One more time
 

Oh no, it happened again. Last Saturday Lexi Bleu was feeling kind of frumpy when she woke up. She seemed a bit preoccupied with her bottom. So off to the ER we went. The vet took a look and said her anal gland on the left side was the size of a walnut. :eek: We didn't see anything like that at all. He said he would like to put her out to express it. He said she would be very uncomfortable if she was awake. We decided no. She didn't look real uncomfortable. We took her home with an antibiotic and pain meds. I soaked her bottom a few times on Saturday and Sunday. I took her in on Monday to see her regular vet. He said yep she had an abcess again, but she was healing up well. No expression necessary and definately no anesthetic. Put a little neosporin on the sore and she should be just fine. Sure enough. Thursday night it is and she is healing up very nicely. Glad we didn't go with his idea.

Anal glands can be dealt with in a few different ways, and they can be very painful in some dogs. Glad you were able to nurse her through, hopefully she'll grow out of this. Spme thoughts are that additional fiber in the diet can keep the glands flowing freely. My first Yorkie had 4 episodes inn one year, she was 4yo at the time, and then fine for the rest of her life! She passed at 14yo.

Glad she is okay. REALLY glad it wasn't painful bc it sounds like it would've been so terribly painful given the amount of swelling.

Since this is recurring, have you changed diets yet? This could all be due to her system not agreeing w/ something in her current diet.

Poor Lexi Bleu! I am very happy to hear she is healing and did not require sedation for expressing the gland.

My boys are pad and outdoor trained. They express their glands naturally, but they won't do it inside. When we missed a bunch of walks because of weather, I started to worry about this. Teddy started looking a little puffy.

I hope you can find what works for Lexi and hopefully prevent this from happening again.

I asked the vet about a change in diet. He said it wasn't necessary as long as her poops are formed and solid, which they are. He said some dogs just have a problems with this. He said wait a bit longer and we can address the options. She eats a variety of different things including carrots and green beans. She's not much of a fruit eater. I will keep a better eye on things and have the vet check them more often. And make sure the groomer is expressing them.

I respectfully disagree strongly w/ your vet. If/when anal glad issues are recurrent, it is most definitely worth a diet change (rather than risk more gland issues) to see if it's a certain ingredient that is causing the anal gland issues. Again, said respectfully :).

I agree. From PetDiets - VNC putting your pet's health first .. for more than 20 yrs!

Is there anything they could do perhaps with diet to help the anal glands express more naturally. I have heard that fiber when added to food helps by forcing pressure on the glands. Is this true?


Yes ... often times titrating the fiber content of the diet until you get the best results is successful.


You can experiment with this by feeding FIBER ONE or ALL BRAN breakfast cereal. For the average 30 lb dog, start off with ~1 Tsp/day and increase it by 1 Tsp weekly and see if things improve up to 6 tsp in total.

I've seen quite a few posts where members have said their vets don't believe any change in diet is helpful. I also disagree with this. Especially as size and firmness are relative to one's interpretation and description... I've also seen where small, hard BMs are considered good.... but not what I like to see. It also depends on the size of the dog. They need a poop large enough in diameter and firm enough to exert pressure on the glands, which in turn causes the glands to express.

Thanks everybody for your helpful ideas. The vet did ask me about her poop size and consistency. Lexi has a pretty good size poo for a 5 pound dog. It is always well formed. This is what I described to him when he asked. He said it is a solid well formed poop that can help in expressing the anal glands. He said however, it doesn't work with all dogs. He said to bring her in in a few weeks and he will check just to make sure everything is a okay.

When our Yorkie was a year old, she had surgery to remove her anal glands. Over the course of that year she went from needing the vet to express the glands every 6-8 weeks to needing it done 2-3 times per week! After the surgery the vet said that it was a problem that never would have resolved on its own.
Our only issue now is that she's afraid when she has a BM. She starts on her potty pad but then acts like she's scared and starts running while going, often leaving a trail of poo from the pad. :(

Last week my Cavalier decided he'd rather not go outside to potty so he went poo on the downstairs potty pad. Puff, the Yorkie, saw me praising Luke for going on the pad (and not in the floor which he does occasionally). For some reason she never has a BM downstairs, she always uses the pad upstairs. A few minutes after I took care of Luke's poo she came and got me, and sure enough she had had a BM on her pad downstairs. She was prancing around like she was a little princess so proud of herself! She is the funniest little thing--she keeps me laughing all day!

Good luck with the anal gland issue. I was very disappointed at the lack of good info available on anal gland problems. If I can be of any help please PM me.

Thanks so much for the offer. If I have more problems I can certainly contact you. I really trust the knowledgeable people on here that commented. They know what they are talking about. A lot of them have had experience with so many things. It is definately something I thought about and that is why I asked my vet about a food change. My vet can monitor this situation for Lexi. And if I have questions, I'll certainly come here for advice. Thanks again.