Anal gland removal - advice and experiences please

[Emilyoliver]

Ollie's having a tough time at the moment with recurring anal gland infections. He's been on anti-biotics, is having them emptied and checked weekly by my vet, and has had them flushed once under sedation. Vet has said he will flush them 3 more times, and if no improvement, I should consider having the gland out. Dreading it if it comes to this as I believe they can end up incontinent  Any info on experience of dogs having had this op welcomed. Suggestions for miracle cure also welcomed!

[Tori]

My old lady had one of her removed last feb due to adenocarcinoma and has not looked back, no incontience at all also my friend had her springers removed when a year old for similar reasons to yours and again not looked back, must say however laney's was done at cambridge and my fiends at a referral practice where the vet was a 'bum' man, not sure i would let a general practice vet loose only becaise they dont have the same experience

Hth and good luck 

[MOO-MOO]

My Moo-Moo   had his removed about 2 years ago when he was 5 yrs old and we have no problems with faecal incontinence.
Poor Moo-Moo was castrated at the same time under the same anaesthetic.

He too, was at the vets every month to have them emptied and then every week for the last month and our wonderful vet said "enough is enough, he can't go on suffering like this" and advised me to have them removed.

He was relatively back to his old self within a couple of weeks.
I was very apprehensive about him having a poo for the first time but he was fine.

He is fed Hills c/d diet as he is prone to struvite crystal as well.............Poor Mooey, but he is a happy waggy-taily chappy!

Hope this helps......

[wendyt]

Chester my old CKCS had one anal gland removed when he was 12 years old due to a recuring abcess. It was a big decision to make because of his age and he had a heart problem too, but the abcess was awful and just woudn't clear up. So on the vet's recommendation we went ahead with the op and it was a success. He didn't suffer from faecal incontinence after the op, but best of all he never had any more problems.

[Emilyoliver]

Thanks everyone for responses - good to see it seems generally successful.  A end to the (painful and traumatic) vet visits, anti-b's and infections will surely be a great outcome for my sweet boy  I will be sure to discuss the op and my concerns in detail with my vet and get Ollie referred if I have any reservations.

[sophie15]

My working Cocker is having to go to the vet regularly at the moment because she is nibbling her tail all the time and taking the hair off. I took her to the vet before Christmas and the vet emptied her glands and as a pre caution give her some antibiotics. I took her back a week later for a steriod injection and her glands emptied again. She is still nibbling her tail and sking on her bottom so I am taking her back again tomorrow to see him. He has mentioned removal of the glands but I dont want to go down that route unless I have to. She is 5 1/2 years old and has never had any problems up until now.

[Sarah.H]

Our previous cocker had them removed for the same reason as your boy, there were no problems afterwards. In fact he was a much much happier dog. He used to be a bit of a b***** for chewing things and it pretty much stopped after they were removed.

[Rileysmum]

My Rileys had his out last year and it was  hard for him for about a week he was very sore and fidgety but since then we've not looked back, a great success so don't fret sweetie x

[AmberBamber]

Hi Everyone,

I know that this is a very old post but we have just been advised by our vet to have our Pickles anal glands removed.

We found out at the end of November that she had an infection and since then she has been on 3 different antibiotics, had all bran, weetabix & Pro Fibre. We have also been going to see our vet weekly to have them checked and emptied, at least one of them is packed full each week, if not both of them.

Poor little Pickle was only spade at the end of December and we are worried about her having another op. Although she recovered quickly (thanks I'm sure to her Thunder Shirt!) we did all end up sleeping on the floor in the lounge the first night!! She is booked in for 12th Feb. Our vets do the op approx 4-5 times a year and have never *touch wood* had any problems with the operation at all.

Has anyone had the op done recently?

Many thanks

xx

[lisalh]

I will be watching this thread with interest as Kooki is having to have her glands done/empties every three weeks atm and the vet has advised considering the op for her as profibre and a change of diet are having no effect, I dread putting her under but if it makes her life more comfortable it willbe worth it in the long run.

[AmberBamber]

I agree lisa, its so hard but I'm hoping that it will make a big difference to Pickle. She is a much happier dog since she has been spayed & we thought she was a happy bunny before!!

[tangy tango]

It sounds like you are having a lot more trouble with anal glands than I had but I just wanted to share my experience in case you find it at all useful.  I have a 5 year old dog who I had to take every 6-8 weeks to get his anal glands emptied from the age of about a year old.  Once or twice the vet also gave us antibiotics but I don't think generally there was any infection, they were just full and causing him discomfort.  After searching for a solution on the internet and a lot of research we changed to raw feeding at the end of 2011 and have not needed to have his anal glands emptied since January 2012.  I have had them checked when we have gone to the vet for other things but they have been fine.

I am in no way suggesting this will work for all dogs, but I did previously try adding bran etc.  I know this is a bit disgusting but I think the difference for my dog was having hard poo that he has to work to squeeze out 

I know a lady on my raw feeding forum has problems with anal glands and a month or so in she hasn't noticed a change, but I would say for me really it took at least 3 or 4 months.  It might not work but at least it might be something to consider 

[kaycee]

My Mini Moo, had constant trouble for 2 1/2 years she had them emptied , flushed and had a ongoing infection in them, I was advised to think long & hard before we decided to have them removed. It was an horrendous operation and really painful for her, but i dont regret it she still holds her tail quite high  but its just a habit she had fallen into because obviously she was uncomfortable before, her movement at the backend improved considerably so she must have been in constant pain.If i had known how much pain she had been in i would have had it done much earlier but i was warned she may not be able to control her bowel, she has had no bad effects at all and she is a much happier little girl no problems with controlling her bowels, hope this helps !!!

[JeffandAnnie]

My Irish setter had hers removed (many years ago) when she was about a year old. It resolved all the issues she had and she was right as rain ever after.

[carol pearson]

My Ozzy has had one of his glands removed today because of a lump so I am really pleased to read all these positive posts.

It does look quite nasty and I have been told to keep the area clean especially if he does a runny poo.

Sleepless night tonight has I have taken his buster collar off, I think they sometimes cause more stress.