Anal Gland Rupture

My cat of almost 6 years, (she's 7 in sept 2014) has always been in good health. She was taken in yearly to the vet for her vaccines and was always a happy girl. She is an indoor only kitty. Not around other cats or animals. She is fed wet food in the morning and then has dry food to munch on during the day. She has fresh water (wash and change her bowls daily) and two litter boxes which are scooped daily and dumped completely each month and washed out.

About 4 weeks ago we noticed her scooting on the ground after using her box and sometimes not finishing while pooping in her box and dropping loose poop on the ground. We were having to wipe her bum due to her soft poop. My husband had changed her food from a low calorie food back to her regular food slowly mixing the two but then she continued scooting so we put her back on the low calorie diet and she was ok after a few days. She was eating and drinking normally.

12 days ago she started scooting a lot again and we noticed a mucus like substance coming off her bum after using the box. It was yellow-cream in colour. We would clean it off and thought it was her anal glands. After a few days of not getting better but still eating and drinking and using her box we took her to the vet who said her anal gland was infected and it was pus not mucus coming out. She was sedated because she was in incredible pain while the vet took her temp. During sedation her anal glands were expressed and then flushed with a solution to clean them out. We were given an anti inflammatory and pain medication to be given orally once a day and then an amoxicillin twice daily orally. She hated that medication and it was a nightmare given that to her. After 3 days into treatment she started having diarrhea and we had to give her a shower last Friday at 1am to clean off her bum without wiping it. I learned my cat is the strongest animal alive while trying to get out of the tub. After cleaning her off we stopped the oral amoxicillin after speaking with the vet and gave her a probiotic to help get her poop back to normal. This was on Friday evening. She had one dose left of amoxicillin. After Saturday rolled around she stopped eating much and drinking. On Sunday I noticed her bum looked awful and swollen but thought it was the infection working it's way out. Monday morning it had ruptured and we rushed her to the vet. They sedated her. Flushed out the wound, expressed her other anal gland which was full again after 8 days and put her on a medicated cream for her bum. Gave us an e collar and also anti inflammatory medication and skin infection pill. She wouldn't take the pill. Took her back to the vet Sunday night so they could give her the pill and clean the pus off her bum. They put the cream on and we took her home. She still wouldn't eat or drink. I was able to syringe 1 cc of water into her mouth. She then ate a few bites of dry food. We tried giving her wet but she wouldn't touch it. Then tuna which is her favorite treat and nothing. She wasn't peeing or pooping all say Sunday. Monday morning she pooped a tiny string like poop. No pee. Monday after it ruptured we spent 3 hours at the vet. (This was our 4th visit in 8 days and our 3rd 3 hour visit).

We have now had her put on a steroid shot for inflammation, will be going back today for a medication shot for the infection and continuing the cream. We bought meds on Sunday to use but on Monday told to stop because they will counteract with her new meds (so $60 down the drain) today's meds will coat $70 and we are now in for $800 and that's with $200 discounts. We don't care about the cost but the fact they keep changing medications is hard on her body.

Her wound is looking a bit better. She was shaved Sunday but yesterday the vet suggested surgery to lance the wound on the other side because it's infected too. They did slides to see the infected. If this course of medication doesn't clear up her wound they will have to do lab work and send it out which will cost another $150. We love our cat more than anything but this is costing us a fortune.

Because she's not drinking the vet did a subcutaneous drip yesterday free of charge. She's still not drinking but she did eat some dry food last night and a little tuna mixed with water this morning. She's having trouble with her e collar and we took it off so she could eat but she went to lick her wound and the collar went back on.

Yesterday at the vet they tried to force feed her and she wasn't having it. She was growling at us which she never does. Once home we let her rest and she slept most of the night. She peed finally last night and this morning and pooped a small poop. She's having troubles while peeing and is getting pee down her legs on her fur and it smells awful and she cannot groom because of the e collar which she has to wear or she'll lick at her wounds. We have taken the collar off a few times as she's having troubles eating with it on but she only eats a little. We have seen her eating with it on (dry food) but it's awkward for her. She still won't drink water though. We have many different water bowls at varying heights (placed on containers for her) so she can find the height that works for her. We have done this with her food as well. Wet and dry. We know she should only be eating wet food right nor due to her water loss but she's hardly eating and she has had done kibble and we want her to eat.

The abscess on her behind is open quite largely and is pusing out which I was told is good. When she had her little poop some litter stuck to her bum and I gently dabbed it off with wet towel and placed her cream on her bum. We have removed any carpets so she wont scoot on them and she has been scooting but on wood floor which we correct her quickly.

Long story short we don't understand how this happened. She's always been a happy healthy cat. This went from bad to horrible in a week. The vet said it's very bad now. I think the diarrhea caused it to abscess from her scooting and getting poop into the anal gland. I think the steroid shot and the medication shot should have been given to begin with. I think she would have been healed or almost by now.

The vet office we go to is good but different vets work there on different days so it's hard. We have done everything. Medication, cream, had her glands expressed and flushed 2 times in 7 days (now they are saying if this doesn't heal it could be a bacterial infection that's hard to cure)

I just want my kitty happy and healthy. I'm hardly sleeping or eating because I'm up with her almost all night.

Thanks for reading.

PS- she has lost almost 1 lb in 9 days

I'm so sorry your kitty (and you) is having such a tough time.  One of my cats has gone through this a couple times and if you search through the health forum you will find you are in good company.  I don't think anyone knows why the anal glands get plugged, just "lucky" I guess.  My cat has always had perfectly formed poops, eats a wonderful diet of wet, home-cooked/raw meats, but requires his anal glands to be expressed by the vet tech every two months to avoid another burst abscess.  His brother does not have this issue. 

Did your vet do what was right - seems like it.  We never had to go the route of steroids, but my cat was prescribed a round of antibiotics which we stopped after he stopped eating (Clavamox does that to a cat) and began having diarrhea.  We kept the cone on him a couple days, but it brought him such stress that we took that off too.*  We just made sure someone was nearby to keep him from licking.  Eventually he stopped trying.  The cream is not fun, but it should help fight the bacteria. 

*edit to say that I think we left the cone on while everyone was sleeping. 

In the future, I would definitely schedule routine visits to the vet for them to express her anal glands on a regular basis.  It costs me about $26 without an actual appointment with the vet (although I think she helps with the expression sometimes).  My cat does not get sedated - he takes it like a man - and he has not had a repeat burst since our proactive care.  The tech says the fluid becomes like dry cake, and the build up becomes too much.  They have gone in with little tweezers to clean it out, followed by a water flush.  They offered to teach me how...I opted for them to take care of it. 

We didn't do this, but if your cat seems to be in pain, you might ask your vet about giving her Buprenex for the next couple days.  It's pretty effective for overall pain.  I'm not sure how the anti-inflammatory would help, and it's not good on the kidneys. 

I hope your cat heals quickly!

My cat is on day 18 of her road to recovery which started with an infected anal gland which after 6 days of antibiotics turned into an abscess which burst she's doing better however there there is this large thick piece of something creamy coloured in her abscess that starts to come out when I'm cleaning her bum with her disinfecting wash from the vet. It's been there since it ruptured. The vet said it was adipose tissue but I think it's clumped pus if that's possible. Today I was cleaning her up and when I lightly put pressure near her bum it made a farting sound and this gooey liquid came out of her abscess. I cleaned her up. She's on medication for the infection and steroid for the swelling (please see my original posting about this all if you Can in this forum.

Any idea what this blob of stuff is inside her abscess? It comes out a bit but goes back in

Well, when I looked up Adipose Tissue, it means Fat Tissue, so I guess that could certainly look like "clumped pus", and explain why it doesn't come out completely.  I'm guessing it's attached to the wall of the gland?. 

What I don't completely understand, though, is why it's taking so long to heal .  My older girl (13 at the time) had an anal gland rupture, and within 5 days it was completely healed !  All we had to do was apply warm compresses to draw out any leftover pus inside, then apply the ointment (which she pretty much immediately licked off ) and she had her antibiotic.  That was it after they drained and cleaned out the abscess at the Vet's office. 

When she had her follow-up visit one week later, there was just a tiny little scab so there was no need to do anything else, and her original wound was at least 1 inch in diameter once it got cleaned out and we got her home.

Have you had follow-up visits with your Vet?  If not, I would definitely be asking why it's taking so long to heal!

For anyone else reading this, here is her original thread:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/277415/anal-gland-rupture

Also, I asked what causes anal gland issues in the first place, in order to try to prevent future issues, and was told it all has to do with the feces passing by the glands.  As they pass by, they normally cause the glands to express themselves.  If the feces are too soft, or just aren't the correct consistency, they might not do their job.  Or sometimes they just rupture for no apparent reason.  And sometimes the glands have to expressed manually.  With my old girl, she has never had any more issues (knock wood) , however, others have issues frequently.  Hopefully this will be a one time thing with your girl

Yes, adipose tissue is the medical term for fatty tissue. The vet said it would take about 2 weeks because her infection was severe. It has healed a lot since it started. It went from an anal gland infection to completely clearing up on one side but abscessing on the other.

She has been to the vet many times since this all started. 5 times to be exact. She's going back for a "see how she's doing visit". The reason it is taking longer is her first round of meds made her severely sick with diarrhea and she stopped eating and drinking. She was licking and scooting and I believe that caused the infection to impact and abscess. That happened in a week. We did hot compresses, I still am. I wash her bum 3-4 times per day with antiseptic wash from the vet and put on medicated cream 2 times. She had a steroid shot for swelling and a medication injection which lasts 14 days.

She wears a cone at all times. She is going to the bathroom regularly and eating wet food mixed with water a few times a day. Her mood is better and she is healing slowly. Her abscess was the worst they'd seen. She may have to have her glands expressed manually to prevent this again. Her poops have became very smelly though which leads me to believe they are working.

Poor kitty I can imagine how painful this is.  It's good that it is healing slowly, healing from the inside out.  Sometimes abscesses heal over but there is still infection in them so the cycle begins again.