Blocked Anal Gland

[Allison]

Hi everyone, Sally has scooted across the floor for as long as we can remember, she is now 15 months old. Over the past year the vet has emptyed the glands at every visit, over the last 6 weeks we have been to our vet 3 times as Sally had contracted an ear infection, which I am glad to say has cleared up now  Whilst we have been to the vet we have had her glands checked out on each occasion and they were full :cry:  infact the vet has now showed us how to empty them :!:  which we are ok with. It concerns me that they are blocked within a week of being emptyed. Sally eats 200grms per day of JWB plus some pedigree gravy bones and raw carrot we also sprinkle a little cooked turkey mince on top of her kibbles. Her Number 2's are quite solid which we  thought would help her empty her own  I have even tried to put some weetabix in her food to keep the num 2 solid and help empty the gland to no avail.  On Friday we went to get Sally her booster vac (thats another storey) and our vet said if we are concerned about Sals anal glands,  they can perform an operation to remove them :roll: The vet informed me that there is a very small chance that the op can make the dog incontinant :oops: we really do not want to go down this route, but if the dog is suffering then I would do anything to help her. does anyone have any experience of the operation or any advice please.                    

[shonajoy]

Sorry, I don't have experience of the op, but have you tried adding bran to her food? My neighbour does this with herdog and it's really improved the legnth of time between emptying his glands.

Shona x                    

[PennyB]

I've talked to my vet about this op and he's quite confident in the outcome as he's quite a good surgeon (and I have confidence in him), but I know some vets aren't too happy with doing this op. I guess the outcome really boils down to the skill of the vet doing the op.                    

[Dessie]

Hi Allison

You could trying giving Sally some weetabix with her kibble (just dry sprinkled on top).   This does work with my boys when they have this problem.                    

[Anita]

Allison

I have the exact same problem with Phoebe and we add bran to her food, make sure she has dried food with a bit of nature diet in it etc. Her stools are quite solid but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I'm taking her back in May to see how they are. But I'm considering having them removed as the vet nurse said she went down this route.

Does a anyone else has any more advice on what we can do?                    

[Lindaphills]

Hi, everyone,

You could always try giving raw chicken wings for 1 meal, that is if you feed twice a day like me.  Jess is 7 months and is fed raw and I have never seen this scooting action you mention.  It must be quite upsetting for you and the dog to have to go the vets and be fiddled about with like this!!!  

Anyway, rather than resort to surgery it could be worth a try.  I know some people are horrified at the thought of giving raw chick/wings complete with bones to their dogs but my 7 mnth girl loves them and really solid poos that obviously do the job of emptying the glands.  Jess has chicken wings every single day (normally 3 per meal)

If all else has failed maybe its worth a try.
Hope this helps

Linda and jess  (p.s. her teeth are sparkling white too)                    

[Lindaphills]

me again,

forgot to say that poo from bone fed dogs really is solid, much harder than dogs fed commercial food and its also totally odourless and very very small amounts.  

Linda                    

[TOPAZ BILLY]

Hi, everyone,

You could always try giving raw chicken wings for 1 meal, that is if you feed twice a day like me.  Jess is 7 months and is fed raw and I have never seen this scooting action you mention.  It must be quite upsetting for you and the dog to have to go the vets and be fiddled about with like this!!!  

Anyway, rather than resort to surgery it could be worth a try.  I know some people are horrified at the thought of giving raw chick/wings complete with bones to their dogs but my 7 mnth girl loves them and really solid poos that obviously do the job of emptying the glands.  Jess has chicken wings every single day (normally 3 per meal)

If all else has failed maybe its worth a try.
Hope this helps

Linda and jess  (p.s. her teeth are sparkling white too)

Billy loves chicken wings but I give as an occasional treat never thought of replacing a meal with them?  thats probably why he is so big  :roll:

Michelle                    

[Lindaphills]

Hi Michelle,

All that lovely raw chicken fat full of essential fatty acids and highly bio available                      

[Anita]

How many would you give to replace a meal? Phoebe has 4oz a day (Autarky) with and 2/8th's of a pack of NAture diet split between 2 meals.                    

[Lindaphills]

Hi Anita,

I would start by giving her 1 or 2 and see if she likes them.  If you want you can smash them up a bit in a plastic bag with a mallet or hammer.  I did this when i first started feeding Jess raw.  you may remember a while back, I had problems with colitis on commercial food.

If she does like them i would give her 3 per meal.  these are the wings from Asda or Tesco (smart price or value).  Raw food is highly nutritious and highly bio available to the dog so you don't feed as much in quantity.

Make sure you supervise her when she's eating them and if she's not interested at first try exposing the flesh of the chicken by slicing through the fat with a sharp knife.

Hope this helps,
Let me know how you get on

Linda and jess                    

[Anita]

Thanks Linda - She gets them as treats every now and then but if it helps clear her glands I'll try replacing her evening meal with them.

She does enjoy them so there won't be a problem :wink:                    

[Lindaphills]

Thats brilliant Anita, Your'e half way there already  

I do hope it works, i'm such a raw feeding evangelist based on my own cocker's health since starting it  

Hope it works for you


Linda                    

[TOPAZ BILLY]

Billy had chicken wings as a replacement for his breakfast this morning, not because of his glands but just for a bit of variety and he really enjoyed it, He usually only gets one or two a week as a treat but the fact that he had a bowl with 4 in :shock: He just stood there wagging his bum whilst crunching his way through them.

Michelle                    

[Lindaphills]