-Petain doesn't contain a lot of active cell units: it only has Kaolin 1.00 g; Pectin 0.05 g; and Direct-Fed Microbials (Enterococcus faecium) 0.6 Billion CFU. It is usually recommended that probiotics contain 10 billion active cell units. Here is one I first used, although I have now switched to a human probiotic and probably cheaper than what your vet prescribed. (I fed raw and give Ritz a probiotic daily. I sprinkle it on her food and either it's tasteless or tastes good.)
I don't know much about IBD, including whether management is different in a kitten (defined as I believe less than one year old) or adult (six years old is an adult). I have read http://ibdkitties.net/ is reputable and full of good information.
In so far as diet: raw diet has in some cases literally proven to be a life saver. But you can check out these threads about IBD/diet. Note that there seems to be a difference between IBD and IBS, though diagnosis can be one of exclusion.
Here is a search result for threads about IBD http://www.thecatsite.com/newsearch?search=IBD&=Search
PS: what is kitty's name and we looovvvveeee pictures

Thank you so much for the resources. I can imagine her nether regions hurt.. But also feel better! At the time of the vet visit she hadn't pooed in two days... then either the stress or having finally eaten some food kicked in Haha. Thankfully the poo looks normal and not to stinky and it is being taken to the vet today before I go to work

Since you asked for pictures and I have quite a few on my phone.. Of course I will share. Also her name is Honey. She came from the shelter with her name. I tried to change it but nothing quite fit!

Well huh my phone site won't up load... Well then... Once I get back to my computer I will def share some pictures. Another question if I may... She just walked by and her butt really smells! Kind of like bad salad dressing... Is that a concern????

If there is discharge from that area that smells (and what color is the discharge), personally I'd call the vet.
Is she licking that area a lot, I mean, more so than usual?

One step ahead!! At the vet right now. She is also leaking poo. They are giving her butt a good shave to have a closer look. Might be the meds haven't taken effect yet since they are for loose poos or from the anal gland procedure yesterday. Either way everything else is healthy... I just might find some poo or poo spots randomly around the house.. Hurray! :/

Glad she's at the vet--let us know what she says.

The vet gave her butt a good shaving and noticed it was very red, so he gave Honey a shot to help that, but I am unsure if it is working.  Her butt is still really red, and I feel like a very bad owner right now.  Kitty had/has some poo stuck to her tail and other regions around there.  I tried to be gentle, cleaning it,  but I think I hurt her little bum more.  She will NOT be sleeping on my bed tonite haha.  An odd situation has arisen and I am not sure what to do.  She is leaking poop.. not a lot, little bits here and there, and I did see upon getting home from work, she took a nice big poo in the box.  I found about 5 spots where she had dropped some, or wiped her butt haha.  Just now, I gave her her medicine, and she pooed a little.  Before I left for work, she stretched and poo literally shot out of her butt.  Sorry to be graphic   Also she just left poo on the ground again.  The vet is aware and told me to let the medicine take effect but to call if it gets worse, he will try something else.  They are not open tomorrow, so, she has tomorrow to stop this.

Why is her butt leaky?  And how can I save my carpets and areas she sits on??  Other than that she is fine, eating, no vomiting, but her butt is def sore, and my hands are sore from washing them!  Oh and how can I wash her bum gently when the poo gets on there? 

I don't know what i worse, the time she was constipated and vomited allll day for two days (she did see a vet!)  Or this with the poo everywhere!

Any help is needed!!  Thanks!