Bear has a little "personal" problem

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joeanne

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So, today the Bear has had to go to the vets.
Last night saw him doing "scoots" out in the garden and as this is the 3rd time in 18 months we knew what it was, and booked him straight in for this morning.
He has again got infected anal glands (apparently they are set too deep?).
1st time they were full of pus, but a 10 day course sorted it out.
2nd time we saw the signs, and caught it early on and the vet gave him a 3 week course of antirobe.
Its only been 3 months since the last episode, and again he is on a 3 week course of anti's.
The vet wants to remove the glands if he gets this again, but is this going to have any long term/short term (other than soreness) for Bear? Or anything we could give him to prevent this?
 
Joanne, the anal glands are the ones that give dogs their own "distinctive"!! scent - they are the reason that dogs sniff each others bottoms in greeting and also why they tend to have a sniff at other dogs' poo - the glands secrete a small amount of fluid each time the dog poos. The only repercussion really is that Bear will no longer be wearing his own perfume, but I'm sure he won't be aware of this.

Hope it goes okay for him.
 
Bleugh!! & don't they stink !!! Anal gland removal is fiddley operation & is not without its potential complications, why dont you discuss an alternative treatment with your vet? he might suggest sedation and flush the glands and then pack with antibiotic ointment this might help get to the "seat" of the infection!! If it turns out to be a chronic problem then AG removal might be the best alternative.
Dietary changes could help - try increasing the fibre in the diet to bulk out the faeces which in turn will express the glands as he poos ...nice huh! You could try an additive like.......Protexin pro fibre which can be mixed in wet or dry food. Either way Good luck & I hope he feels better soon. Dx
 
The problem is growing because with moden dog food the stools are soft. The anal gland evolved to help expel hard stools from a natural diet of raw meat and bone. Raw fed dogs expel hard chalk like stools and they need help in the form of "grease" from the anal gland to do this.

In some dogs the inactivity of the gland causes these problems, often in smaller dogs which if you think about it potentially need more help to do this with hard stools, having a smaller exit!!!

I had a dog from resue with the same problem, it was gone in 3 weeks having changed her straight onto raw.

If you don't want to go raw entirely try some raw lamb bones and see what happens, but never feed them anywhere near dry food or cooked food.
 
Ditto. I don't feed a raw diet but mine do have bones, dogs on complete feeds produce soft stools whichjust don't help expel the anal glands. A change in diet or just the addition of bones will help Bear, havign said that I do know of dogs who have had the op successfully, but I think it is quite painful, and there is a risk of infection as obviously it is a less than sterile area.
 
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