Anal Glands?

[Sue H]

Barley has long been prone to blocked anal glands, and it does tend to make things rather unpleasant because of the pong that surrounds her ...

My Vet suggested that this was something I could do myself after I asked her to show me what was involved in emptying, but I hesitate to do it simply because I'm not sure how much discomfort it causes and whether I am going to be just fumbling about ....

I'm not a sqeamish person, and work at the Blue Cross where I routinely vaccinate, microchip and assist in Vet's procedures, but you may appreciate that investigating your own dog's ###### is a bit different (more uncharted territory !).

Has (or does) anyone else do this themselves, and can they explain what is required to make sure that you do it right ??  As far as I can remember from what my Vet. told me, the gland lies along the top of the anus, but she sort of had one finger up there to push along, and the other hand with two fingers at either side of the anus to squeeze (or was it just to support??).

I know it's not exactly the sort of thing you can describe in writing necessarily, but I am fairly confident that I can do this - all I need is some re-assurance that I can't make anything any worse by trying it for the first time!!

Any feedback would be most appreciated !!!

 

[Sue H]

I've just read my post, and whereas nothing happened when I typed 'anus' , I got censored when I put ' ar-se' (see if that comes up!!)  Hmmmm    

[Kim]

Hmmm this might be a bit tricky  

I do my dog's glands whilst they are in the bath, before I shampoo, that way any nastiness can be washed away immediately.

OK, if the dog is in the bath, head facing right, hold the tail in the left hand & with the right hand put finger & thumb either side of the anus.  

Apply pressure towards the head & gently squeeze at the same time, if the glands are full, you should be able to feel this, it's like two marbles.
Doing this should empty them, sometimes if you get no joy, they may not need doing, or you may have to have another go because you weren't doing it correctly.

You will find, that you get better with practice  

One tip is that you may need a willing partner to hold the dogs head, as some really dislike it  

Maybe someone else can put it better than I can, hope I've helped a little.

[Toohey]

I used to have this problem with my boy when he was a pup, but found that feeding raw bones on a regular basis firmed things up nicely and the problem disappeared with time.
The dogs stools need to be firm, and they should be straining to produce them in order to fully empty the anal glands naturally.

[Sheryl]

Chloe has always had this problem and my vet offered to show me how to do it myself.  Not on myself I hasten to add     Call me a wimp but I told him that I watch his face every time he does Chloe and if it's as bad as his face tells me then I will gladly pay the money and get him to do it.  Nice try though    

[Louie]

A friend of mine sprinkles a small amount of bran on her dogs food as she was always taking her to the vet to have them done. It was the vet that suggested she tried it and she said that there not nearly as bad now    

[Chrissy]

Hi

I think Kim has summed up the technique quite well!  

I also check and empty my dog’s glands in the bath (some need doing once a month others two or three times per year).  The location of the glands is approximately at twenty to four (clock face).  You do need to push in a sort of upwards and inwards direction.  Anything nasty will squirt out so be careful as it usually goes up the walls!  You can also do the glands outside using a piece of kitchen paper towel to catch the discharge.

When some glands are emptied (depends on how full they are) the discharge can be quite thick (more like chocolate custard) and this will need a couple of squeezes to get it out.  This type of discharge tends to ooze out like toothpaste.  The watery type shoots out quickly and goes everywhere!
 

[PennyB]

Chloe has always had this problem and my vet offered to show me how to do it myself.  Not on myself I hasten to add      Call me a wimp but I told him that I watch his face every time he does Chloe and if it's as bad as his face tells me then I will gladly pay the money and get him to do it.  Nice try though  

Me too. Even worse if you go with a hangover (the smell is just too much) LOL

Some groomers will do it as well

[charlie771]

Charlie used to have real bad trouble with his glands and he ended up at the vets almost once a month  

Until someone told me to add a bit of fibre to his food, so I bought Tesco's hi fibre bran and that has done the trick, we have not been to vets for anal gland emptying for nearly six months!!!  

[Tracey J]

I've been giving Molly hi bran for 3 months now and it hasn't made any difference, still going back every 3-4 weeks (there's never any infection - just clear fluid).  Any other suggestions for firming things up?  

[PennyB]

I've been giving Molly hi bran for 3 months now and it hasn't made any difference, still going back every 3-4 weeks (there's never any infection - just clear fluid).  Any other suggestions for firming things up?

Same here plus also I give mine the odd chicken wing which really firms them up and while Wilfs never had a problem Ruby has. I think some things work for some dogs and others don't

[Tracey J]

Cheers Penny, Molly gets the chicken wings too, but maybe she's just going to be one of the ones that are prone to this anti-social problem  

[taniac]

I have just changed groomers and she doesn't do anal glands, and told me that the more often you do them the more they need doing... Is there any truth to this?

Her suggestion was to mix horse bran in with the feed.  The groomer did used to breed cockers so had practical experience with the breed.

[Sue H]

Thank you to everyone who has responded for such useful info - Barley and Bramble are due for their vaccs. soon, so I think I will let the Vet. do it again and really try to get 'to grips' with it .....  I'm sure it must be her anal glands that make her whiff - poor Barley !

I work at the Blue Cross, and asked the Vet. that does all our dog and cat Op's to let me know if he was going to be doing this procedure anytime soon so I could observe and/or do it myself (on an anaesthetised little patient so that no-one suffers from my being a complete novice!) but this hasn't happened, so I am still all at sea!

I'll keep you all posted!

[Sheila]

How do you know if the anal glands are blocked?

I don't think that Goldies have ever been emptied...and she is 10

Is emptying them something that should be done every few months as a matter of course?