Anal gland issue

[STEVESKI]

Hi, everyone. I'm new to the forum. I found this place as I've been looking all over trying to figure out an issue my dog has been having with her anal glands.

My beagle mix, Belle, is about 15 months old and I've owned her 6 months. She weighs between 25-28 pounds. As of about 3 months ago, we realized she was starting to scoot her butt on the floor. It was rare at first so we didn't think much of it. As of about a month ago it got bad. She was doing it constantly and doing a lot of licking. It was clear she was very uncomfortable. We brought her to the vet to have her anal glands expressed. She was good for a few days and then I caught her doing it again. I just thought that maybe it was a habit she was used to so thought nothing of it. Now fast forward to today. She's back at it in full force again. I feel so bad because she's clearly very uncomfortable, but I can't keep paying $30 for the vet to do this for her every 3 weeks. (I know I can do it myself, but that's a LAST RESORT)

Now onto her diet. She gets about 1 cup of Blue Buffalo Basics in the morning and 1 in the evening. During the day we leave her with a kong that has about a spoonful of low fat peanut butter in it. I do this because she gets some separation anxiety when she is in her crate and I leave for the day and having her peanut butter kong in her crate keeps her from crying and barking when I leave. Besides that, she will occasionally get a small healthy dog treat after her evening walk and thats it. She's very active and on this diet she has actually lost some weight (she needed it) and is looking much healthier than when we first got her. Everything about her has come across as healthy besides this one thing. I've also read that overfeeding could cause this as well. I'm worried to cut back on her food because she has already lost weight and is at a healthy weight right now.

I bought some canned pumpkin today because I heard it helps harden the stool, but I'm still looking for the root of the problem. I don't want to have to feed her pumpkin every meal.

Any advice?

[brandypup]

Are the stools hard and firm? That will naturally express anal glands. I feed raw which includes raw bones. Have not had to deal with anal glad issues. Try feedng some raw chicken feet or chicken necks a couple times a week. Also you could try a rotation diet. BB is a good food but having 2-3 good foods and rotating them through the year is optimal.

Maintaining Healthy Anal Glands and Sacs - Whole Dog Journal Article

Determining Your Dog's Health Through His Feces - Whole Dog Journal Article

Subcription required for those to read but it's well worth it.

[STEVESKI]

Thanks for the response. I meant to put it in my original post, but no, her stool isn't very firm. It's not pure liquid, but it's soft enough to leave marks in the grass when picking it up (sorry for being so graphic).

Honestly, I'd love to be able to feed her raw foods but I don't think I have the time for it and I don't think I could afford it. As it is, I feel like I'm splurging on getting the expensive kibble. I could deal with once or twice a week giving her something like some boiled chicken, but I wouldn't even know where to get chicken feet or chicken necks. Is there anything you can recommend that can be found easily in grocery stores or a Petsmart or Petco?

In regards to rotating different kinds of food, I thought that was a bad thing? I thought they were supposed to stick to a certain kind of kibble so it doesn't upset their stomach?

Thanks for the articles, I will read into them!

[brandypup]

Not it's showing that feeding one food can cause issues, even if it's a good food. You defintily want to find a good food that will firm her up. Make sure you do a very gradual switch. You can ask any butcher or meat store for the feet or necks. They are very inexpensive and you can feed as a streat once or twice a week if you can find them. Are you in the states?

the pumpkin can help. As it's high fiber (100% and not pie filling) But it can be hard to find in summer time.

DogAware.com: Dry Dog Foods (Kibble and Dehydrated)

DogAware.com: Commercial Dog Foods

[brandypup]

SHOW DOG MAGAZINE= anal glands

[STEVESKI]

Thanks for all the information. I'll look through all of it to see if I can find out anything that may help. Yes, I do live in the states (Washington, DC area). I'm sure I could find a butcher somewhere.

[mctypething]

If you're looking for food recommendations, I can give you my two cents. Science Diet has worked wonders for my beagle. I initially had her on Wellness, and her stool was never firm. It was a total nightmare to deal with as she would defecate in her crate a lot. The strange thing is that Wellness is probably considered a better food than Science Diet because the ingredients don't include any by-products.

Ever since the switch to SD, my beagle has not had one single issue with soft stool. She's a healthy, playful, pup. My vet told me that some dogs just have a hard time digesting the foods with no corn or by-products.

Down side is she poops, a lot, probably due to her body not needing the by-products. She'll have 4 firm stools a day. I go through a lot of bags, hahaha.

[epoh]

Steve - Some regular grocery stores will still have a butcher on staff. They may not be there all day or every day, but they come in and cut/trim steaks and whatnot. If yours has one, just ask them if they have raw chicken necks.

Oh, also, ghetto-area grocery stores sell necks + gizzards in the chicken sections.

[Dawna]

Originally Posted by STEVESKI

Hi, everyone. I'm new to the forum. I found this place as I've been looking all over trying to figure out an issue my dog has been having with her anal glands.

My beagle mix, Belle, is about 15 months old and I've owned her 6 months. She weighs between 25-28 pounds. As of about 3 months ago, we realized she was starting to scoot her butt on the floor. It was rare at first so we didn't think much of it. As of about a month ago it got bad. She was doing it constantly and doing a lot of licking. It was clear she was very uncomfortable. We brought her to the vet to have her anal glands expressed. She was good for a few days and then I caught her doing it again. I just thought that maybe it was a habit she was used to so thought nothing of it. Now fast forward to today. She's back at it in full force again. I feel so bad because she's clearly very uncomfortable, but I can't keep paying $30 for the vet to do this for her every 3 weeks. (I know I can do it myself, but that's a LAST RESORT)

Now onto her diet. She gets about 1 cup of Blue Buffalo Basics in the morning and 1 in the evening. During the day we leave her with a kong that has about a spoonful of low fat peanut butter in it. I do this because she gets some separation anxiety when she is in her crate and I leave for the day and having her peanut butter kong in her crate keeps her from crying and barking when I leave. Besides that, she will occasionally get a small healthy dog treat after her evening walk and thats it. She's very active and on this diet she has actually lost some weight (she needed it) and is looking much healthier than when we first got her. Everything about her has come across as healthy besides this one thing. I've also read that overfeeding could cause this as well. I'm worried to cut back on her food because she has already lost weight and is at a healthy weight right now.

I bought some canned pumpkin today because I heard it helps harden the stool, but I'm still looking for the root of the problem. I don't want to have to feed her pumpkin every meal.

Any advice?

I think some dogs just get more blocked anals than others. I routinely express Dillon's even though he doesn't scoot his butt. As I said in another thread, it is really EASY to express them. Just place a finger on each side of the rectal opening press in and squeeze -like you were squeezing a pimple. It only takes seconds to do and that way you will save money and time taking him to have it done professionally. A foul smelling liquid will shoot out and squirt. All done!

[brandypup]

Yes Science Diet is know for hard stools becuase of the artifical and cheap filler ingredients in it. If your getting soft stools on the better foods that particluar food isn't working for you. It's a pain to go through and find a couple that work well but it's worth the effort. You also generaly have to switch over an entire month somtimes and then give it another 2-3 to see results. Not always easy to do. Some dogs just can't handle the better ingrediants.
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