[Marley's Mommy]

Marley is 6 mths old and in the last two vet visits has had to have his anal glands expressed. He is always biting back there. Vet asked me today if he gets a lot of table food. I said never has. She said it just happens with him them.

But why? Anyone experience this? What can I do?

 

[brandyb]

Caesar has had anal gland issues in the past. From what I understand the anal glands should naturally secrete this "stuff" every time the dog poops. Sometimes the diet is the cause. Ever since we put Caesar on a high fibre, natural diet, his anal gland problems have gone away. This may not be the case for every dog but it was for Caesar. Ask your vet about a differant diet. I know others here have had anal gland issues. Any other suggestions?

 

[BookerMoose]

I would suggest doing a search of previous forum posts for "anal glands" as I know there have been several useful discussions of the issue in the past. All three of ours have had anal gland issues and two of them had to, in the end (pardon the pun) have theirs removed. Surgery is really the last resort, however - there are lots of things to try before it gets to that and those earlier posts should be a good summary of what those other possible solutions are. I know one is to feed your dog pumpkin - very timely today!

 

[cabecca19]

My Boomer is almost 8 months and scoots his butt occassaionally so we just had the vet express the anal glands. Our vet told us that changing the diet won't really help and sometimes puppies/younger dogs need to have it done for them a couple times and then it will just "kick in" and start doing it normally. We have to just keep an eye on the scooting...hopefully we won't have to have the vet do it that often.

 

[madison069]

If you look hard enough there is a story of a guy that did this procedure awhile back to his dog.

trust me it isn't very pleasant! lol

 

[Marley's Mommy]

I did see that one.

 

[jenncarrera]

I think Mizu had that problem aroud the same age also...his anal glands were expressed just once though.. he did still have some issues but since I changed his dog food and treats we don't have that problem with the anal glands. but now he just lets out those silent but DEADLY FARTS!! I don't know whats worse the fishy smell or the farts..

 

[Mom of 2 Beagles]

Sadie and Pooh Bear need their anal glands expressed every few months. Sadie could probably use it once a month. They eat a high fiber dry dog food. Also they get some table scraps. So when I take them in to get their nails trimmed, the vet does their anal glands too.