Anal Gland Issues - Please help

[Coolafancy Zoe]

My little Zoe has been having some anal glands issues. Just over a month ago she was smelling fishy and I did some reading to confirm that it was her anal glands. So I externally expressed them and then she was fine no more fishy smell. Last week she was smelling again and so I decided to take her to the vet to make sure that that there was nothing wrong and he said that they just needed to be emptied again. So he did the internal expressing (Zoe was very very good about it, she didn't even move once) and said that since it was my first time expressing a dogs anal glands I probably didn't empty them all the way even though I told him I had and nothing else would come out. He said she would be fine and there was nothing to worry about.
Well yesterday she started smelling fishy again, so I called up the vets office and told the assistant that I wanted to bring her in and have him culture some of the secretion or run a blood panel to make sure that there was no underlying cause to make her keep getting this. He said that he wants to sedate her to check but I have never heard about sedating a dog for and anal gland problem and I dont want to do anything unnecessary.
So last night I gave her only canned Wellness (she is usually on dry kibble from By Nature) and added some flax seed for more fiber and this morning there is barely any fishy smell. I am going to keep feeding her only this until I find out what is wrong.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do? What not to do? What could be causing this? Should I let the vet sedate her?

Zoe and I would greatly appreciate anything.

[Mardelin]

Originally Posted by Coolafancy Zoe

My little Zoe has been having some anal glands issues. Just over a month ago she was smelling fishy and I did some reading to confirm that it was her anal glands. So I externally expressed them and then she was fine no more fishy smell. Last week she was smelling again and so I decided to take her to the vet to make sure that that there was nothing wrong and he said that they just needed to be emptied again. So he did the internal expressing (Zoe was very very good about it, she didn't even move once) and said that since it was my first time expressing a dogs anal glands I probably didn't empty them all the way even though I told him I had and nothing else would come out. He said she would be fine and there was nothing to worry about.
Well yesterday she started smelling fishy again, so I called up the vets office and told the assistant that I wanted to bring her in and have him culture some of the secretion or run a blood panel to make sure that there was no underlying cause to make her keep getting this. He said that he wants to sedate her to check but I have never heard about sedating a dog for and anal gland problem and I dont want to do anything unnecessary.
So last night I gave her only canned Wellness (she is usually on dry kibble from By Nature) and added some flax seed for more fiber and this morning there is barely any fishy smell. I am going to keep feeding her only this until I find out what is wrong.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do? What not to do? What could be causing this? Should I let the vet sedate her?

Zoe and I would greatly appreciate anything.

I would let them go ahead and check her fully, better err on the side of caution. The fishy smell could be an underlying infection. So, have her checked.

[mommy2bella]

From the "fishy smell" words, I am betting on an infection. If you don't want to sedate her, get a 2nd opinon from another vet. That may be the best bet and will cover all the basis and make sure she is healthy and happy!

Good luck!

[Wylie's Mom]

Does he mean general anesthesia - or just light sedation? If light sedation, it may be worth doing - but what exactly does he want to do, I wonder? Anal gland issues can often be cleared up with diet, unless there is something structural going on. Is poo consistency good, in general?

[Coolafancy Zoe]

Thanks for the replies so far everyone! The vet tech told us that our vet said that he wanted to sedate her so he could "take a look". Her poo is of good consistency. But she normal only poos once a day I am trying to feed her more small meals (she is a bit of a picky eater some times) so she sometimes goes twice. Do you think this could be the reason she has problems?

If anyone thinks of anything else please let me know.

[Mardelin]

Originally Posted by Coolafancy Zoe

Thanks for the replies so far everyone! The vet tech told us that our vet said that he wanted to sedate her so he could "take a look". Her poo is of good consistency. But she normal only poos once a day I am trying to feed her more small meals (she is a bit of a picky eater some times) so she sometimes goes twice. Do you think this could be the reason she has problems?

If anyone thinks of anything else please let me know.

Some yorkies glands require expressing more than others. However, some with issues have been known to have their glands become impacted and/or burst and you don't want that happening. I'm sure he want to make sure he just wants to take a look see. May be as simple as an infection, then he'll prescribe an antibiotic that you'll administer once a day into the rectal area.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Coolafancy Zoe

Thanks for the replies so far everyone! The vet tech told us that our vet said that he wanted to sedate her so he could "take a look". Her poo is of good consistency. But she normal only poos once a day I am trying to feed her more small meals (she is a bit of a picky eater some times) so she sometimes goes twice. Do you think this could be the reason she has problems?

If anyone thinks of anything else please let me know.

Okay, well this sounds like light sedation, which is far more safe than general. If you don't think it's diet related, then it'd be a good idea to let him take a look at the area, structurally.

Some dogs do just poo once a day, so I don't think that's a huge concern - unless she isn't pooing bc of constipation or structural issue.

If her diet is irritating her (certain ingredients), then that could easily irritate the system, and cause clogged anal glands. What are the ingredients of what you're feeding and how long have you been feeding this? Is this issue new or old? If you fed something different before, did she still have this issue? And how old is she?

[Coolafancy Zoe]

Here are the ingredients and guaranteed analysis of her food:

Ingredients: Chicken Meal, Ground Barley, Ground Oats, Ground Brown Rice, Chicken Fat (Stabilized with Mixed Tocopherols), Lamb Meal, Chicken, Flaxseed Meal, Tomato Pomace, Natural Flavors, Alfalfa Meal, Yeast Culture, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Fish Oil, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Blueberries, Cranberries, Dried Chicory Root, Raspberries, Turmeric, Niacin Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, d–Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Selenium Yeast, Sodium Selenite, Rosemary Extract, Dried Yeast Fermentation Solubles.


* Crude Protein (minimum)22%
* Crude Fat (minimum)14%
* Crude Fiber (maximum)4%
* Moisture (maximum)10%
* Copper (minimum)25 mg/kg
* Manganese (minimum)35 mg/kg
* Zinc (minimum)170 mg/kg
* Vitamin A (minimum)12,100 IU/kg
* Vitamin E (minimum)275 IU/kg
* Taurine (minimum)*0.03%
* Omega-3 Fatty Acids (min.)*0.32%
* Omega-6 Fatty Acids (min.)*2.47%

* Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles.



Zoe has been on this food for about 2 months. Yes this is a new issue for her. When it happened a month ago it was the first time she had this issue. She never had this problem with the last food but our other yorkie Smartie gets stomach and diarrhea issues with the other food (Wellness) and we had to switch. Zoe is 1 year and 7 months.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Coolafancy Zoe

Zoe has been on this food for about 2 months. Yes this is a new issue for her. When it happened a month ago it was the first time she had this issue. She never had this problem with the last food

This could be the key right here - what exactly were you feeding before? (may be able to find one that works for both dogs)

[Coolafancy Zoe]

I had been trying different foods with them for Smarties stomach issue and Zoe being picky . The last three were Wellness- Just for puppy (dry), Blue Wilderness (dry), and Hill's® Science Diet® Adult Small Bites. Sometimes they would get one or the other and sometimes they would get a mixture to keep variety in their diet as Zoe gets bored with food really quickly.

She has been on only Wellness canned food (with some added ground flax seed) since yesterday afternoon and isn't smelly anymore. You are right it is probably the food.
Quick question, if she had an underlying infection, would she smell fishy for a day and then not smell or would the smell continue until the problem is fixed?

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Coolafancy Zoe

I had been trying different foods with them for Smarties stomach issue and Zoe being picky . The last three were Wellness- Just for puppy (dry), Blue Wilderness (dry), and Hill's® Science Diet® Adult Small Bites. Sometimes they would get one or the other and sometimes they would get a mixture to keep variety in their diet as Zoe gets bored with food really quickly.

She has been on only Wellness canned food (with some added ground flax seed) since yesterday afternoon and isn't smelly anymore. You are right it is probably the food.
Quick question, if she had an underlying infection, would she smell fishy for a day and then not smell or would the smell continue until the problem is fixed?

It's hard to say. She could have an infection w/out smelling fishy. The fishiness could be solely from packed anal glands.

So, of those 3 foods - did any work for Smartie? If there is a food that worked for Smartie, and the food was better for Zoe's glands - then that's the one you should feed and/or try to find one w/ similar ingredients.

W. the wellness canned - this tells me she may have been in need or more moisture in the diet, to avoid constipation.

[mkbartz]

Originally Posted by Coolafancy Zoe

Here are the ingredients and guaranteed analysis of her food:

Ingredients: Chicken Meal, Ground Barley, Ground Oats, Ground Brown Rice, Chicken Fat (Stabilized with Mixed Tocopherols), Lamb Meal, Chicken, Flaxseed Meal, Tomato Pomace, Natural Flavors, Alfalfa Meal, Yeast Culture, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Fish Oil, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Blueberries, Cranberries, Dried Chicory Root, Raspberries, Turmeric, Niacin Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, d–Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Selenium Yeast, Sodium Selenite, Rosemary Extract, Dried Yeast Fermentation Solubles.


* Crude Protein (minimum)22%
* Crude Fat (minimum)14%
* Crude Fiber (maximum)4%
* Moisture (maximum)10%
* Copper (minimum)25 mg/kg
* Manganese (minimum)35 mg/kg
* Zinc (minimum)170 mg/kg
* Vitamin A (minimum)12,100 IU/kg
* Vitamin E (minimum)275 IU/kg
* Taurine (minimum)*0.03%
* Omega-3 Fatty Acids (min.)*0.32%
* Omega-6 Fatty Acids (min.)*2.47%

* Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles.

There is Yeast in her food and grains. A lot of dogs have issues with those. I know, it seems odd that brown rice could irritate a dog--but it does to some of mine.

Although you should always talk to your vet, I would recommend switching her a GRAIN FREE AND YEAST FREE brand (I say Wellness because I the most familiar with their food and have great results with it).

I have Prissy on "Wellness CORE Deboned Turkey and Whitefish". The reason I like this food is because IT IS GRAIN FREE. FREE OF ALL GRAINS. It has potatoes in it.

Now that particular one I have Prissy on is Low-Fat (she had some weight issues). But not all of Wellness CORE products are Low-Fat.