Feline Friday

Sometime late last Friday afternoon, Lily went down to the basement and let out a loud MEOW. Spouse would tell you it was just an ordinary meow, but he's not a cat person. Anyone who loves a cat knows the very distinct differences between the "feed me" meow, the "thank goodness you're home" meow, and the "something's not right" meow. 

This was a definite "something's not right" meow. For Lily, this means that there's a problem in her southern end. 😾

The last time Lily went to have her anal glands expressed (November!), the vet showed me that I could tell if they're impacted just by touching her back end. 

Here's how he explained it to me: Think of her rear end as a clock face. The anal glands are located at the 4 and 8 positions. If they're normal, you won't feel any kind of bump there but if they're clogged, they can become as large as grapes.

 

I'd never tried to find her anal glands before but this time, I decided to give it a go. As soon as I touched her bottom, I noticed a hard, larger-than-pea-sized lump. Lily growled and tried to bite me so I knew it must be very painful.

So I called right away for an appointment and, by some stroke of luck, our vet had an opening in the last time slot of the day.  I immediately loaded her up and off we went. She did very well with the procedure and even got a complementary nail trim!

Unfortunately, that pesky anal gland was impacted and on the verge of becoming infected. It took a lot of irrigation to clear the gland. Had the vet not been able to see her that day, I have no doubt that we would have ended up in the ER again over the weekend.

The lesson for me is this: As SOON as I see her scooting, I need check her bottom and get her in for an appointment. This time, I had caught her scooting just a couple of days before but I put off making the call. In retrospect, there is no point in waiting to see if it clears up. It won't. It can take just a day or two for the situation to escalate, and that can result in additional problems for her. 

Meowmy learned her lesson! Now that I know how to inspect the back end, I'll keep a closer eye on things!