Abscess located near anus

Hi, Our cat got a sort of abscess located near her anus.

We've read online that it can be an infection caused by blocked anal glands.

We took her to the vet and they were not 100% sure of what it could be - we were told to have an eye on her behaviour during the weekend and take her for another control next week.

She acts normally - other than that she do try to clean herself more often (she doesn’t seem to be weak, depressed or have any abnormal behaviour).

She has always had problems with her poop being “very compact and hard” all her life (we give her premium food that are suppose to help with digesting).

What is your take on this? What do you think it could be / what do you think we should do?

Thank you so much for taking your time with us.

Hmm, I can't say I've dealt with this before, but if your kitty's stool has been typically "very compact and hard", it sounds like she's constipated. I'd give her some wet food to see if it helps with her eliminations if she's on a completely dry diet. Adding fiber like metamucil can also help (prevents both hard and soft stools). Additionally, if your kitty is given an antibiotic, adding probiotics in with her meals would also be ideal. Hope others can add their suggestions and tips or experiences to help you further. Good luck!

It certainly looks like an anal gland issue to me.  What surprises me is that your Vet couldn't tell.  What did they do about it other than tell you to come back after the weekend if she acts differently?  Did they give her any antibiotics or anything?  Did they try to drain the abscess and give you any instructions for cleaning it (warm compresses and ointment..anything like that?)  I agree with Emandjee that if she IS on an antibiotic that it's a good idea to give her probiotics also (just not at the same time of day ).  We give all our cats probiotics all the time, just to give them a healthy digestive tract.

When you say you feed her a premium food, what exactly is that?  If it's a dry food, then that could be why her stool is so hard and compact, and does, indeed, sound as if she's constipated, although that shouldn't really account for issues with her anal glands, from what our Vet told us.  As long as firm stool passes by those glands they should normally express them, which is what is needed.  However, sometimes things just happen, and they abscess for no known reason.    But back to her food and her "pooping issues".  Does she seem to have problems in that department?  If so, then you could try feeding her canned food, if you don't already, as the above poster suggested.  Usually the extra moisture in canned food is enough to help out, but if not, then you could try adding in a little canned pumpkin (maybe one teaspoon per meal)

Glad your little one doesn't seem to be feeling many ill effects from this abscess!