Anal Gland Issues - Two Cats

[mirrorakay]

So I was looking to get a bit of an outside opinion on something. About three months ago my mother's cat, Tiara, began having issues with her anal glands. Tiara is 8 years old. We've dealt with two infections so far; each time the anal glands are very full. Today I took my father's cat, Mir to the vet to find his anal glands were impacted. He was cleaned up by the vet and given a clean bill of health. Mir is 9 years old. Neither of these cats have had issues with anal glands in the past, but now two out of the three cats in the house do? I don't think that is coincidence. Thing is I know that both of them are having regular stools; no constipation or runny stool. The vet keeps referring back to the stool as the root of the problem and when I explain both of them have regular stool, she basically shrugs and moves on. My guess is that it has something to do with the food they are being fed. Is that possible?

In the last eight months my parents switched their cats on to Kirkland Nature's Domain. They are switching the cats back to Kirkland's Weight Management because one of their cats is not a big fan of the Nature's Domain. If it is the food, any ideas what in the food could be causing anal gland issues? Any tips of how to avoid this in the future?

My personal cat Fennwick used to eat the same food as my parents' cats. About eight months ago he had an anal gland rupture. I'm not sure it is any relation since Fennwick is notorious for hairballs and terrible constipation, but I thought I should mention it since it is within the timeline. Fennwick is now on a diet of canned food with regular doses of Laxatone and pumpking to control his issues.

 

[ritz]

Ritz has to have her anal glands expressed about once or twice a year. I fed her raw, so theoretically she shouldn't have any problems. So while food may be a component, so may genetic predisposition.
From my understanding, anal glands are usually expressed when the cat poops. The poop/feces needs to be firm enough and wide enough to express those glands.
Here is a thread about food for anal gland issues. I think pumpkin is a good idea (oh, make sure it's plain pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling), but be careful of the amount. You don't want stools that are too soft.