Author Topic: Dog may need anal glands expressed -- suggestions?  (Read 2659 times)

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Offline Pookie

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Dog may need anal glands expressed -- suggestions?
« on: June 16, 2013, 01:43:02 PM »
Every few months, my mother takes her 10 year-old lab mix (we think with Great Dane) to get a bath and nail trim.  Yesterday was the big day and I went along (he's a big dog, and he does NOT like getting a bath, so she needed help).  When we picked him up, the groomer mentioned that his butt was a bit stinky and she thinks his anal glands need to be expressed (which Mom is going to have the vet do at the next visit).

Mom doesn't really feed him dog food anymore.  He's always gotten table scraps, but over the last few months she's also been giving him gizzards, beef heart, kidney, etc., because he wouldn't touch the kibble anymore, and he never cared for canned.  She does cook them in the microwave first (she's concerned about bacteria), and IMO she cooks them WAY too long, but I can only keep offering suggestions (e.g. quickly sear the food in a pan first, or boil it briefly).  And yes, it's not balanced, though they do give the dog bones (also from cooked food  :(). 

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what can be done to improve his "stinky butt" and help express the anal glands so she doesn't need to keep going to the vet?  I don't think I'll be able to convince her to go full-raw (Dad has shown a tendecy to get infections lately), though maybe just reducing the cooking time would help.  But is there anything else that can be done?  Any supplements, maybe?  All I could think of was that if he was correctly raw fed, he would need less bone, but that's not the case here.  I don't think he gets bones very often.

Thanks in advance!
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Offline Middle Child

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Re: Dog may need anal glands expressed -- suggestions?
« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2013, 02:21:25 PM »
Maybe bulk up the stool once a week, to help clear the glands? I'm not sure what the dose would be, for a dog that size, with something like psyllium.......?

Offline DeeDee

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Re: Dog may need anal glands expressed -- suggestions?
« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2013, 03:23:32 PM »
Dr Dobias ~~ Holistic approach to anal gland problems in dogs:

http://peterdobias.com/community/2012/09/5661/
"In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semihuman. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog." Edward Hoagland
"Thorns may hurt you, men desert you, sunlight turn to fog; but you're never friendless ever, if you have a dog."

Offline Pookie

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Re: Dog may need anal glands expressed -- suggestions?
« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2013, 03:54:39 PM »
Thanks, Dee!

That was very interesting . . . Mom was giving the dog yogurt for the probiotic value, not long after he joined the family, because he tended to have loose stools.  Lately he hasn't been eating it, though, or not much of it.

He also, not long after he came home, broke free from his chain and ran into the road.  A car was coming, and he turned sideways and hit the car with his back or hip (I wasn't there and didn't see it, so I can only go off of what my dad told me since he witnessed it).  The dog then came back to the house, and I don't think he was taken to a vet.   :(  (Believe me, there are sooooo many things I wish my parents had done differently with this dog).  Anyway, he's had hip issues since then, and as he's gotten older, he's less active and now he's having a hard time with the stairs.  After reading this article, I'm wondering if that injury is also contributing to the anal gland issue.

I also found it interesting that Dr. Dobias recommended bone.  I would have thought that less bone would be needed.  My logic being that  if the glands aren't expressing, then he's slightly constipated and adding bone would only make it worse.   :-\   But I guess adding the bone would add more "bulk" and help?  Sort of like MC's suggestion about adding psyllium?   :-\
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Offline DeeDee

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Re: Dog may need anal glands expressed -- suggestions?
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2013, 05:16:34 PM »
Just a note you might want to consider--Vlad and Barkly's stools are VERY firm--firm enough that we had problems sticking a straw into it for stool samples after we got back from Wichita. Both dogs were the same.

Now this is going to sound gross, but you just can't miss it--if you're like me and watch to make sure everything's normal. When they defecate, at the end, you can see droplets of something falling down on top of the stools as they finish. The only thing I can figure out is it's their anal gland oils being released.

I've not had a dog in a LONG time that needed their anal glands expressed though, and that was Sharkly when he was young. Sounds mean, but he was so afraid of the vacuum, that one of us could hold paper towel behind him, then the other would turn it on in front of his face, and he'd "self express." Sure beat the heck out of taking him to the vet for them to do it though when all that squeezing has always seemed kind of mean to me.

I mean, what if pressing on them when they're swollen hurts them? We don't know it doesn't. For all I know, they might be like testicles, and squeezing them like that hurts like the very devil.
"In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semihuman. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog." Edward Hoagland
"Thorns may hurt you, men desert you, sunlight turn to fog; but you're never friendless ever, if you have a dog."

Offline FurMonster Mom

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Re: Dog may need anal glands expressed -- suggestions?
« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2013, 10:51:59 PM »
Yeah... actually my first instinct is to say bulk up the poop. 

He's not actually constipated, in fact I'd be willing to bet his stools are on the soft side, especially considering the rich foods he's being fed. 

When the poop is firmer, it creates more pressure that will cause the glands to express naturally.  When the poop is loose, there is not enough pressure and the glands don't get expressed on a regular basis, therefore allowing them to fill up with stinky gunk.

Just my initial thoughts on it. 
But, since I've never actually had to have any of my animals' glands expressed, I could just be talking outta my a--  er, nevermind.   moon2 whistle1
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Translation: "I can has my raw food? -please!"

Offline Pookie

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Re: Dog may need anal glands expressed -- suggestions?
« Reply #6 on: June 17, 2013, 08:24:44 AM »
Thanks, everyone!

Okay, so it sounds like maybe I should suggest to my mother that she add the psyllium.  I'd prefer she give him raw bones, but 1.  She doesn't seem comfortable with fully raw and 2.  he's food aggressive.  Go anywhere near him if he has something like that and he gets NASTY.  So adding the psyllium might be easier.  Any suggestions as to how much should be added?

But, since I've never actually had to have any of my animals' glands expressed, I could just be talking outta my a--  er, nevermind.   moon2 whistle1

 funny2 funny2 funny2
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Offline Lola

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Re: Dog may need anal glands expressed -- suggestions?
« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2013, 12:26:13 AM »
After reading this thread... maybe I should consider giving my dogs psyllium so I NEVER have to deal with this issue! 
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