anal gland abscess and prolonged time in a cone

Hi everyone.

My cat Kiya (Sphynx) has had too many anal gland abscess to count.  I mean that literally.  She's gotten them every few months for about 5 years.  Between January and February she spent 6 weeks in a cone because the abscess was so slow to heal.  She was on oral antibiotics and topical antibiotics, it just took a long time.  The vet doesn't want to remove her anal glands because it could make her incontinent.  She's also 14 1/2, so I don't want to put her through surgery if I don't have to.  Between February and July she's had 3 more absesses, but I caught two of them early so they didn't rupture.  This last one sneaked up on me.  I took her to the vet, and they didn't even charge an office visit.  That's how many times I've been there. 

The vet told me that I need to feed her high fiber food, so I got her some that is decent.  She has an extremely sensitive stomach, and a lot of time foods will give her diarrhea.  Once she gets diarrhea it's hard to get rid of.  But when her stools are solid she is ok for a few months.  The vet also said to give her metamucil plain, 3 T per week, mixed in food.  The only problem is that she can't eat most soft foods so I don't have any way of getting it into her system.  I did get some prescription stuff, so we'll see what happens.  I want to wait until she's out of the cone though, because if her stomach doesn't like it she will end up with diarrhea and I want he to be able to get to her litter box ASAP.

My question for the forum is, has anyone had a similar experience with abscessed anal glands?  I've seen several different vets, including an emergency vet.  I just think, there's gotta be a way to solve this issue without surgery, and it needs to be solved because it is getting ridiculous.  I would think that if expressing the anal glands was an option, one of the several vets I've been to would tell me that.  Wouldn't they?

The other issue I'm having is that she has been in the cone so many times and for so long that she is getting depressed.  She didn't eat for a full day and a half.  She laid in bed under the covers from last night until I got home from work at 3pm.  So I took the cone off.  She ran around, drank water, ate some food, and used the litter box.  Then she licked the scab off of the wound so I had to put the cone back on.  She's so depressed. Is there anything else I can do to keep her from licking?  I tried a bandaid and it fell off.  Someone mentioned putting a onesie on backward.  I don't think that would stay on. She grooms her naked body a lot. 

If anyone has any advice or guidance for me and my furless baby girl, please let me know.

All I can tell you is that when my girl had a ruptured anal gland, she did not have to wear a cone.  She did take antibiotics, and we did apply an ointment to the "spot" a couple of times a day, which was pretty much pointless because she would just lick it off soon after application, but our Vet said that was ok.  And she healed up within 5 days.  We also applied warm compresses immediately before putting on the ointment. 

You are not the first person to say they were advised to use a cone, but many of us haven't used them. 

I would definitely try a onesy.  don't know about putting it on backwards though.  Why not putting on regularly.  That's the way I've usually seen them on cats, especially to protect stomach wounds.  Or maybe a cat diaper?  Or a cat diaper UNDER a onesy?  Although I would think getting air to it would be helpful in the healing process

All the vets we've been to have said to put a cone on her.  Maybe because she's a Sphynx?  We've seen maybe 7+ vets in the last 5-6 years.  And five days?  One vet said it would take 3-4 weeks to heal up.  And it did, even with antibiotics and topical cream. It took FOREVER.

I'm going to take the cone off and see how she does.  She's a compulsive licker anyway.  She grooms herself more than my hairy cats did.  I wish someone made a skirt that I could put around her waist so she could still use the litter box but couldn't get to the sore.  Maybe I'll try to make something.  It definitely can't hurt.  I have a sewing machine collecting dust that either needs to get used or donated. 

I don't think a diaper would work.  It needs to breathe.  Besides, she'd pull that sucker off in 30 seconds flat.