My Cat Can't Catch A Break :(

[Mohona]

Hi, I'm new here and I just needed some advice regarding my 6 year old, Demi. She was always a healthy cat with absolutely no health issues, but one day around 7-8 months back I found her in a lot of pain, immediately took her to the vet, and discovered it was an anal gland rupture/abscess. The vet drained it and she was back to normal. About 4-5 months later it reappeared in the same spot, the vet had to sedate her this time, but still got it drained and it healed perfectly.

Now, for the past month or so I've been noticing some serious weight gain out of nowhere. She sleeps way more than she used to, and does not hang out with us humans as much. There has been no change of diet or anything of that sort. It started after the last vet visit. And tonight I tried to pick her up like I always do but she seems to be in a lot of pain. After a bit of investigation I think I'm pretty sure the anal gland is causing problems again.

I should mention I'm from Bangladesh and the animal healthcare system here is almost non existent, there are no facilities to get her blood work done or x-rays done. I can barely trust any of the very few doctors here and the "best" one is currently out of town. I am seriously worried and it's driving me crazy to see her so unhappy.

I am so sorry for such a long post but for now, I just want to know what it might be and if I should be scared. I will make sure I take her to the proper vet as soon as he is back but right now I need to understand this better, and more importantly, know if there's anything I can do to help her feel a bit comfortable.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

When my little one had an anal gland issue, she licked and licked at that area, along with hiding away from us. Is your girl doing a lot of licking? If not, I'm not sure that's the problem, but have you actually looked at her backside to see if you can see anything? If it IS her anal glands, then you obviously need to take her in to have them (or it) drained again and go through the whole process again. Our girl only had the one rupture and that was it. I'm not aware of ruptures reoccuring like this, but do know that often certain cats do need to have their anal glands "expressed" manually. If this is what's happening, your Vet may be able to show you how to do it yourself. If it's truly ruptures each time, then

As far as her gaining a lot of weight in the last month, do you free feed her? You said there hasn't been a change in diet, but could it be she is eating MORE? Is she an indoor only cat? If not, it IS possible she is eating things outside as well, which could account for a weight gain, but kind of unlikely, really.

I'm wondering if she might be constipated, since you said she acted like she was in pain when you went to pick her up. Have you noticed a decline in her bowel movements? And, naturally, if she is quite constipated, she would weigh more (but not substantially, I wouldn't think) If you think that's a possibility, you might try giving her some plain cooked pureed pumpkin, about one teaspoon up to 3 times per day, if she'll eat it. You might also try some Laxatone. It's an ooey, gooey sticky oily mess that you can rub on her paw if she won't lick it off your finger. It's actually hairballs, but helps lubricate their digestive tract so will also help with constipation. OR you can use something like Miralax or any generic of it. Use about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon dissolved in a little bit of water once or twice a day. Additionally, she need to get more water into her. If you feed wet food, you can add a little water to her food. If she eats dry food, maybe try flavoring some of her drinking water with a little bit of tuna juice or homemade chicken broth (no salt, onions, garlic or seasonings)

If none of the above really apply, then it's possible she has parasites, or something else that definitely needs a Vet's intervention When you say you are noticing serious weight gain, is that from feeling it when you pick her up, or do you see it in her stomach, or what? Is it all in her stomach?

 

[FeebysOwner]

So, so sorry for Demi. My cat, Feeby, has had a couple of bouts with the beginnings of anal gland clogging - thankfully, hers have never got as far as Demi's. The vet was able to "express" the glands to clear out the gunk collected in them (aka, squeezing the glands themselves - which BTW can be done by an owner once they have been shown the process).

The weight gain in and of itself could be lack of exercise because she is feeling bad, or a whole host of other things. But, it can also cause cats to forgo cleaning themselves regularly, which can cause the anal glands to start to clog up. And, probably even more so, if she is in pain. The glands must be stimulated to clear naturally and that is done through a cat cleaning themselves AND having fairly firm poops. Are her poops too soft? Could be contributing to the problem. And, as I said, lack of cleaning herself could be exacerbating the issue.

She needs to be fully checked out - as you already know. And, I hope your regular vet is available soon...very soon. However, at this stage, she is going to need to be relieved once again by having a vet drain them. As far as I know, there is no other alternative to having them drained to get her relief.

I hope others here on this site can give you more - and better - info than I have.

 

[Mohona]

Hi, Thank you so much for replying. I feel like the pain IS coming from her back side because that's the place she wouldn't let me go near. She does try to lick but she pulls herself back probably because of the pain.

She is an indoor cat and is free fed, but now that you mention it, I can see that it definitely could be constipation. She mostly eats dry food but I'll for sure try some of your suggestions and look into the parasites thing as well, even though it wasn't long before she got her medicines for that.

And to answer your question about her weight, she does feel heavier but her stomach seems super bloated. I just realized that her face and limbs didn't get any fatter at all.

This really helped point out some of the changes to be made, so thank you so much!

 

[Mohona]

So, so sorry for Demi. My cat, Feeby, has had a couple of bouts with the beginnings of anal gland clogging - thankfully, hers have never got as far as Demi's. The vet was able to "express" the glands to clear out the gunk collected in them (aka, squeezing the glands themselves - which BTW can be done by an owner once they have been shown the process).

The weight gain in and of itself could be lack of exercise because she is feeling bad, or a whole host of other things. But, it can also cause cats to forgo cleaning themselves regularly, which can cause the anal glands to start to clog up. And, probably even more so, if she is in pain. The glands must be stimulated to clear naturally and that is done through a cat cleaning themselves AND having fairly firm poops. Are her poops too soft? Could be contributing to the problem. And, as I said, lack of cleaning herself could be exacerbating the issue.

She needs to be fully checked out - as you already know. And, I hope your regular vet is available soon...very soon. However, at this stage, she is going to need to be relieved once again by having a vet drain them. As far as I know, there is no other alternative to having them drained to get her relief.

I hope others here on this site can give you more - and better - info than I have.

Hi, see that's the thing that bothers me. I've done a bit of reading on this anal gland issue and I know that soft poops would be the cause, but she definitely does not. I don't know if i would call it abnormally hard, but it seems quite normal, if not a bit on the harder side. I'll be on the hunt for a decent doctor tomorrow morning, right now it's 3am here and I'm just making sure this girl is feeling okay I hope Feeby is feeling better <3

 

[Mohona]

When my little one had an anal gland issue, she licked and licked at that area, along with hiding away from us. Is your girl doing a lot of licking? If not, I'm not sure that's the problem, but have you actually looked at her backside to see if you can see anything? If it IS her anal glands, then you obviously need to take her in to have them (or it) drained again and go through the whole process again. Our girl only had the one rupture and that was it. I'm not aware of ruptures reoccuring like this, but do know that often certain cats do need to have their anal glands "expressed" manually. If this is what's happening, your Vet may be able to show you how to do it yourself. If it's truly ruptures each time, then

As far as her gaining a lot of weight in the last month, do you free feed her? You said there hasn't been a change in diet, but could it be she is eating MORE? Is she an indoor only cat? If not, it IS possible she is eating things outside as well, which could account for a weight gain, but kind of unlikely, really.

I'm wondering if she might be constipated, since you said she acted like she was in pain when you went to pick her up. Have you noticed a decline in her bowel movements? And, naturally, if she is quite constipated, she would weigh more (but not substantially, I wouldn't think) If you think that's a possibility, you might try giving her some plain cooked pureed pumpkin, about one teaspoon up to 3 times per day, if she'll eat it. You might also try some Laxatone. It's an ooey, gooey sticky oily mess that you can rub on her paw if she won't lick it off your finger. It's actually hairballs, but helps lubricate their digestive tract so will also help with constipation. OR you can use something like Miralax or any generic of it. Use about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon dissolved in a little bit of water once or twice a day. Additionally, she need to get more water into her. If you feed wet food, you can add a little water to her food. If she eats dry food, maybe try flavoring some of her drinking water with a little bit of tuna juice or homemade chicken broth (no salt, onions, garlic or seasonings)

If none of the above really apply, then it's possible she has parasites, or something else that definitely needs a Vet's intervention When you say you are noticing serious weight gain, is that from feeling it when you pick her up, or do you see it in her stomach, or what? Is it all in her stomach?

Hi, Thank you so much for replying. I feel like the pain IS coming from her back side because that's the place she wouldn't let me go near. She does try to lick but she pulls herself back probably because of the pain.

She is an indoor cat and is free fed, but now that you mention it, I can see that it definitely could be constipation. She mostly eats dry food but I'll for sure try some of your suggestions and look into the parasites thing as well, even though it wasn't long before she got her medicines for that.

And to answer your question about her weight, she does feel heavier but her stomach seems super bloated. I just realized that her face and limbs didn't get any fatter at all.

This really helped point out some of the changes to be made, so thank you so much!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

For constipation, you can also try using psyllium husk rather than pumpkin for added fiber. It doesn't have much flavor, so cats may take to it easier.

Exercise is good too, it helps things get moving along their digestive tract. If you can, try to get her to jump around and play, maybe with a feather toy or something. If she's food motivated, even just walk along with her food dish in your hands and have her walk along with you for several minutes.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Feeby didn't get her anal gland clogging from soft poops - apparently at her age (14+) more related to weight/arthritis that caused her not to clean appropriately. However, the belly bloat could easily be attributed to constipation, like mrsgreenjeens said.

I wish you the best of luck finding someone to take her to see. Keep us posted.

 

[Mohona]

Took her to the vet today, he confirmed it's another abscess and that the previous two times the other vet probably didn't do a good job of properly draining and cleaning out the area, which explains why it keeps coming back :/ I should've guessed that. Anyway, they will work on it again tomorrow and hopefully this time they do a better job. Fingers crossed!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Why not work on it TODAY while she was right there?

What about the weight gain? Did they think she is also constipated?

 

[Mohona]

Why not work on it TODAY while she was right there?

What about the weight gain? Did they think she is also constipated?

I practically begged him to, but he said there was no way he could fit it into his schedule :/ About the weight gain, he said she was just overweight and it was all fat. So she's getting a new diet after she recovers. I just hope everything goes right this time.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Hello, @Mohana! So sorry to hear about Demi's issues, I hope things can be resolved soon!

Sometimes it seems for middle-age-to-older cats especially, feeding mainly dry food can increase dehydration (leading to constipation and many other issues), and also carbohydrate intake (leading to weight gain... and many other issues).

Your vet will give his input and you should go from there, but I think I'd recommend trying to feed canned wet food if you can. Anything that can help increase hydration and also lower her blood glucose will help (e.g. wet food and lots of water sources can go a lot way to help out). You'll have to do a controlled switchover to wet food, or even partially wet food and her regular dry food, so that her digestive system won't get too upset.

I like to consult this page (and other pages) on this site below about feline constipation when I'm trying to find out if anything is familiar to a situation my cat might be going through.

This page is titled, 'What goes wrong?' and there is a part in there about anal glands. I am wondering if any constipation she might be having could be similar to the section below I highlighted in blue?

What Goes Wrong?
excerpt:

"... The problem with stool not passing in a timely fashion is that more water is withdrawn while it sits, the stool gets smaller and drier and harder, all of which indicates another problem that needs addressing. In addition, more stool is forming behind the accumulated stool if nothing is moving. If the rectum is full, stool begins to accumulate in areas of the large bowel not intended for storage. In a worst case scenario, stool backs up into the small intestine.

Cats have two anal glands, one on either side of the anus, glands which store a strong-smelling secretion whose odor is distinctive for the individual cat. Since cats can't leave sticky notes to communicate, they use scent messages to say, "I was here," and "This is me." When a cat poops, adequate pressure from properly firm poop passing by the anal glands squeezes out a thin coating of the secretion to coat the stool.


If the poop is too soft to stimulate the anal glands when the cat poops, over time the glands' secretions can thicken and harden and the glands become impacted. Impaction is painful and can lead to infection or even rupture of the glands and can cause or complicate constipation. Impacted anal glands themselves are effectively constipated. Impaction requires vet treatment to clear the glands.

If the stool becomes too hard and small and shriveled, newly formed stool can slip down beside present stool and create a traffic jam which may need vet assistance to relieve. Stools in the shape of balls rather than more elongated segments can be very difficult to expel. They keep signaling to the cat that he or she needs to poop but it is as though the ball spins in place or the rectal wall lacks a grip on it. In the final step of stool passage, the anus shortens and pulls up over the stool – if it can. ..."​

I think an abdominal xray might tell the vet a lot. Has he suggested any diagnostics like that? It could determine if any extra weight is fat, or due to a digestive issue or the like.

Poor Demi!