Anal Glands

[Christine Kent]

Has anyone ever used something called ANAL GLANDZ which is brought from America to help your dog empty his anal glands. Can't find it in the UK. 

[Christine Kent]

my dog had his emptied only a few weeks ago and it seemed it was only the left one that had a lot in there. I haven't had it emptied again yet but thought he smelt a bit fishy last weekend but seems okay now so have left it and he seems okay so maybe he has emptied them himself. My vets charge quite a lot and dont want to keep paying them to do it if its every few weeks. Be different if it were only every 6 months like yours. My dog has been castrated anyway because he only had one testicle drop. Thanks everyone for the advice it is greatly appreciated.

[Sue and Cash]

Yes Christine every now and then I smell fishy butt and I usually wait a day or two and sometimes they will "fix" it themselves. I only do it as a last resort and when the odor becomes unliveable for us. He lets me know when he needs assistance!

[Christine Kent]

Hi how does he let you know when he needs assistance? I don't always know what my dog wants. He usually just stands and barks at me when he wants something or pushing me with his foot! The last time he needed his glands done he kept licking constantly under his tail and chasing his tail and drving us mad. This time however he only very occasionally licks under his tail and nothing else. I can't say he smells fishy at the moment so I will just keep an eye on it. Thanks again Sue and Cash.

[Sue and Cash]

The fishy smell is the first give away, but don't do it right away. Give it a day. It can go away on it's own. And yes the licking his butt, scooting and dragging his butt on the floor or just sniffing it all the time are the signs I would watch for. If after a day or so you notice it doesn't stop then assist the dog. But a few times he smelled and a good bowel movement cleared it on its own.
We had times we had to do it twice in a week and then not for two months time. Right now we are on a great roll and haven't done it for at least a couple months. I am hoping it stays this way. That is why even though there are better dog foods for me to use, they don't work for him. Use what food works for your dog. You need firm stools. And for some dogs that will be food with grains, even corn in them. As long as your dog doesn't have allergies to the food you will be fine. I just don't want to have to express my dog.

[Margaret Sierakowski]

With the two setters I have had who needed their anal glands cleaning out, there was no smell.
The bitch starts to scoot on her back end, dragging herself along the ground. The first time she had a problem, she had been getting quite lethargic and reluctant to run for a while before I realised it was her anal glands that were the problem.
The other one was a male dog several years ago who came over from Ireland. He came to be used as a stud dog, and although he seemed quite excited by a bitch in season, just couldnt get a tie. Then I started to notice his movement in his hind quarters didnt look right, almost as if he was in pain, so had him checked out by my vet. His anal glands were actually infected, and must have been quite painful. After cleaning them out, he successfully mated another bitch who produced 10 puppies

[Margaret Sierakowski]

If I got a whiff of a fishy smell from a bitch , she would be in to my vets within the hour to be swabbed and checked for pyometra

[Jackie O ' Neill]

Ohhh this subject... Poor Brett and his anal glands, they drive him mad, he had them emptied last week by the vet after a full 6 weeks of them being fine,,, a week on he is licking and the fishy smell is back.. this happens the whole time. !! usually has to be emptied once a month.
I will have to leave him a day or two see will it sort itself out and i often warm wet a cloth and clean him to ease the irritation which sometimes works wonders for him, but he gets tetchy if he thinks your going to do anything else, the vet showed me how to express the glands but to be honest im more afraid of hurting him than anything.
He also is very tired lately , despite no change is his routine of 2 walks a day etc. He isnt as excitable these days and is nearly in a coma come evening time! :)
We have tried changing his food (and thought that was working up until last week) and using a powder to bulk him up but nothing works :( his food is a high quality dry food )
Our vet said if this continues hes going to run blood tests as his body might not be keeping the nutrients from his food and the frequent full glands is a sign of this along with tiredness.

Fingers crossed this isnt the case!

[Margaret Sierakowski]

Has your vet checked that the anal glands are not infected or abscessed?
When one of my bitches started to have a problem with her anal glands, but I hadnt realised anything was wrong, she became increasingly lethargic, moved only at a slow walking pace and wouldnt even break into a trot or gallop, didnt want to walk any distance, and started to put on weight and just looked unhappy all the time. Once she started to have her anal glands emptied regularly , she was back to her normal self again quite quickly
I also had a male dog here for a while who, when he arrived ,looked as if he was in some discomfort at the back end when he moved, when checked by my vet, he was found to have infected anal glands , so bad they were actually abscessed. Cleaning out the glands and antibiotics sorted the problem,but he became unable to mate a bitch, which may or may not have been connected

[Dixie Cruise]

Not intending to start an argument here, but if a dog consistently has problems with the anal glands, particularly infections, it seems reasonable to me to consider having those glands removed. I don't think this would be the case very often ... I don't mean to sound like your typical American who is quick to seek medical intervention just for convenience! But constant exposure to infection is not at all good for the dog and the surgery is very, very minor I believe. Perhaps some of the breeders here have a more informed comment on this option.

[Jackie O ' Neill]

Yes please if anyone has any thoughts or experience in this please let me know, it is something we might have to consider.

[ursula wilby]

Yes, this is a minor operation.
No problem at all...most of the time.

I had a 3 year old setter in champion-class-obdedience.
She had problems with her anal-glands on and off.
Mainly on...
So the vet suggested the operation.
I thought nothing of it, having heard lots of people that had this done. And the vet is the best surgeon in the south of Sweden.
Well the operation went wrong.
It did not heal up properly and was redone...
Same again...no healing.
There was a third attempt at redoing the operation and she was put down on the operating table.

About 1 dog in 1000 operated, has this problem with not healing up.
I would be somewhat reluctant to do it again.

[Jackie O ' Neill]

Very sorry to hear that Ursula,
for me its a big decision,with what hes been through this year i hate having to put him through more. I was at the vets yesterday and we discussed this. Im not sure what to do.. Will see how long he lasts this time after getting the glands emptied yesterday, thank u for your reply