I'm fortunate that the cost is not a burden, and I am not very squeamish, having raised a child and a lot of pets, but it just upsets the cat so much that I hate for anyone to have to squeeze his glands on a regular basis. As soon as we get into the vet's office, he wraps his tail tightly up against his anus because he knows what's coming. I would gladly have the surgery done to spare him a lifetime of squeezings, but I am so afraid that there would be complications and/or that he would lose control of his sphincter. I forget what website I was on, but they had a really cute animated graphic of how to squeeze a cat's anal glands. I probably will try to do it on my own next time; at least it spares him the car ride (he gets HORRIBLY car sick in a very short time).

p.s. Neko1, are there any larger pictures of your kitties somewhere on this site, or elsewhere? I would love to see them close up (old age is getting to my eyes I guess )