Blocked anal glands....

[mollers]

Evening all,

I took Buddy to the vet's a couple of weeks ago as he had been scooting around on his backside and as he has been wormed I suspected it could be his anal glands. The vet confirmed this was the case and emptied them but only two weeks later he is scooting again

I've never had a cat that has had regular problems with this so am asking the knowledgable on here, how quickly do the glands tend to block up again - could they be blocked again so soon? Also, is there any particular food that is best to feed a cat who regularly experiences this problem?

Thanks in advance

[MarkB]

I don't think there is any set time as to how quicky the sacs refill, but cats that have one blockage are often prone to more. There is also a danger of them becoming infected.

The best way to keep them clear adding fibre to diet - no nice way of putting this, but poos squeeze the liquid from the anal sacs as they pass through. I always liken it to toothpaste pushing the red lines out from a tube of toothpaste - so unless there is enough pressure, the sacs can fill up and block.

You could add a small amount of psysllium to wet food each day, but probably the easiest way is feeding dry food that contains psyllium.

Most Royal Canin dry foods for hairballs or long haired cats contain it.

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/royal-canin-cat- ... -35-p-2188" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some nice breakfast reading for you

[mollers]

Thanks for the reply Mark. Buddy is already on dry food ('light' stuff, usually James Wellbeloved or Royal Canin) as he is overweight, which I have also read can contribute to blocked anal glands. I'll have a look at the contents of the ones he is currently eating. Thanks for the advice

[MarkB]

Not all dry foods include Psyllium husk - in fact very few do. It is very good at bulking. My Lazarus needs Royal Canin's most extreme fibre food, called fibre response. He used to love it, but went off it a bit. Now I mix it with his favourite dry food - James Wellbeloved senior dry fish and he happily eats it. He mainly easts wet, but the small amount (20g or so) he does eat is enough to bulk his poos. He has a condition called Megacolon and it helps him 'go'.

http://www.viovet.co.uk/Royal_Canin_Fel ... wwodrmIATQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; A 2kg bag normally lasts at least a couple of month mixed with other food.

[mollers]

Thanks will give this a go.
PS. James Wellbeloved is very popular with the cats in this house too!

[andtiggertoo]

Millie had this problem for a long time, and we now feed her about half a capsule of ground psyllium in her food. She can't eat a lot of other food though because she has turned out to have multiple allergies. However, since we've got those under control, the anal glands issue seems to be much better than it was. Can't say it's completely resolved, but it is much better.

You can also add ground chia seeds to food too. Just make sure you add a bit of water with either of them because they bulk up into a sort of gel.

[mollers]

Thanks for the reply tiggertoo; at its worst, how often did Millie have to have her glands emptied?

[andtiggertoo]

At its very worst we took her one week and had to take her 10 days later! Then it calmed down, thankfully. She hasn't needed to have them cleared for several months now.

[Bengal Bindie]

Our 11 mth old bengal scoots She’s been 3 times for anal gland emptying. Each time it is only a little bit, they’ve not been full, which makes me think it isn’t that causing the problem.
Her poos are firm, not sloppy & her bum is clean afterwards.
She’s an indoor cat & we worm & flea her regularly so it can’t be caused by worms.
We’ve put her on hypoallergenic wet & dry foods to see if that stops it. It hasn’t.
She’s otherwise happy & contented so...
could the scooting just be something cats do & can live with? Everything i’ve read says no, it means there’s something wrong, take her to the vets, but when I do they only manage to get a bit of anal gland juice out ( sorry) Then she still scoots after, which the vets say is due to the uncomfortableness of having her glands squeezed - so a vicious circle there really. So I don’t really want to put her through that if it’s unnecessary.
Any ideas gratefully appreciated.

[Mollycat]

My partner's dog needed his done every 6-8 weeks for years. When he moved in with me, I got bossy about it as I don't think this is an acceptable situation, so dog was put on a course of antibiotics. I also put him on 2 tins a day instead of free-feeding dry. That was 22 months ago and they have not needed doing again since. Why his old vet never did this I don't care to guess.