Dogs anal glands

Mish_Mash

Hi

Just a quick question.

I took my 5 month old male shih tzu to the vet recently as he had started biting his tail and sitting down on walks. The vet diagnosed large anal glands that were just starting to get infected. She went on to squeeze them. My dog shrieked and shrieked (more so than when he was microchipped). Is this usual? I am a bit concerned as it seemed pretty uncomfortable for him and the vet has recommended that he have then checked every 2 months.

I feed him barking heads dry food, butchers soft food and lots of raw and cooked veg so not sure if there is anything else I can do to prevent this reoccuring.

Any advice would be welcome.

albacookie

If they're impacted it can be pretty uncomfortable to empty them, its usually done by inserting 1 finger in the rectum and placing the other on the outside so not exactly pleasant! Some dogs object more than others!

Try adding some fibre to his diet - all bran or cooked brown rice - if his stools are bulky they should empty the glands more effectively.

Barneysmom

Usually in the mornings once a week only I give my female dog half a weetabix stirred into some warm water, it really helps her.
Carrots too are really good, and both dogs have a carrot twice a week.

Beckyy

Are your dogs poos quite soft or runny? Harder poos help to excrete the glands naturally. I would take your vets advice and have them done regularly, if you're not happy you could try a different vet surgery.

Frugalista

albacookie wrote: »

Try adding some fibre to his diet - all bran or cooked brown rice - if his stools are bulky they should empty the glands more effectively.

Please be aware that All Bran is full of salt and is not good to feed to your dog. Try getting natural bran fibre from your supermarket or health food shop.

elsien

Or oats will do the trick if the dog has slightly sensitive innards.
Mutt has a bad habit of emptying her anal glands on my footstool when she's sitting on it - the pong is horrendous.

Mish_Mash

Thanks for the responses. I think I'll try the weetabix mixed with some puppy milk. He has lots of carrots, I generally freeze them and then he grates them all over the floor . I have tried brown rice boiled up with carrots and chicken but he turned his nose up. He is a fussy eater unless there is another dog around then he eats everything as quickly as possible.

His poos have been quite hard recently punctuated with bouts of very soft poos so I was a bit shocked about the fact his glands had flared up. I have been careful to keep an eye on his pooing habits.

I'll ask the groomers to check him each time I take him as they only charge £9 to empty the glands as opposed to my vet who charged over £30.

I like the vets I take him to so I won't change.

foreign_correspondent

The more I read about anal glands, the more I am relieved that i have never had a dog with anal gland problems...

Sagz_2

I've found that most groomers have a better technique than Vets (no offence!), as they do it more often. You could learn to do it yourself, the groomer will show you how..... but I never found the urge to learn!

gettingready

FC - lucky you.. and I mean it...

Zara gets this problem now and again and as GS glands are quite deep inside - needs to have it sorted by the vet really.

He tries to show me how but.. no thanks...

The smell is absolutely out of this world...

OP- hope your dog gets sorted as soon as possible....

Frugalista

Mish_Mash wrote: »

Thanks for the responses. I think I'll try the weetabix mixed with some puppy milk.

You would be better to sprinkle some bran on his wet/dry regular meals. Giving him weetabix with puppy milk may give him the squits :eek:.