Anal gland issues - Help!

[SukiGirl]

So we've had Suki on a grain free food now for almost 3 months and she has never looked better - her coat is shiny, no skin issues or itching and she has never been more 'regular' if you know what I mean. The only thing we are struggling with is her anal glands. In the last month and a half, we have had to have her glands expressed 4 times. The vet has not completely ruled out food allergy - but thinks its very unlikely because she has no itching or ear issues.

She goes poo twice a day and her stools are much smaller since we started grain free. We've tried bulking her up with pumpkin - to no avail. We are going to start Metamucil in addition to see if that makes a difference.

We were told by the vet that we might want to consider having the glands surgically removed but we are very nervous about the possible complications from surgery. We'd like to find an alternative to that if we can. We would consider also switching her food to another brand with more fiber - but she loves this food so much that I'm nervous to switch her prematurely.

Anyone else have this issue? What did you do to help out your pup? Anything else we can add to the food to bulk up the stool? If anyone has had the surgery done to their dog - how did the procedure work out for you? We need some help soon - our poor pooch is uncomfortable! And we have had it with the smell!

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Wow...kind of just bumping this and hoping other people will see it.

I do feel like once you start playing with the anal glands, they just seem to keep filling faster and faster! I am paranoid about it - but you are obviously seeing some kind of issue.

Will try to remember things I've seen/read...

[Freestep]

It's unusual for big dogs to have anal gland problems, but they do happen. If these problems are chronic and do not respond to any kind of treatment, having them surgically removed isn't a bad option. I know a few smaller dogs that had it done after chronic infections and impactions, and it's made a world of difference for them.

[GatorBytes]

Expressing the anal glands manually can also be the cause the problem, this leads to little tiny tears that become infected b/c of elimination. Part of the problem is the gut is too alkaline allowing bad bacteria to proliferate. Microbes cannot survive in an acidic enviro. This is why dogs do well on RAW...real meat (not denatured/cooked) produces an acidic enviroment, which is why they can ingest and deal with trace "harmful" bacteria. Bones add the bulk form needed to depress against the anal glands during elemination to express naturally.

Add some slippery elm - it will form a mucosal lining, like an internal band-aide, which will help coat the tiny tears preventing bad bacteria from infecting...acidify the gut (a touch of raw ACV in the water - also help kill bacteria) as well as probiotic and d-zymes. D-zymes will help break down the food so more is utilized, especially as kibble has slower transit time then RAW, allowing for bacteria to feed off.

Give your dog a real (not smoked) beef knuckle bone couple times a week, this will help express the glands

[pets4life]

gator why beef bone? because it harden the stool?

[GatorBytes]

Originally Posted by pets4life

gator why beef bone? because it harden the stool?

Correctamundo

Plus it is great exercise, exercise stimulates digestion. The act of knawing on a bone will also send a signal to the brain to amp up digestion. Avoid marrow bones as they may have too much fat and will exacerbate the problem (soft stool)

[Blanketback]

My puppy (10 days older than Suki) is having the same issue. I've been adding pumpkin and psyllium husks to his kibble - and giving with water on top. I bought the psyllium husks at a health food store because there's nothing added to it (dyes, flavoring) and is much cheaper.

I was going to switch his food, but my vet said to wait until the weather has turned colder, because she's still seeing dogs with seasonal allergies at this time of year, so it may not be a food allergy - for the same reason as your vet says: everything else seems fine. His anal sacs were giving him problems at the same time as the seasonal allergies seemed to hit him.

My vet is allopathic (mainstream) but also homeopathic, so she suggested using silicea. When we were in last, he'd been taking this for 2 weeks and the fluid was gone from one sac and the other only had half as much as the previous time, and it was noticeably smaller to her, so it seemed to work somewhat. He was to go another 2 weeks, and we'll see this Thursday if it did in fact do the trick.

I also started adding raw bee pollen to his diet, hoping that might help if it is related to seasonal allergies. I stopped giving beef bones because he was fine for a while and then as soon as he had a bone, the blood came back in his stool. The vet said to limit his time with them to see if this helped, but so far I'm waiting for this to clear up first.

So far, my vet hasn't mentioned removing the glands, although I've read many posts from people who've gone this route and had great success.

[JakodaCD OA]

I would have them removed via your vets recommendation..Been there done this a couple times..

You certainly don't want the dog to end up with perianal fistula's..which can crop as a result of PF disease and/or infected anal glands.

I agree with Jean, to much messing around with the glands can cause problems. Most dogs never need any anal gland expressing their entire life.

My first male had PF's resulting from infected anal glands that wouldn't clear up..had them removed, never had another problem.

My 2nd one blew out a gland (from infection),,I went cyclo route with him, cleared that up.

The surgery sounds scarey but if you use a surgeon who is savvy in this procedure, you will have no problems