Thanks for stopping by on this Feline Friday!
This week Lily went back to her regular vet for a re-check after our recent midnight run to the ER. We needed to be sure her glands were back to normal size and free of infection.
Unfortunately (and to our complete surprise), the vet found that BOTH glands were full again -- and headed back to the pre-abscess condition we just fixed. This was only 2 WEEKS after that procedure, which means they are filling up much faster than we realized. That was certainly NOT what I was hoping to hear. The good news is that there is no mass in Lily's behind, which was something the ER vet wanted to rule out.
The problem we're up against is this: Lily needs to be sedated to have her anal glands expressed, and frequent sedation is hard on a cat's kidneys. I had planned to have her checked quarterly -- 4 times per year, but obviously that's not frequent enough. So we're going to try to make it 8 weeks. We'll see how that goes.
As a side note, Lily may be a candidate for removal of her glands, which really serve no purpose for an indoor cat. But there are risks associated with that surgery, especially for a 12 year old kitty. We are not at that point yet and I certainly want to avoid that option if humanly possible.
The ER vet suggested switching her to a high-fiber diet but Lily's regular vet believes that would have little effect. Her glands do not produce the normal liquid (I know, TMI!) but rather a tarry substance that cannot be expelled normally. Still, he said it was worth a shot to try adding pumpkin to her diet.
The good thing is that she LOVES pumpkin. I don't even have to mix it in to her regular food. She'll eat it directly from a spoon. (Of course, Lily will eat MOST things directly from a spoon...)
Pumpkin is great for a cat's digestive system as it adds fiber. Always use 100% pumpkin -- NOT pumpkin pie filling, even though Lily loves pumpkin pie! -- with no additives.
Use this:
Not this, even though it is delicious! :)
And limit the pure pumpkin to only a spoonful per day or so, depending on what your vet recommends. Any more than that could cause things to get a little more -- ahem -- LOOSE than desired!
It is also recommended that you keep an open can no longer than 2-3 days in the fridge. Because she can't use it up that fast, I am freezing the remaining pumpkin in ice cube trays so we can pop out a single serving each day.
Although it's a long shot, I'm hoping that adding pumpkin will have at least a modestly positive effect on Lily's anal gland problems. It's certainly worth a try.
Other than this pesky situation, our girl is doing great and seems to be FELINE FINE, so I'm thankful for that!
Happy Feline Friday, friends!
jp and Lily
jp and Lily
2 comments:
Hi Janet, I've been meaning to comment regarding this post for some time, but as you can see, time has certainly gotten away from me!! Lol. I hope Lily is doing better in the anal gland department.
Not sure if you saw my post regarding Romeo dealing with this very problem! He actually DID end up with an abscessed gland at the beginning of all this which is, unfortunately, how we learned he had a problem to begin with!
What I ended up finding out on my own through persistent online investigation and research (after vet suggestions of pumpkin, special prescription food, more frequent gland expression,etc made no positive difference) was that Romeo was severely lacking in even the minimum amount of water necessary for his weight!
The rule of thumb is that for every pound they weigh, a dog should have 1 ounce of water. So Romeo needs AT LEAST 15 ounces of water a day!! Despite the fact that it made him have to go pee so much more in the beginning, now he is becoming used to more water intake, and his body has actually adapted to processing more fluid and he does not have to go pee nearly as much anymore.
And, praise be, his anal gland discharge is no longer thick like toothpaste, and his glands do not fill up as quickly anymore!! Once, he even had a completely empty gland, though the other was partly filled. But now, where I was having to go once a month, I can, at this point, go 2 1/2 months, and I will continue to monitor his progress as we go along in the months ahead with this continual increase of water now incorporated into his meal times.
I realize that it is quite different to get a cat to do anything we ask of it....Lol! But I'm aware of a food that is given by prescription only for cats with UTI issues. Our Ziva was on it for several years, and it made her seek out more water so that her urinary tract could be flushed more frequently through urination I believe, which in turn prevented her continual UTI's we were dealing with at the time. She is now over them and no longer needs that food.
I am almost certain that more water intake will be extremely helpful for Lily as it has been for Romeo. Perhaps you can ask your vet what they would suggest to get her to drink more water. I know when I increased the fiber, it actually made Romeo's gland mucus even thicker, and his glands were nearly full to the top! I was so discouraged there for a while, until I did some of my own research and found out that drinking more water was the key!!
This is what I found about cats and water intake:
"Typically, cats need between 3.5–4.5 ounces of water per 5 pounds of body weight per day. If you have a 10-pound cat, they should be consuming between 7–9 ounces of water, or about half an average bottle of water."
Anyways, I hope some of what I have learned will be of help to you and Lily. I wanted to share it with you because I know just what you're going through.
Hope you're doing well. I'm looking forward to the arrival of Summer in just a few more days, aren't you?! :)
Hi, Kimberly Marie -- Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to write such a thoughtful and detailed comment! I would never have thought about water as the key...but it does make sense! It is GREAT that Romeo has seen such an improvement on the new water regimen!
She has been eating pumpkin but I don't know if it's helping. The vet says that her glands are filled with a tar-like substance which kind of hardens and dries (EWWW!) so he doesn't think fiber will have any effect. But I sure don't want it to make things worse! Thank you for letting me know about your experience with that!
I will definitely be talking to the vet because I caught Lily scooting again yesterday (tell-tale sign, as you know...) and it has not even been 1 month since her last appointment! Right now I watch her water bowl consumption and I'd say she drinks very little water based on how much is missing from the bowl at the end of the day. I could definitely mix water into her wet and dry food to increase her consumption, so I will start doing that right away.
You mentioned the Rx food for UTI which encourages kitties to drink more water. She has actually been on that food (both the wet and dry versions) for several years now. I do think it helps with water consumption but obviously not enough!! :)
Thanks so much for sharing your advice on this! It's a frustrating issue for sure. We definitely don't want our fur-babies to suffer!
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