Anal glands

[PIGEON]

HI
once again back to vets have anal glands emptied on my 2 half years old german shepard bitch. its seem it every 4 weeks, vets says anal gland cannot be express externally , anal glands can only be express by internal .
dogs find this very painful. vet does not recommend removal of anal glands.
looking for advice

[Tedsmum]

Hi
I certainly would not consider that painful and invasive operation until I had tried lots of other options.
The anal glands are expressed when a solid poo passes through the anus and squeezes the contents out. They then leave their smelly deposit on the poo as a scent message to anyone who comes accross it.
If a dog has soft poo or even a bought of the squits, the anal glands are not expressed and they can become full and irritating.
You could try to add some bran to your dog's food, just a small amount, and see if this increases the bulk of his poo and the consistencey. Be warned though, he will produce more poos per day with extra bran. Alternatively, raw feeding always produces a much harder poo.
Try a gradual diet change and see if it improves.

[sami]

Agree with Gill.

We do seem to be talking about anal glands a lot lately, lovely subject

[Moobli]

I have to agree with what has already been said. Add bran, or feed bones regularly.

[Manchester-Mike]

do all GSD needs their glands emptying I know my aunty used to have to have her cocker spaniel done quite regularly

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Manchester-Mike

do all GSD needs their glands emptying I know my aunty used to have to have her cocker spaniel done quite regularly

Mine have never needed it, but there again I raw feed, so its very unlikely that they would need it

In fact I have never had a dog that has needed it done, and I have had dogs all my life.

[lauraburns]

None of my dogs have ever needed there's done, but it seems that some digs are more prone to it than others, so I guess I may have been lucky!!

[Beki]

Thing with anal glands is that if you empty them once it tends to be that you will then have to continually empty them. It used to be done as part of the groom if taken to a groomers but even this has stopped due to the complex nature of doing it. Yes with larger dogs you do have to put yr finger in and do it that way where as smaller dogs can be done externally. As said while pooing the glands should be naturally expressed and no need for human interference (not sure id be to happy having it done either!)

[wildmoor]

Originally Posted by Stuart

Mine have never needed it, but there again I raw feed, so its very unlikely that they would need it

In fact I have never had a dog that has needed it done, and I have had dogs all my life.

In the 80's I fed complete early 90's home cooked then switched to raw for 15 years, for the last 4 1/2 years complete again and no matter what I feed I have never had a dog that as had to have them expressed manualy

[LOVEGSD]

Diesel has been fed dry complete and raw and he's never needed his glands emptying.

Tracy - There is so much talk of anal glands on here atm glad I'm not about to have my lunch