Well, Beej saw a new vet 2 days ago (wonderful husband/wife practice) and we now have some hope that things will improve. This vet thinks that is is an anal gland problem (think the previous vet missed it because it was so infected). In his first operation, the new vet thinks the old vet inadvertently removed one gland when cleaning out infected tissue (not a bad thing - cat doesn't need the glands). Now the problem is that the gland on the opposite side is now infected. It seems Beej is a bit of an anomoly - he's is missing little ducts connecting the anal glands to the anal passage, so impurities are building up inside him instead of being passed when he goes to the bathroom. Figures this problem has been around since birth and have been slowly building up, resulting in the problems he's having now.

So the abscess has been drained - Beej not so happy about this whole situation and the cone he has to wear - and we'll go back to get the 2nd gland removed after he has healed completely.

Despite being very unimpressed, I managed to get Beej to purr and play a little bit today. Always a good sign.

I learned a good lesson from this - if the vet you're seeing can't provide any alternatives or hope after mutiple visits, get a second opinion. My frustrations with the lack of progress was almost as stressful as Beej being sick. Of course, no vet has all the answers but getting an objective second opinion in this case made a huge difference (they got me to request the previous vet's files which helped them in their diagnosis). It also made me feel less frustrated - I knew something was causing the abscesses and I wanted to get to the bottom (so to speak!) of it even if the vet didn't. Best decision I've made about this whole problem so far.