Large anal gland abscess

Hi all,

I took my cat to the vet on Tuesday afternoon after noticing she wasn't quite acting right.

Vet found a huge abscess and said it was an impacted anal gland.  Apparently pretty rare in cats?  Has anyone dealt with something like this before?

Vet drained it, gave a shot of antibiotics that's supposed to last 2 weeks (?) and said to give her an anti-inflammatory for 3 days.  Am also flushing with a solution she gave me twice a day.

Cat is wearing a cone of shame (a soft collar so not as horrible) but she is so miserable.  She has some skin allergies so when she can't scratch herself she freaks, and last night she tore the abscess more - the hole was fairly small before but now it's the size of a quarter.    I took the cone off for the night so she would came down but I don't think she's slept since I brought her home Wednesday morning.  She did lick at the wound a little bit but she seemed less destructive with it on.

Called vet this morning and she didn't seem too concerned but said I must keep the cone on.  I just don't see how this thing is ever going to heal.  It's so large and gaping - shouldn't I be putting down type of ointment on it?

Cat is 11 years old and I actually considered euthanizing but she seems OK apart from the giant gaping hole on her butt

Any experience or advice?

I know it seems horrible but keeping an abscess of any type open is the best way for it to heal.  If it closes to soon then infection will build back up.  Of course the hole being larger means it will take longer for things to heal but it is far better than having it close over too soon.

As far as putting something on it have you asked the vet?

She said the ointment wasn't necessary but I wanted to get a second opinion since she did say she hasn't really dealt with this in cats before.

I'm just really stressed because I'm supposed to leave for a week on vacation next Wednesday morning.  I'm wondering how plausible it will be to leave her in the care of my roommate for that long.  He's certainly capable of noticing if something is very wrong but I'd feel so much better if it was healed by then, at least mostly.