Anal Glands

[YorkieShadow]

I have never smelled any bad oders with my two and never had to do this or have it done. The vet has never said they needed it when they go in for check ups.

[chechinmipo]

Oh God! I did this to Ruby today when I was bathing her. Almost nothing came out but what ever did smelled like rotten codliver oit.

[alisonJ]

Edie had one episode of abcessed anal glands. I noticed that she had been licking that area a lot. The next day I saw a big red bump off to one side of her anus (it was only visible when her tail was up). It looked really painful. I knew what it was, and took her to the vet immediately.

The vet lput her under with gas and then he lanced the abcessed gland so it could drain. There was not much drainage, but every day 3 times per day I held warm compresses to the area to help it drain. The vet put her on antibiotics and it healed up nicely. This incident was over 3 years ago, and there has been no recurrence.

I would not try to express anal glands myself. It is my understanding that if the stools are firm then the stools press against the glands on the way out and some of the fluid is excreted with the stool. If things are working properly, my vet says you don't need to do regular expressing.

Some dogs seem to have recurring problems with the anal glands, and I have heard that they can be removed, but this would be an extreme case.

[golfwidow14]

Originally Posted by YorkieRose

Anal glands are one of those things that are best left alone UNLESS there is a problem. You know how many years I have had Yorkies..I can count on one hand the dogs who needed regular expressing. BUT a few do from time to time...if it is not broke, don't mess with it.
For some reason, the more you express, the more they need it.
If your dog has a good diet with fiber, the glands express naturally with a bowel movement..but they can clog and cause an impaction..so just watch them to see.
Kate is 8 months now...I have checked her glands a few times, they noraml in size and there is no odor..so no reason to express.

It is like pulling hair from the ears..some ears are prone to infection and must have the hair removed, others never have a problem and pulling hair out causes problems...
I have seen breeders expressing the glands of 12 week pups..rarely, rarely needed.

I was just going to say the same thing. They can check to see if they need expressed and if they feel fine leave them alone. The more you do it (if it's not necessary) the more they fill up and need done.