I had something similar with my cat Felix. He's about 2 years old and has
long hair. I noticed a piece of feces stuck to his rear end, but when I
tried to wipe it off, I realized that it was half in and half out! We took
him to the vet, who took an x-ray and said that he was backed up with feces.
They kept him overnight, gave him an enema, and then manually (I can't quite
picture this) expressed anything else that was stuck. When I picked him up
the next day they recommended that I give him Laxatone every other day to
keep him from getting constipated and about 2 months later he's still fine.
Hope this helps
Judy F

Dex is a steroid generally given for stressed animals, or at least that's what
I use it for. The anal glands are expressed manually. There are I think one
gland opening on each side of the anus. They kind of squeeze them like zits and
all that brown smelly goopy stuff comes out. I took my dog to the groomer once
and they told me they'd express his anal glands for free. Maybe it'd be cheaper
if you took your cat to the groomer to keep her butt hair shaved and get her
glands expressed, or you can do it yourself. If she's long haired I'd keep the
hair on her thighs and under her tail shorter also. You may also have to clean
her down there once a day yourself, with a warm washcloth, paper towel. Maybe
she could use a little hairball remedy or a tsp of oil added to her food to
keep her pooping. And of course put her on a diet and try to exercise her more
with toys.

johnny,

i don't know how they drain them, but I was able to contain that problem
last year when it emerged. (Did a lot of reading on the Net cause vet was
no help.) EXERCISE. My cat was an outdoor cat, and has gotten really fat
since I moved to the city for a job and he has become an indoor cat. I
went out and got him some cat furntiture that forced him to jump up and
down a few times a day. I highly recommednd some cat furniture for this
issue.

afr

The anal galnds are expressed (drained) manually - by squeezing them.

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble")  Paul Simon

Oh, gross.  She's staying outside.

circa Sun, 23 Nov 2003 11:21:55 -0500 (EST), in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Johnny Davis (johnycat5@webtv.net) said,

No, they're drained by squeezing them. Dexamethasone is a steroid
that is used to reduce inflammation. Call your vet and advise him/her
that the cat's glands seem to have filled again and ask him/her what
to do.

Laura

Ask them if they expressed the glands. Call. This does not sound right.

Karen

Actually, they're sacs not glands.  The sacs might be infected and/or
inflamed or abscessed.    Impacted anal sacs can become inflamed and
infected -- infection can then lead to abscessation... Its probably one
continuous process.

Usually, manually draining the sacs (manual expression) is all that's
necessary.  Your vet was probably hoping manual expression would solve the
problem (which it usually does) and spare your cat (and you) the stress and
probably anesthetic risk associated with treating anal sac
infection/abscess.  However, repeated manual expression can cause irritation
followed by inflammation and infection - so it shouldn't be performed
routinely as "therapy".

The sacs might be infected.  If so, they'll most likely need to be flushed
with an antiseptic solution and then filled with an antibiotic ointment
followed by an oral broad spectrum systemic antibiotic for a week or two.
In chronic and/or severe cases, the sacs can be cauterized or completely
removed surgically.  Anal sacs aren't necessary for survival.

Good luck.

Phil

Hello,
I'm very sorry for the pain your cat is going threw plus your wallet is
getting very thin I'm sure. I have went threw the same crap with my cat.
Well I did a search on the internet and found out this is a bacterial
infection. I found a site called www.felinemedicinechest.com  they helped my
cat and my wallet. Check it out.
Good Luck,
Tootie