These tiny and useless structures can be a big pain for your cat.

By Tom Ewing

Feline anal sacs serve no real purpose, but they can cause health issues and merit the attention of a conscientious owner.

Feline anal sacs may not qualify (at least in polite society) as a suitable subject for cocktail party chat. But these useless little structures — tucked within the inner recesses of a cat’s rear end — nevertheless merit the attention of any conscientious owner. In most cats, these minuscule pouches remain hidden away harmlessly throughout an animal’s life. In some cases, however, they can be the source of irritation, inflammation, infection and worse.

There are two anal sacs, both embedded within the tissue of the external anal sphincter — the relaxing and contracting muscle surrounding the anal opening. Each sac, says James Flanders, DVM, is a quarter-inch to a half-inch in…

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