blocked anal glands

[pilates]

Has anyone found a cure for the above?

No, just frequent vet visits and the off to show us how to do it ourselves, although when we switched to a dry, hypoallergenic food it did reduce In frequency.

Fibor supplements really helped us - he used to go to the vets every few months but hasn't been at all since he started on that.

There’s medication you can get (vet proscribed) but it doesn’t 100% work and you’ll likely still need to visit a vet every few months.

FWIW DP and I switched our own dogs to raw when it started happening to them and he often suggests his clients switch to raw if they can afford it - clears it straight up.

What brand do you use sunset?

Higher meat content (raw food nuggets) and regular emptying at vets or by yourself if you know how to do it.
That reduced the problem for my old girl.

@pilates the brand is called Fibor. - we got it from the vet first time, but it's available on Amazon. Just add a scoop to their food once a day.

Seconding fibre supplements.
My dog was needing to go to the vets every couple of months.
I was advised on here to start him on fibre and he's not had any issues for years now.

Not a cure, but we found that by adding fibre in the form of vegetables to food helped e.g.

A dollop of pumpkin puree (canned, no flavourings)

Steamed butternut squash flesh

Small amount of cold, leftover broccoli, peas or green beans.

More fibre. I chucked in a Weetabix or a tablespoonful of All Bran when my old Labrador was having trouble in that department.

The fibre supplement definitely! We got the first one from the vet but it’s available on Amazon. It makes them do a firm poo which empties the glands. Game changer for my dog, he was there with infections every few months at £100 a pop

We just add a small handful of bran flakes or all bran to dry food to ddog's morning meal. Plus cucumber, carrots or peppers as snacks, and expressing at the groomers every 6 weeks.

Learn how to express anal glands. It's easy, like popping a spot (same satisfaction I mean,,).

I don’t think I could express myself 😔
I have ordered some Fibor. Thank you sunset 🙏

But the smell is so much worse 😷

Ours liked to spontaneous empty his glands on us. The smell is horrendous.
We reduce the number of times it happens by adding branflakes to his food for each meal as a PP has suggested

my cat did this once, it is quite the smell!

It is @Nextdoor55 It's a cross between fish that's gone off and poo. I have had to hunt around finding all of it and end up sniffing for it like a dog. I get a bit cocky and start to sniff hard and then bam! You find the spot and it burns out your nostrils. 🤢

Stoolrite-Stool Former For Dogs | barkinBISTRO

Works a treat.

If your dog has soft poos then fixing that with a diet change might help but if their poo is good then it might just be an ongoing issue to deal with. I had a terrier once who had that problem (they would fill up and either get impacted or start to leak) and it couldn't be fixed. I simply got used to doing it for him once every month.

I made a video on how to do it gently. Just be patient and it will come and once you get the knack it is so easy to do and saves on a monthly vet visit.

https://www.dfordog.co.uk/blog/how-to-empty-dog-anal-glands.html

Good luck :-)