Anal Gland issues

Hello ~

I'm new to the site, and have been looking at some of the past posts on others that have kitties with anal gland issues.  Lady G continues to have problems with her anal glands needing to be expressed.  Her stools are loose and soft, but I'm not sure what food to feed her to bulk it up.  She's on dry food, and won't eat wet.  I feed her Buffalo Blue Weight Management combined with Mature Indoor Hairball Remedy.  Any recommendations on dry food to try?

Thanks,

Mel

midtownmel said:

 
Hello ~

I'm new to the site, and have been looking at some of the past posts on others that have kitties with anal gland issues.  Lady G continues to have problems with her anal glands needing to be expressed.  Her stools are loose and soft, but I'm not sure what food to feed her to bulk it up.  She's on dry food, and won't eat wet.  I feed her Buffalo Blue Weight Management combined with Mature Indoor Hairball Remedy.  Any recommendations on dry food to try?

Thanks,

Mel

Click to expand...

Welcome to TCS! 

I'll move your question to the nutrition forum where I hope more members will chime in.

midtownmel said:

 
Hello ~

I'm new to the site, and have been looking at some of the past posts on others that have kitties with anal gland issues.  Lady G continues to have problems with her anal glands needing to be expressed.  Her stools are loose and soft, but I'm not sure what food to feed her to bulk it up.  She's on dry food, and won't eat wet.  I feed her Buffalo Blue Weight Management combined with Mature Indoor Hairball Remedy.  Any recommendations on dry food to try?

Thanks,

Mel

Click to expand...

I know that dogs are different than cats but my Shih Tzu used to have horrible bouts of impacted anal glands . I had to take her to the vet every month to have them expressed .  I finally found the the solution for her .  I changed her diet to grain free limited ingredient diet and since she has had no issues at all with anal glands . Her stool are firm and perfectly formed .  I give her Natural Balance L.I.D    I buy it on Chewy.com but it may be available at Petsmart or Petco 

I am not saying it will work for your cat but it is worth a try .  Here is a link to the cat version . 

I hope it helps .

http://www.chewy.com/cat/natural-balance-lid-limited/dp/33224

Thanks, we're headed to the vet tonight, so I'll check with them as well, but a limited ingredient diet certainly wouldn't hurt.  I'll give it a try.

Mel

I think foods and treats for hairballs can make stools loose!

Good morning,
Lady G is doing great. As suspected, the Hairball remedy food is the culprit. Unfortunately she has gained back some of the weight she lost, so she's transitioned back to 100% weight control food & then with the hairballs as needed.
Thanks to everyone you assisted & checked in. Now my big girl is back on her diet. :-)

At least you've resolved one problem!

Haha! True. :-)

One of the issues you might encounter is the weight loss formulated cat food. It usually doesn't matter too much if a cat eats dry or wet food...it usually has little effect on the stools coming out the other end. Hairball formulas as well as weight loss formulas typically accomplish their tasks by adding bulk to the recipe. "Bulk" can be just about anything that a cat can eat without being able to digest it. The idea is that the ingredients that don't get broken down and digested will supply the raw ingredients for a well formed poop (pardon the terms...plz advise if this is off limits!).

   When people go on diets, they are encouraged to eat a lot of stuff with a lot of "fiber" and low calories. The fiber prevents you from getting constipated, which is common when you decrease your food intake without compensating for the food that you are used to consuming. The same goes for cats. When the weight loss food is given, it typically contains a lot more bulk or fiber than the regular food. The high fiber tends to hold water, which is what makes you cat's stools soft and possibly watery. My best experience for getting a cat to shed a few pounds is to slowly cut their food back to about 80% of what they normally eat. The cat probably won't notice the small amount of food missing from his/her bowl and you are supplying the regular diet that your cat is used to eating..

   I have used this method for years and it works pretty well if you can stick to it. My cats are hungry 200% of the time and they make it difficult not to give them too many treats. Losing the weight is twice as hard as finding it in the first place!

Jim

Thanks, Jim, definitely not off limits. The problem occurred when I added the Hairball remedy food, but the vet says her weight could also be a culprit in her scooting. I adopted her in October & she was overweight then. She had a couple problems adjusting & she lost weight, fairly quickly. I put her on Blue Weight Control. She was holding steady at just under 16 pounds but then gained 12 oz. since April. She's still down since I adopted her, but the vet would like to see her around 14 pounds. I'll see how she does with removing the Hairball formula, & will keep your advice as food for thought (no pun intended). Have a great day!
Mel