How to Express a Cat's An*l Glands

Let's talk about expressing a cat's an*l glands. An*l glands should never be expressed on their own at home in a cat unless there's a medical reason for that. Cats typically are pretty good about keeping their an*l glands expressed. Now an*l glands are actually attached to an*l sacs that sit about four and eight o'clock under the anus. So they have two on each side. And from time to time, these can get impacted, full or infected and at the direction of your veterinary clinic, they may tell you to express these from time to time. To do that, you need certain tools.

Your best friend for expressing an*l glands is always going to be the rubber glove. Two, is have some gauze pads handy. Three, baby wipes are always good to help clean that area after you're done. And also, it's not a bad idea to have a nice little feline approved cologne or spray to help with that odor because that odor is quite horrific sometimes. An*l glands sit at four and eight o'clock. What you want to do is never want to go into the anus unless your veterinary clinic teaches you how to do that or directs you to do that. The best way is actually squeeze those an*l glands from the outside right under the anus.

And basically you use a pinching motion very gently, and move your fingers upward to try to produce that fluid out just below the anus. So you want to capture that in a gauze pad and then clean that area with a baby wipe and then, lastly, you're using the cologne to reduce that odor. Now, be very careful. Cats do not typically like this or enjoy this and so you never want to put yourself in harm's way. You don't want to do this by yourself. You want somebody to help you hold that cat as well because they can turn around and bite you if they don't like that, which can be quite severe.