The kitty had started sneezing last night every once in awhile and the vets at the shelter had said that sometimes the cats get sick easily since they have so many animals coming in and out of the kennel areas. I didn’t worry until this morning when he started sneezing more regularly. Poor guy.
Also he had this smell that I wasn’t sure what it was. I’m going to give too much information so if you can’t handle kitty medical talk then it’s best you skip the rest of this entry.
My cat’s ass stank. I’d wiped it with toilet paper and didn’t see any visible signs of infection but looked online and cat owner sites said that if his butt appears reddish or swollen that it’s best to take him to a vet.
Luckily, the vet is a five minute walk away and they only take walk-in appointments.
You know how in Aliens, Burke leans towards the facehuggers in cased in the plastic tubes and then one of them jumps at him but is stopped by the glass? That’s how kitty reacted when he saw a dog at close range. He charged the mutt but was safely contained in the kitty carrier I had to go out and get before taking him to the vet.
Meanwhile, all the staff are making googly eyes at kitty because he’s just so adorable. I was waiting for one of them to call him schmoopsy. And I think they were slightly appalled I hadn’t named the cat yet.
The vet received us and listened to his little heart and said his little lungs were clear (he hadn’t been sneezing messily - though he did start that once we got home). She gave him a shot of B-complex vitamins and a antibiotic with me administering anti-biotic drops at home over the next week and a half. He jumped about three feet when the shots came and told the vet to go to hell.
She inspected his rear and said it looked like his anal glands weren’t discharging.
Online research brought up that usually cats discharge their anal glands when they are excreting but sometimes with kittens their butt-muscles aren’t strong enough yet - or their stool isn’t firm enough to push against the glands to discharge the smelly mess. If the problem persists the gland can be removed. The glands are the same stuff cats use to mark their territory. She ‘expressed’ his glands which amounts to squeezing on the outside of his butthole until the glands discharged onto a tissue.
Vet said he may grow out of this in about six months or he may never but if it gets bad I can bring him back or she can teach me how to squeeze my cat’s asshole until it explodes.
So yeah - minor annoyances and adventures. He’s still a handsome doll of a cat and I love him dearly. Just gotta keep his ass out of my face when I’m trying to sleep.
That or kitty needs more fiber. I swear, he didn’t touch his spinach salad at all today. I thought he’d like ranch.
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