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- Mar 5, 2013
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My cat is a 4 year old male tabby. He's a little bit heavy, but hes also naturally large and muscular so while he's 14 lbs the vet says he should be 12 (I'm working on the weight loss with restricted feedings, though I'm having trouble finding out what portions are best). He is fixed and he is an indoor only very active cat whos only other contact with cats is watching them through a window or hanging out with our other male cat who is also indoor only. Both cats have urinary crystal problems and are on Hill's C/D food with no treats besides the occasional vet's best cranberry suppliment. Neither cats will eat wet food or any of the other urinary foods (I've had hunger strikes before whenever I tried) and theres 3 water bowls in my 1 bedroom, 600 sqft apartment (they don't like running water so fountains didn't work). There are no companies locally that make BARF food and I wouldn't feel comfortable making my own, especially since I am a full time student who isn't home for 9 hours on some days and thats not including work. He does have the urge to constantly be chewing on and trying to eat random things, like pencils, clothing, paper, plants (we had to get rid of our mini cactus because his urge to chew on it was larger than his urge not to get stabbed in the face), wrappers, plastic, iphones, etc.
7 weeks ago ago we brought the tabby, Prowler, into the vet. He'd always had the "anal gland" smell about him but vets had never expressed much before. I'd never had comments on the appearance of it so I don't know what it was like and it had been nearly a year since anyone had tried. For the week before I brought him in, one gland was leaking out nearly constantly and without warning. Bowel movements were normal. The vet was shocked by the amount of fluid she got out (she said they were swollen to the size of a golden retriever's glands) and one side was thick, brown and gritty while the other was yellow and creamy (Think banana medicine). She didn't say anything about infections and thought that it looked normal.
Since that expression, he hasn't stopped "expressing himself" at random times. Hes done it while eating, while purring in my lap, while grooming his brother, while chasing a toy, etc. I brought him in again after not even 4 weeks and he was full again. From what she could tell, one side (the gross gritty side which was now lighter) was getting plugged and so as he was trying to force it out, he was squeezing out stuff from the good side. He's been licking around his butt raw and obviously not comfortable. She recommended that if it kept happening that I should just have them removed. Within two days he'd started leaking again and after a week (and some ruined papers) I gave in and signed up for the surgery.
Friday I caught him peeing in the sink, so hes now blocked with crystals, and to add insult to injury today he had the loosest bowel movements I've every seen and was freaking out for 25 minutes dragging his butt on the ground. He did pass some pieces of straw even though the last time straw was in the house was on Feb 16th (unless he stashed some somewhere) which was right in the middle of all this chaos. So now I've got a cat with crystals and diarrhea who is supposed to have surgery on Tuesday. Help? Could the discomfort from his glands be causing the rest? Should I see if I can postpone the surgery? Should I call up the emergency vets and get him checked today or can I wait for something to be open tomorrow? I'm already broke and the surgery was gunna eat away at my pitiful savings so if I take him in today I wouldn't be able to afford the surgery on Tues and I don't know their cancellation policy. Help
7 weeks ago ago we brought the tabby, Prowler, into the vet. He'd always had the "anal gland" smell about him but vets had never expressed much before. I'd never had comments on the appearance of it so I don't know what it was like and it had been nearly a year since anyone had tried. For the week before I brought him in, one gland was leaking out nearly constantly and without warning. Bowel movements were normal. The vet was shocked by the amount of fluid she got out (she said they were swollen to the size of a golden retriever's glands) and one side was thick, brown and gritty while the other was yellow and creamy (Think banana medicine). She didn't say anything about infections and thought that it looked normal.
Since that expression, he hasn't stopped "expressing himself" at random times. Hes done it while eating, while purring in my lap, while grooming his brother, while chasing a toy, etc. I brought him in again after not even 4 weeks and he was full again. From what she could tell, one side (the gross gritty side which was now lighter) was getting plugged and so as he was trying to force it out, he was squeezing out stuff from the good side. He's been licking around his butt raw and obviously not comfortable. She recommended that if it kept happening that I should just have them removed. Within two days he'd started leaking again and after a week (and some ruined papers) I gave in and signed up for the surgery.
Friday I caught him peeing in the sink, so hes now blocked with crystals, and to add insult to injury today he had the loosest bowel movements I've every seen and was freaking out for 25 minutes dragging his butt on the ground. He did pass some pieces of straw even though the last time straw was in the house was on Feb 16th (unless he stashed some somewhere) which was right in the middle of all this chaos. So now I've got a cat with crystals and diarrhea who is supposed to have surgery on Tuesday. Help? Could the discomfort from his glands be causing the rest? Should I see if I can postpone the surgery? Should I call up the emergency vets and get him checked today or can I wait for something to be open tomorrow? I'm already broke and the surgery was gunna eat away at my pitiful savings so if I take him in today I wouldn't be able to afford the surgery on Tues and I don't know their cancellation policy. Help
