Conference misery::feline_v1

681.0. "Anal Gland Problems" by NEBVAX::BELFORTI (Another week of Mondays!) Wed Jul 22 1987 20:22

    I have a question for all you cat people.  My mother's 11 year old
    cat (Kitty) has had a real problem lately.  A couple of months ago
    Kitty was sitting in the couch, and when my mother reached over
    to pet her, she let out with a yell, as my mother's hand got closer
    to the cats tail.  So Ma got her to lie down and checked her out.
    It looked like her anus was swollen, so off to the vet she rushed.
    The anal glands had fulled up, just like they do on a dog; and had
    to be expelled.  They also put her on antibiotics, just to play
    it safe.
    
    Over 4th of July, Kitty did the same thing again.  This time when
    my mother lifted her tail, it looked like there was a cyst there.
    Off to the emergency room!  Between the house and the ER, the cyst
    burst (what a mess, and smell... yucko).  The Dr. on call told my
    mom to leave her, because they had to knock her out to get the cyst
    cleaned out, and to pick her up the next day (Sunday the 5th). 
    For several days she used warm compresses on poor Kitty, and gave
    her the antibiotic, again.  
    
    This past Saturday she had her in for her shots, and her regular
    vet looked at the cyst.  He says it was not a cyst, it again was
    the anal glands, but this time instead of just getting inflamed,
    the also took on a really nasty infection.  
    
    He wants to do surgery on her, and remove the glands, but won't
    touch her for another couple of months.  He wants her to remain
    on antibiotics and make sure the infection is all out of her system
    first.
    
    Have any of you ever heard of this in a cat??  I have plenty of
    times in dogs, but NEVER in a cat!
    
    
    Mary-Lynn
    
    BTW  Any replies to this I would like to make copies of and send
    to my mother in Colorado.  If you would rather I not, please let
    me know and I promise I won't.
    

    it seems to me that there was something in one of the cat magazines
    about this quite a while ago. I seem to recall that in a cat where
    this seems to be a recurring problem, surgery was the suggested
    solution. I do beleive, however, that they said that it is a fairly
    common problem, and the procedure isn't all that difficult; they
    just remove the anal glands.
    
    Deb

    Tell your mom that it sounds like the exact thing my Missy had.
     She had the gland(s?) removed, and the problem went away.
    
    Marion

       I haven't had any experience with the problem myself, but the
    many cat care books I have mention it as being a common occurence
    readily cured by a simple surgical operation. They don't seem to
    make too much of a deal of it, but I guess it's best taken of with
    the surgery to prevent future swellings. No big deal for cats I
    guess!
    
                      Good luck,,
                                      Denise