Hi All,

I've posted on rec.pets.cats in the past, but finally have a news server
that carries rpch&b - hooray.  Hopefully this place has a lot less warring
going on over indoor/outdoor, to d*claw or not to d*claw, etc. :-)  Those
are the main reasons I stopped posting and reading over there.... but I
digress, I need a little help on fiber ...

My Max is an indoor, fixed, 1995 model Maine Coon mix who has been with me
since '96.  Just this past weekend he had his left anal gland burst (yuck) -
we had no idea something was wrong w/him - no scooting on the rug, no large
bump near his butt, etc.  The vet said I may not have noticed since it's
inside - but anyway . . . is there any way for me to add a little fiber to
his diet w/out making him fat?  He's a big boy at 17lbs, he eats Nutro's Max
Cat Lite formula - and not a ton of it - and gets the crunchy treats when
he's good - or when he demands, lol - you know how it is.  Occasionally he
gets some cooked, plain chicken but that's really about it.

Anyway - the vet thinks he's fat and I really can't imagine my kitty
weighing less, he's not like one of those cats that looks like a football
with head and a tail.  Maybe he could lose a pound but I don't see how.  The
vet expressed his very full gland (and taught my cat how to bite me, very
hard, <wink>) and gave me some meds to put in there once a day as it heals
(and some anti-biotics for myself) and I'm going to start bringing him to
the vet's every couple of months to get his glands 'expressed' - I'm sorry,
I have no desire to learn how - but what I'd ultimately like is to add a
little fiber, makes his stool a little harder and that way the glands will
express themselves like they are supposed to every time he takes a number 2
and I won't have to subject him to the indignation of gland expression on a
bi-monthly basis.

Hopefully he hasn't developed a taste for human flesh either >^..^<

Thanks
LeeAnne