Anal glands

[sherry512lea]

Not only does Missy have arthritis issues, but constant problems with her anal glands. She has to have them expressed every couple of weeks or she is miserable. For the second time now they have gotten impacted and infected. Next month when she gets her teeth cleaned the vet is going to try flushing them and putting a antibiotic in. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this and what results they had?

 

[tesslynn]

could it possibly be connected to her diet? If dogs can't eliminate correctly things tend to go wrong with those glands.

For arthritis, I found green lipped mussel extremely helpful.

 

[Mom2Melli]

I have found different foods cause the anal gland problems. Fromm is one. Not only my young male but my old girl. Acana causes a bit of constipation and the glands express on my shepherd mix who will squirt the anal glands every few weeks. However, the Acana is too constipating for my young male. Have you tried daily adding canned pumpkin (not pie mix) or something like dehydrated sweet potatoes? I am finding just a couple crunchies of dehydrated sweet potatoes I make myself (recipes are online) are doing wonders for the whole fecal process.

 

[Ann]

I second adding pumpkin to your dog's food. Mine get a spoon of canned pumpkin every day, and twice daily in the winter when they don't drink as much water. Pumpkin is good for both constipation and diarrhea.

I've found that grain-free foods make some of my dogs constipated. As in other things, it's an individual issue. I feed Fromm and my six do very well on it.

 

[Mom2Melli]

I agree on the food . . . my shepherd must have Acana Ranchlands or he goes into a pre-bloat scenario. Melli is pretty bombproof. Cubs is too, except for the Fromm being a bit soft. I am feeding the shelties Earthborn Holistics and we are doing well. Food is individual preference, but using one of the responsible companies is a good thing. I did, though, learn from Eva (senior sheltie rescuer) to avoid the high fat stuff for long term liver, pancreas, and gallbladder health. We have chosen a lower number on the fats.

In any case, I am SO impressed with the sweet potato "crunchies" that I will be doing that long term. Also, being "crunchy" we get a bit of teeth scraping happening which is a good thing too.

 

[Sharon7]

Yes, Ally has this problem as well, although they haven't gotten infected, TG. She had them flushed and packed with antibiotic (preventatively) during her dentals, it seemed to last for a while, but then they clog up again....

I've tried to express them myself but they are tricky to do and she cries and squirms, so I let the pros have at it.