It’s been a pretty bad month at Lintee Bean’s house. No question.
Louie seemed a little lethargic the weekend of September 28 and 29. Saturday night, he didn’t eat much dinner – and he ate none of his breakfast this morning. Due to his diabetes and FIV+ status, I was particularly concerned, though other than some inappetance, higher blood sugar levels than typical, and being a little less active than usual, there were no symptoms I could point a finger at. He cried a bit if I picked him up. I closed him in the bathroom Sunday night to get a urine sample. He tested negative for ketones, but the urine was pretty bright yellow and there wasn’t much of it, so I gave him some sub-q fluids. Monday morning I took him to the vet’s office.
Once there, the veterinary assistant takes his temperature, but he is screaming and hissing at her. That is NOT like him. The assistant notices his back legs are wet and thinks he may have peed in the carrier.. but she starts cleaning it up and he is SCREAMING and she sees it’s blood. It doesn’t smell like urine or diarrhea… just mucus and blood. I look in the carrier and there’s just a tiny bit of blood – so we decide it must have happened as we took him out of the carrier.
The vet examines him thoroughly and he’s fine with having his teeth examined, heart monitored, etc, but FREAKS if the vet touches his tail/butt area. They manage to get a look with a little flashlight and there’s a huge absess under his tail, next to his rectum. It’s possible an anal sac ruptured. Since he’s FREAKING, they’ll have to sedate him and try to flush it out and/or lance it. He stays at the vet’s office all day Monday. I took him home that evening armed with a cone and antibiotics (Baytril).
I meant to ask the vet to check his anal glands (and express them if necessary) in July when we were there and I forgot. I realized later, and decided it wasn’t a big deal – I didn’t think he had any history of anal gland issues. I also feel bad I didn’t realize there was an issue like that – and my poor little guy was probably miserable all day Sunday and I didn’t take him to the emergency vet.
A week later, we went in for an examination, and the vet was not pleased with his progress. Unfortunately, while his FIV+ status is not a big deal to me, it does mean his immune system is compromised and he has more difficulty healing than the typical FIV- cat. His blood sugar levels were still atypically high and his appetite was still not great. Bloodwork revealed an elevated white blood cell count, indicating he was fighting infection. He’s begun sneezing, and his ears were filled with waxy debris. The vet removed the scab that had performed, we talked about more I could do at home (including another sub-q fluid treatment). We discussed hospitalizing him overnight, but decided I could take him home, armed with more Baytril and another antibiotic, Antirobe (clindamycin).
We got better news the next week, when we went back once again. The wound looked better. I’d developed a (hopefully) better system at cleaning the wound. While Louie was still required to wear a cone and use the paper litter and have restricted activity (which meant isolation from the other cats, who Louie loves to cuddle and play with). This week we went for yet another examination, and the vet felt he’d continued to improve and while we have to continue using the cone and the isolation, we’re hopeful next week Louie may get a good report card and be free at last.
Anal gland issues are more common in dogs than in cats, but they can occur in cats – particularly obese or older cats. My cats had long histories of high-fiber dry diets in past years and all my cats are over age ten, putting them at risk. I try to remember to have their anal glands checked (and expressed if necessary) whenever we visit the vet, particularly if they’ve had any bouts of diarrhea. Anal sacs are small glands just inside the anus. They fill with a foul-smelling fluid and should express naturally as your cat has a bowel movement. However, if they do not express naturally the sacs can become filled with this fluid. They can become infected, and in severe cases like Louie’s, the sac can rupture through the skin creating a large abscess or wound. We’ll hope this situation never recurs for Louie – if it does, I’ll consider surgery to remove the sacs.
More information on anal sacs here.
Louie cone-head
Can anal glands just empty on their own (without a bowel movement)? My cat Cricket sometimes will be sitting somewhere and when she gets up there will be a foul-smelling wet spot where she was. I was just wondering if that is normal or not.
Certainly possible, Pam!
In fact, a few weeks ago I was checking Omaha’s diaper (by just pulling it away at the leg) and his anal glands expressed right then and there into the diaper!
Afer E Granny had a history of IBD and she often suffered “butt drips” – little puddles of foul-smelling liquid. I found giving her Pancreatin (powdered pork pancreas) helped.
Dogs are more likely to suddenly express their anal glands when frightened, but I’ve known cats to do that as well.
So, short answer long, I don’t consider your kitty’s experience “normal” but I wouldn’t consider it a huge cause for concern, either. Next time she goes to the vet’s, I’d ask them to check her glands and express them if needed. (For Afer, that would stop the butt drips for a while.)
Lynette
[…] to lose something so precious. The pain is a physical ache in my heart. It’s almost fitting Louie ruptured an anal sac, as the raw open wound he physically exhibits seems to reflect my broken […]
Couldn’t make it through reading the first time, L.
Please give Louie a hug for me because that picture is too adorable! Glad you posted the pic. Only bright spot to their having to wear those things is chuckling at them just a little each time we look :>)
[…] 25, 2008 by Lynette I’d written previously about how Louie ruptured an anal sac on September 29. He was isolated in the den, wearing a cone and using paper pellet litter, until […]