Can we talk about those glands?

[Stacym20]

One of my civvies, Kiara, has had mushy poo outside of the litterbox. I had a fecal test ran and everything came back negative. She has been scooting and paying a lot of attention to that area lately so now I'm wondering if it's an anal gland problem. She has an appointment at the vet tomorrow for a checkup. This mushy poo outside the litterbox problem popped up for the first time a few weeks after starting an all wet food diet last year. We were in the middle of moving and for a while Kiara stayed at the old house by herself while I was trying to figure out the issue and get it fixed before I moved her to the new house. While she was by herself, I put her back on dry food so I wouldn't have to check on her every 12 hours. The problem cleared up, I moved her to the new house, and it stayed cleared for almost 4 months. And now here we are again....

So, my question is, is dry food better for a cat that has anal gland problems? Or does that not make a difference?

 

[Hillary & Maui (GA)]

dry food is not good period. please read Dr. Lisa's site to get the full explanation as to why -- www.catinfo.org.

Cats can get anal gland problems and the vet (and you can learn) to express them. It's not pleasant, but it is something the vet can show you how to do. You also want to check to see if they are infected and to help prevent infection/inflammation is to put warm compresses on the area and hold it there as long as cat will allow. I usually take a paper towel and warm water and hold it there until the towel cools, then warm it again and continue. I repeat it several times a day until it clears up.

 

[Stacym20]

I know dry food isn't good, to clarify, I was asking if switching to all wet could cause anal gland problems in a cat that might be predisposed to such problems. It just wouldn't be a possibility to feed her dry without the other cats getting into it anyways.

If switching to all wet is a problem for a cat with issues, is there something I can supplement with to keep her on the wet?

 

[Hillary & Maui (GA)]

I don't know the answer to that question. Hopefully someone else can respond. But I don't think personally that wet food causes anal gland problems.