Any advice for ruptured anal gland in cats?!

[russiandwarf]

Hi all,
This is my first post, I lurk a lot and I know there is plenty of good advice on here. Does anyone have experience with cats and anal gland infections?!
My 5 year old cat had a suddenly inflamed and infected anal gland on Sunday. He was fine on Saturday (I had congratulated him on having a clean bum so I did see it was fine then) Then on Sunday it looked like he had a wound so I rushed him to the vet and they said it was an infected gland. Unusual but it happens apparently.
The vet squeezed the hell out of it and loads of gunk came out. He cried a lot and bit me so it must have been agony for the poor soul. He had antibiotic jab and painkiller. He's to go back in a week.
Anyway since then he looks like he's been shot in the behind. It's a massive hole which looks like the inside of a sausage has exploded. It's weeping and he's very quiet and sad and not really eating. The vet said that if it's open and pink it's a good thing as that means all the infection is out.
I've tried to dab it a bit with wet cotton wool pads, which he lets me do. It just looks so horrendous - a bit open wound
Has this happened to anyone else's cat and if so should I be doing anything else or am I just being a fanny and need to wait for it to heal?! Thanks in advance x

[Lonecatwithkitten]

It needs to heal from the inside out, any other way could trap infection in. Gentle bathing with warm salt water twice a day will keep it clean.

[Tiredmum100]

Keep it clean amd wash it frequently. Aww poor little thing. My cat had a problem with the same gland but fully has recovered now and no lasting problems. Something I didn't know about cats until it happened to mine about a year ago.

[russiandwarf]

Thank you very much for your replies! I suppose I just wanted assurance I'm doing the right things! I'll make sure it's clean and keep an eye on him x

[viccat]

One of mine got repeated infections and eventually had surgery to remove the glands.

[russiandwarf]

Oh really? That sounds awful I hope this was a one off. I have bathed with warm salt water as advised and it's looking much better this morning