sitting

[Alpha]

probably sounds a strange title for a health post, but in a nut shell Lilly had her anal glands expressed 3 weeks ago, and I noticed last night she had a quick "scoot" so it looks like we will be at the vets again.
I was advised by the vet to get more fibre into her diet (she is on Burns and raw chick wings etc..) what is the easiest way to do this, as I can't imagine her on a bowl of bran flakes in th he morning.
And the second point is she is reluctant to sit at the moment when asked, unless there is a very nice treat in it for her, is this because she might be sore or just trying it on.

[niqnet]

Troy was scooting soon after having his glands emptied and when I took him back to the vets she said there was nothing in there.  She said it was possible that his bottom was a bit dry and if he keeps scooting to put some Vaseline on it.

You can also try adding a little bit of all bran to the food if it is and anal glad thing.

Hope this helps!

[supaspaniel]

sudacrem helps a sore bum

[Alpha]

I just lifted her onto my knee and she cried out so I tried to lift her tail to look and she seems a bit concerned. Mind you she did cry a lot when they where being emptied.
Think I may be off to the vets later.

sudacrem helps a sore bum

We call it "magic cream" good old cure all will put a bit on now.

[caro]

Fern is having similar problems - she went to the vet on Friday and had her glands emptied and she still seems uncomfortable and I've seen a little blood.  I am annoyed because the vet said if it continued she'd have to have them removed but this is the first time its happened. 

I now believe (from researching online) that there are too many chemicals and additives in her diet and her system is struggling with them, hence the build up in her anal glands, so am looking to change her diet.  The vet didn't even mention diet.  However from what you say it sounds like Burns and Chicken wings do not alleviate the problem.  Did you go back to the vets? 

[Cazzie]

You can add all bran to her food 

[Helen]

Fern is having similar problems - she went to the vet on Friday and had her glands emptied and she still seems uncomfortable and I've seen a little blood.  I am annoyed because the vet said if it continued she'd have to have them removed but this is the first time its happened. 

I now believe (from researching online) that there are too many chemicals and additives in her diet and her system is struggling with them, hence the build up in her anal glands, so am looking to change her diet.  The vet didn't even mention diet.  However from what you say it sounds like Burns and Chicken wings do not alleviate the problem.  Did you go back to the vets? 

she sounds like she may have a small infection, so i would take her back to the vets.

I really don't like your vet suggesting Fern might need invasive surgery after 1 gland episode, that to me is a last resort.

I don't know if just adding the occassional chicken wing to a kibble diet will be enough to firm t'other end enough to avoid gland problems -

it didn't in our case and I have changed jarv's diet completely (he had 2 gland episodes very young) and even after the HGE and 2 weeks of diarrhoea his glands are ok (fingers crossed  )

so now he has Arden Grange in the mornings, and raw/other as his evening meal - his raw could be lamb breast, or beef mince and tripe, or pork ribs, and i have recently tried raw Turkey mince (breath held as he does react to raw chicken- cooked is ok) and hallelujah, small hard no.2's     The 'other' is something like sardines or pilchards in tomato sauce 1x a week, and he also has a raw egg at least once a week.  He also gets veg (raw or cooked, depends what's happening).  The tripe/minces etc are frozen blocks from the pet store, and he has 1/2 a block a meal - very easy, not scary at all!

Treats really upset his tummy and give him loose stools - things like dentastix, pedigree chewy type things etc all seem to react - he's ok on gravy bones and home made livercake etc....and treats from the table given to him by his grandma do not help

it's taken me to know (he's 2) to figure out what he can and can't eat, but it really has helped with his glands.

I will get him completely on BARF now I know what he can and can't eat.

[caro]

Thanks Helen,

I have ordered a sample from Arden Grange as there seem to be a few people on COL who are happy with it.  I don't want to take her back to the vets just yet if I can help it as she was quite traumatised by the experience and the vet gave her an injection of Voren Suspension to calm her.  Poor little love.  She's not been too bothered today by her bot bot so fingers crossed, although she is quite tired and mopey.  Its helpful having other people experiencing similar problems, so sorry to hijack the thread but hopefully the advice is helpful to Alpha as well.

[debbie321]

I'm very interested in this thread as Ben's glands need emptying every 4-5 weeks.  He is on Arden Grange one day and then raw food the next (nature diet packs).  He also has raw carrots as he loves them!  I've stopped feeding chicken wings as he was looser on them.  Can you feed Bran Flakes mixed with water?  I know that they are good for us humans but do they (or things like this) do any good for dogs?

I really don't want Ben to have that awful op as his glands just get full not infected.  He's two now and I'm still looking for the answer 

[debz]

Hi don't want to take over this thread but i have never heard of this can some1 enlighten me i've seen it posted on here a few times tom has scooted alittle on the odd occasion recently should i be worried

[caro]

Hi Debz, sometimes scooting means they are cleaning or itching but sometimes it means their anal glands are full - these are usually emptied when they go to the toilet but often they get full, and this can be for a number of reasons.  The tell tell sign is a strong fishy smell coming from their back end, and if this continues for a bit and they are scooting too it usually means their glands are full.  They can be emptied by the vet or some groomers do it.  It can be due to diet or infection - I am now changing Fern's diet, as she is on rubbish, and we are moving over to Burns - its not always diet though.  If you do a search you will find loads of stories on here, you can also look it up on the web.  Some vets suggest removing troublesome glands but this should be a last resort.

[MontyMoo]

Can I pop in my two-penneth on the subject (new to it as I am)

Monty has had gland problems from 9 weeks old...brought on originally (the vet thinks) from an infestation of worms as it appears his breeder failed to worm him.  He has had repeated infections and has had his glands express about 9-10 times since he was 9 weeks (now 7 months)......BUT I am now at the longest time between vet visits.  He was on Burns (and nothing but Burns)...as in Jarvis's case his tummy would react to treats and diarrhoea=glands fill up in Monty's case.  About two weeks ago he started scooting again on the Burns diet and I was gutted (thought we'd found the answer).  The vet had suggested if he had many more 'episodes' we would need to consider something more effective than just expressing and/or antibiotics the glands i.e. surgery    (must add-he's not scalpel-happy, but it was getting to frequent to be fair on Mont).

However Monty is now on a BARF diet and although he's only been on it just over a week I've seen a huge difference.  No more scooting...should add his glands were full and needed expressing, but he started eating the chicken wings etc and he's emptied them himself-clever pup!!  His poo's are solid and dinky (can I call a poo dinky) for the first time ever-and they hardly smell (plus a good colour, always been pale and plastacine-y (forgive my spelling)!!  So early days and we are taking it slowly-he's mostly had chicken and lamb so far, obviously with veggies, eggs, mackeral, tuna, some fruit...but I'm just seeing how his tummy reacts when adding new bits now-fingers crossed BARF is the way forward for us!!


I hope you find a way to manage the problem short of surgery, as I hope this is our solution...people have said to me it's trial and error and what works for one dog may not necessarily work for another.

[caro]

I have heard lots of people are successful with chicken wings - I am SO scared about giving them to her - do they chew the bones up well and swallow them or just chew the meat off?  This is what I am most worried about - a week or two ago OH put a piece of raw beef down for her the other day, just to see what she did and she wouldn't touch it.  If the odd chicken wing is all it would take to keep her well (as well as changing diet to Burns) then I would be prepared to give it a go, but its the idea of the bones that gives me the jitters.

[debz]

Me too i would worry to much  heard lots about this Barf diet but i'm not sure even tuna and pasta he used to have seemed to be upsetting his tummy anyway he is doing good with skinners and a little chappie which settles his stomach straight away! Thanks for that i've not smelt any smells coming from him and i've only seen him doing it three times so i'll see how things go ! thanks to you all 

[MontyMoo]

Don't be scared.

Easier said then done....from previous threads I've read it sounds as if everyone is for their first chicken wing!!

Okay, little disclaimer, please correct me if I'm wrong here.......As I understand it.......:

They do eat EVERYTHING....and the bones are the best bit...they do chew them all up and being raw they don't splinter like cooked ones do, so no need to worry about that bit.  The bones work through the dogs system and add substance to the stool which means the gut wall has something to contract against and therefore the glands get expressed normally-something that doesn't happen when the stolls are loose/diahhorea.  Dogs have a much stronger stomach acid than humans so problems with salmonella etc don't happen.  Best thing, get a chicken wing from the butcher and go out into the garden with her.  Pop it down and see what she does.  Monty took about half an hour to eat his first one-27 minutes licking it and 3 minutes to polish it off!!  He got bored of it and couldn't figure out what to do with it, then he finally got the idea.  Now he can't get enough of them!!

Make sure you feed them at a separate time to her dried food and I don't think you can go wrong.  Many other people on COL swear by them and I now count myself amongst them!!

Good luck