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stinky breath, reverse sneezing, and anal gland smell????

16K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  capella008  
#1 ·
My almost 5 month old shepherd has had some interesting things going on lately. I've decided to call the vet tomorrow just to ask, but I figured asking here couldn't hurt either.

For as long as we've had Kora, she's always been kind of a stinky puppy. Our 4 year old husky/shepherd mix has been notoriously clean and stink free (even breath wise) but she still does get baths on a regular basis. Kora, on the other hand, is just plain stinky. She lost the sweet puppy breath a long time ago, and has full on halitosis. It seriously smells like she's just eaten a dead animal (though to our knowledge, she has never had the pleasure of doing so!). We are going to definitely be getting her a toothbrush and toothpaste of her own tomorrow. Even though she just had a bath a few days ago, she already smells kind of bad. She loves getting kisses on her nose and forehead, but her entire face/head really stinks. My sister actually compared her to a hobo in that regard. To our knowledge (and she is crated and always supervised while outside) she has not ever gotten into or eaten anything that would explain this.

Kora sleeps in her crate every night in the living room just next to our bedroom. I frequently launder the blanket over her crate and the blankets and her toys that go in there. Every morning when we come out of the bedroom, the living room smells pretty bad. At first, we thought this was due to the previous tenant who lived in our house and his cat who liked to pee in the air ducts. (we've only been living here for about 3 months, and we moved in right around when we got Kora. the house smelled TERRIBLE at first, but its come a long way) Then, two weeks ago when she was at the vet for her follow up from getting spayed, we mentioned how she had been chewing at her behind A LOT. They checked and said her anal glands were very full. The vet said the one was very difficult to express and more full than the other. Of course, she smelled terrible. And we soon realized that this anal gland smell is the same odor that greets us every morning. And now, two weeks later, we still smell that anal gland smell on occasion. The vet said she probably shouldnt need her glands expressed for a month, but we've been smelling that smell consistently since her glands were expressed.

The last weird thing she has going on is this strange reverse sneezing thing she's been doing. It sounds like shes choking or coughing. I did a search earlier today after an episode. It sounds like this dog in this video:

I'm not sure if any of these are related??? Any thoughts?? Thanks :)
 
#2 ·
I would say they are definitely related. Unless she has a tooth problem (stinky breath) I would guess that she has allergies. That would cause the sneezing and the stinkiness. She may have environmental and food allergies because it is most likely digestive issues causing the stinky breath.
 
#3 ·
The bad breath - could it be an infection in the mouth, or is she licking her anal glands,or if neither, then there's an issue with the gut.

I don't know much about the anal glands other than my neighbor's husky had major problems with hers at a young age. Just after 1 year old had to get them expressed monthly, then they were surgically removed.

Our previous dog would occasionally get the backward sneezes, they were random. I wonder if your dog does have allergies and is getting excess mucus causing the smelly breath and sneezes? Anyway, hope you find the cause and a good solution soon.
 
#4 ·
Most dogs lick their anal area when their glands either are painful or leaking, and that will give stinky breath.

What does your breeder say? Is this common in their lines? Did they say it would improve? Give recommendations so you can express the glands yourself (I do).



 
#5 ·
Anal glands can also get infected and impacted.

The vet can clean them, but she may also need abx if infected, and warm compresses a few times a day to help them. I had to do that with a foster puppy - he had a rough time with the anal glands for quite some time - it was not a "one and done" kind of thing for him, which I had hoped for, because he was really uncomfortable!

Stink can also be skin infection...and like has been said allergies. And that whole IgA thing is something to be aware of...

I would also be looking at doing a fecal to see if she had any kind of worms or parasites making things worse.

And a good exam of the mouth.

Good luck!
 
#6 ·
Thank you everyone for your reply. We took Kora to see the vet today, and they checked her anal glands and found that they were full again, after only 2 weeks. The vet said that she needs to be eating more fiber - they suggested Hill's Science Diet with a 5% fiber content, but we just switched her to Fromm Gold, which has a 3.5% fiber content, and are very happy with it, so the vet okay-ed adding 1/4 c of pumpkin to her meals 2 times daily. She is also now on metronidazole for 10 days. The vet is concerned that she could develop anal fistulas. We're going back in a week to see if the smell goes away and if her glands get full again, and if it seems like this is going to be a problem, she has recommended we see a specialist.

I'm kind of shocked, because after doing a bit of research it seems like anal fistulas are more common in older dogs, not 5 month old puppies! I don't know what we're going to do :( I just hope she'll be ok
 
#7 ·
Hopefully the pumpkin will help.

It really is easy to empty the glands yourself too. I do it outdoors cause it's easier just to let it spray into the yard... but that's me!

Did you watch how easy it was to do on the videos?
 
#8 ·
I've thought about trying to do it myself (it would definitely be a lot cheaper!) and probably will if it's going to be a routine thing - as long as I know there aren't other things I'd have to worry about with her glands. I already clip her nails and clean her ears, so might as well do the glands too eventually :)


Also I forgot to mention, she's had like 3 fecal tests done in the past 2 months and went on a broad spectrum dewormer when she had an unexplained bout of diarrhea that lasted a few weeks, so hopefully they won't want to do another one!!!