A few weeks ago, we acquired a cat that was dumped off at my mothers (Ardie's). We've had her to the vet twice - once for her shots and general checkup and then again yesterday for spaying/declawing. She's a wonderful six month old cat and I can't see why anyone would have dumped her off, except for her SMELL!

To put it delicately, she smells like cat poop. At the first vet visit, they extracted (squeezed) her anal glands and that seemed to help for a day. I asked the vet about removing the glands, but they don't do that. They suggested that maybe she has digestive problems or a sensitive stomach and gave me some samples of Science Diet to try. Sorry, I can't afford to spend that much on cat food!

The research I have come up with regarding the anal glands is that years and years ago, the cats lived on a meat diet, and therefore when they went to poop, the squeezed those sphinster muscles in order to extract the feces thereby expelling the anal glands. Nowadays, cats are fed cat food, which is basically vegetable by-products and therefore when they poop, they don't squeeze enough to extract the anal glands.

So my question is what do I do about this??????? I don't have the money to buy Science Diet cat food, nor do I have the stomach to try to express the glands by myself (it was really, really gross and stinky!). Does anyone have any other ideas I can try?

-- Lisa in WI (llehman16@hotmail.com), January 05, 2002

Answers

Supplement the diet with meat?

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 05, 2002.

I don't know about cats but with my dogs when I took them in to get fixed I also had anal glands removed, and mico chips put in. I try to get everything done at once since putting them under is so hard. If I was you I would check with other vets to see if it is just your vet that dosn't do it or put her on the barf diet. Mostly raw meat. I have looked it up on yahoo search and my dogs now get alot more raw meat and are doing much better. Sure makes there coats thick and shiney anyway. They love it.

-- Teresa (c3ranch@socket.net), January 05, 2002.

Feed her a BARF diet - they recommend that for cats as well as dogs. I've been using the BARF diet for our dog for several months now, and it's working out great. There's tons of information about the BARF diet on Yahoo groups, if you're interested.

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), January 05, 2002.

This may seem like a silly question but...when you had her to the vet, did you check her for worms? I'm sure you did but I had to ask.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), January 05, 2002.

Maybe its gas??? Years ago when I lived in the city I took in a stray cat that had lived on its own for some time and probably survived from being able to eat anything. That cat would stink you out of a room. It went to the vet at least 3 times and received medication for worms and other things. However, nothing ever fixed the odor issue so it became an outdoor house cat and lived a happy life for many years. It's name was: Hobie Cat. I think it was part skunk.

-- Gary from MN (hpysheep@midwestinfo.com), January 05, 2002.

My guess would be sha has serious food allergies, and yes, you CAN afford the allergy recommended diet if you purchase it directly YOURSELF, not from the vet!!!

Try www.petfooddirect.com ; they have tons of allergy foods for cats, and when bought in quantity, match the prices that the large discount stores sell their cheap food for.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), January 07, 2002.

Say, favorite daughter of mine, between the cat and your DH's flatulence (See thread "Everyday Dressup???? in Country Families.) you must have an odoriforous atmosphere over there!

-- Ardie /WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), January 07, 2002.

Thank you everyone for your advice and answers! I'm going to experiment with foods over the next couple of months and see what happens. The vet did me a couple samples to try too.

Just an update, she's been spayed and front declawed and came home Friday afternoon. So far she hasn't been stinky either (amen!). She seems to be adjusting fine now, although she was walking quite gingerly over the weekend and doesn't show as much interest in playing anymore.

Mom - you are too funny!

-- Lisa in WI (llehman16@hotmail.com), January 07, 2002.