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Ahem...talk to me about anal glands

28 replies

PerfectlyChaotic · 18/10/2017 17:23

Who knew this was something I'd be discussing...! Dpup is coming up to six mths & having a few problems. They seem to be filling up/not expressing as they should. Obviously we've been discussing with vet, but wondered if anyone else has experienced & could talk to me about how the issue was managed or hopefully resolved?!

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CornflakeHomunculus · 18/10/2017 17:51

It's something that can potentially be sorted out with diet. What's his poo like? If it's regularly soft or loose that could be affecting his glands emptying properly.

DDog2 had the same problem, regardless of how "good" her poo was. In her case it's been sorted by adding a fibre supplement to her breakfast every day.

Unfortunately in some cases the only solution is emptying them manually on a regular basis but I'd try other options first.

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PerfectlyChaotic · 18/10/2017 18:35

Thanks Cornflake. Poos normally pretty good - firm & generallly reasonable size, though we had a period of v soft in the early day so don't know whether that may have contributed to the problem.

Vet not overly worried but thinks could be something she's prone to unfortunately. We're just keeping an eye at the moment as don't want to faff around with a diet she's otherwise doing well on. What fibre do you add?

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CornflakeHomunculus · 18/10/2017 18:36

Sorry, I actually meant to put that in my pervious post! It's Protexin Pro-Fibre and has been great for DDog2.

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PerfectlyChaotic · 18/10/2017 18:38

Thanks, I'll take a look!

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Imabanana · 18/10/2017 18:41

I put one glandex and a handful of bran flakes on food a day. I didn't expect to deal with this either but that's being a dog owner. My dog was bum shuffling which I mistakenly thought was worms so treated that. Then came the awful fishy smell and went to vet and they explained anal glands were very full. Fine now with glandex

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Fucky · 18/10/2017 18:44

Oh my god that awful fishy metallicy smell!

My pug normally expresses hers on my lap. Boak.

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PerfectlyChaotic · 18/10/2017 18:49

True Imabanana...happily we all adore her, so it's another one of those things - much like parenting isn't it 😂

Think I'll order a fibre supplement & see how that goes! I'd like to learn how to express them myself...vet tells me that they're easy to do!!

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LimeJellyHead · 18/10/2017 19:21

One of my terriers had an anal gland issue all his life. They didn't empty when they should and instead would empty when I picked him up or when he was on the sofa etc...

His poops were lovely. It was just one of those things. I used to express them every month, without fail. That seemed perfect for him.

If you end up having to do that for him every month then don't worry, it's easy and only takes a few minutes to do them, once you get used to it. I made this video a few years ago, if it helps.

vimeo.com/230758976

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LimeJellyHead · 18/10/2017 19:25

Yes, as you can hopefully see from my video, they are easy to do. All you need is patience, a gentle touch and a rubber glove Grin

The main thing is to understand where the openings are and milk upwards to the openings - never squeeze, like a lot of people will say to do. That won't work. Milking is the key.

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Ropsleybunny · 18/10/2017 19:27

We add a handful of All Bran to our dog's food, every day.

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hilbil21 · 18/10/2017 19:31

My mum had a bichon frise who had to have his emptied manually. My mum took him to the vet to do it as she didnt feel confident doing it herself. I joined them one day with a hangover.... that smell! Yuck

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Steeley113 · 18/10/2017 19:35

My groomer does my dogs when she baths him so once every 6-8 weeks. He does start scooting towards the end of that.

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Imabanana · 18/10/2017 19:35

Exactly PerfectlyChaoticyou have no idea what you're getting but you love them anyway. Love your username I always say my dog brings the required amount of chaos to my home😂. Will look at your video LimeJellyHead I think this is something I should be able to do. It's not worthy vets fees , thankfully glandex and bran flakes are working so far.

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RebeccaWithTheGoodHair · 19/10/2017 11:40

Another one with an anally retentive dog - this is my Springer X. There is nothing much that can be done unfortunately as they get infected and impacted and so it's a bit risky to try any home cures.

Just means a regular trip to the vets for a squeeze and a biscuit afterwards. He squeals when it's done, it's horrible. He is itchy all over though and is currently on steroids to try and calm his skin down but without much success.

We've tried pretty much everything - food, shampoos, supplements and medicine but it just seems he's itchy and impacted.

I feel so sorry for him although he is the happiest, sweetest dog you could meet with enormous brown eyes that could break your heart (especially when he's after a toast corner - sadly not allowed due to the above issues).

He was a puppy in the year we had all the rain so he got soaked through pretty much every day and covered in mud, we live in the country surrounded by farmland and I always wonder if he's itchy because the stuff they put on the fields affected his skin when he was so young.

Doesn't explain his anal glands though.

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Tamberlane · 19/10/2017 12:52

Rebecca with the good hair...anal gland issues are often seen with allergies so it likely does all link in unfortunately! .. same with chewing the feet and frequent ear and skin infections... its all about finding the underlying cause. Food or environmental as the cause is the tricky bit to figure out.also if its Seasonal or not is a massive clue towards enviornment issues. If they are the worse in spring/ summer but improve over winter its often pollen and enviornmentally related. have you tried food trials yet?

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Queenofthedrivensnow · 19/10/2017 13:10

My show cocker had it. Changed his food to aatu. Improved a lot. Vet does them at appointments and told me he should have the duck version. It's dearer but she was right the problem is hardly noticeable

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RebeccaWithTheGoodHair · 19/10/2017 14:51

@Tamberlane - thank you! Yes, food trials and exclusions. Raw food, vet food and cheap as chips food - no difference whatsoever. All I can say for sure is that it's definitely not seasonal.

I'm actually looking for a dog homeopath now to see if that can help. So if anyone can recommend one near Worcester that would be fab!!

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tabulahrasa · 19/10/2017 17:38

Rebecca - has he been allergy tested already?

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ShovellerDuck · 19/10/2017 20:32

Anal glands can be removed, ask your vet.
As for homeopathy, you may as well give him Smarties.

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Laceup · 19/10/2017 21:44

Tamberlane,what would be a good food to give regarding you post to Rebecca at 12.52 ?

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LimeJellyHead · 20/10/2017 08:58

I would never recommend anal gland removal. The chances of incontinence and complications are very high.

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Phillipa12 · 20/10/2017 09:18

My lab has his removed after they continually got infected, in the words of my vet "i dont like removing them but ive given him enough antibiotics to knock a cow out and they are still infected" he was 3 when they were removed and he didnt start with incontinence issues till he was 13 and had canine dementia, he was pts 6 months later. (not for the incontinence issue)

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LimeJellyHead · 20/10/2017 10:13

Yes sorry, I should have worded that better. I was referring to anal gland removal for the type of issues mentioned in this thread. For a bit of smelly leaking, there are other ways. For continually infected and impacted anal glands, the vet may need to resort to surgery but it is a last resort and not a go-to solution, as implied by ShovellerDuck.

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MipMipMip · 20/10/2017 10:28

I was told to put a handful of oats on his feed which helps, although he still needs it doing occasionally. A lot cheaper than a specific supplement and MipHound enjoys it although he'd prefer it if I made him proper porridge with milk and gave him the runs

I'm surprised that someone said their groomers do it. Spoke to one recently who said that so many groomers had caused problems that insurance no longer covered them to do anal glands. In her words "it's a medical procedure so needs to be done by a bet".

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LimeJellyHead · 20/10/2017 12:27

I definitely don't see why it should only be done by a vet but do always suggest anyone wanting to do it at home should check with their vet first. I can't think of anything worse for my dog than dragging him to the vet every 4 weeks for his entire life to have something done that I can do at home in 2 minutes. Not only that but many vets have a worse technique than I do.

As for groomers routinely emptying anal glands, I have never understood that. Not many dogs have anal gland issues and if it ain't broke don't fix it. Meddling with anal glands that are fine can actually cause problems. If I found out a groomer has been expressing my perfectly healthy dog's anal glands I would want to know why!!!!!

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