Kitty anal glands blocked

[wonderrotunda]

Hello...my lovely furry boy has a very bad back...it’s a type of spondylosis, but it’s very extensive along his spine so they cannot operate on it. It means that he cannot clean his bum, he’s not flexible enough. I take him to the nurse at the vet for grooming regularly and they express his anal glands and trim his bum fluff to help keep him clean. Apparently the anal gland issue is related to his spondylosis in that the way he poops or the medicine he has affects means the anal glands are discharging when he poos. He has started to smell and it’s not a poo smell it’s his anal glands. Apparently the glands can become infected if they are left. Obviously the vets are not open at the moment...does anyone have any experience or advice? He’s dozing beside me and seems okay but I’m worried he may get ill. Thank you

*are NOT discharging!

I would be concerned about him developing an abscess if his glands aren’t expressed. Hopefully a vet will be along shortly with information. If not, call the vet office tomorrow to query.

Also, he’s gorgeous!

Thank you! I love him...he’s such a gruff old boy ☺️ He’s like the best bits of a cat and a dog rolled into one...he comes and sits next to me wherever I am and says ‘hello’ when he comes in the room!

Where is his head?

😆 it’s the furry bit top right! He is a massive ball of fluff! He has his white tipped paw over his nose and you might make out his whiskers...he’s moved I’ll take another...

@wonderrotunda
Expressing anal glands in cats is quite straightforward if you're willing to try yourself.

For minimal stress you need to be firm, fast and ideally have someone to help.

First put down a pile of his favourite food/treats and whilst he's scoffing get your assistant to hold him gently but firmly in place with a hand on each shoulder. Whilst wearing gloves and holding a piece of kitchen roll, lift his tail and pinch and firmly squeeze his anal sphincter (bumhole). The glands sit at 4 and 8 o'clock just outside the bum hole. As you go to squeeze you'll feel the sit-bones of the pelvis, pinch just inside them and squeeze towards the bumhole. You should get a brownish liquid/paste from 2 small holes.

keep your mouth closed!

Hope this helps

that 'keep your mouth closed' made me laugh!
Do you squeeze the whole sphincter area in one go? or 4 o'clock then 8 o'clock? are they very close to the bum hole? I don't think I'll get time to feel around for long
Thank you so much!

Yeah it's literally just pinch and squeeze

Cats bum holes are tiny so you can't really miss them

(I'm not sure I've typed 'bumhole' so much in my life!)

So if you pinch and squeeze you'll get it. The key is to push 'in' at the same time and to keep squeezing even when Dcat yowls and wriggles - he'll aim his ire forwards so warn your assistant

If you don't get it first time don't worry - it'll give you valuable 'geography' then try again the next day

And yes keep your mouth closed
#voiceofexperience