Has anyone been through this?
 

Yesterday I noticed Cody was walking funny or rather was attempting to walk but for whatever reason as he tried to walk to me his butt was not aligned with his body. He was walking almost in an L shape, because his butt was more to the right. So I freaked! I called my 18 year old and asked her if at any time had Cody fallen possibly injuring himself, she replied no. Now, she has the tendency of taking him out of his crate and night and sleeping with him on her queen size bed. And believe it or not Cody has jumped off the bed. So I am thinking, Oh Lord he knocked his hip or kneecap out of place. So all of a sudden....he stops walking! He started dragging his bottom around! Anytime I would call him to me he would run to me, now he was dragging himself to me. So I called the vet but they were getting ready to close. His deameanor was the same, he was his usual playful self only that he just would not walk right. He didnt know if he wanted to walk or bite on his booty. I monitored him all day long and just like that he was fine. He was back to running, jumping, playing---his usual.
I am getting back from the vet this morning and this is what happened. Legs are fine, hips are fine, anal glands.... not so fine. The vet said his Right Anal Gland was impacted and he expressed it, GROSSSSSS!!!!!! The material squirted out, as per the vet when normal glands are expressed they leak, Cody' shot out which indicated an impaction. I have to observe for scooting which he said would be normal for the next 24 hours after that he shouldnt scoot. He said if it continued Cody would need to be xrayed. Fecal sample was negative, this appears to be the problem. But keeping my fingers crossed that it isnt anything else.

Bella gets expressed every time she goes to the groomers. I freaked out the first time I saw her scoot. But did a lil research and immediately scheduled a grooming session. I do a lot of gross stuff at work (nurse) I just dont like to do it to my baby!!;)

How oten should there glands be messaged:rolleyes: ? My groomer does it.. But just wondering how often should it be done?

I read somewhere that it shouldn't be done regularly as that can cause infections. They normally clear that when they poop with the forcing. Gonna go back and see if I find that.

some dogs never have problems to where they have to be cleaned...sometimes, if they get inpacted, they can rupture, this happened to my moms shih tzu, when i was driving her down to SC from Illinois(a 14 hour drive), we were only a few hours from her house, and they ruptured, and you talk about a stinking mess and I had to smell that for about another 7-8 hours..not pleasant

IMO emptying anal glands when it's not needed can cause problems. When they have solid bm's they wil empty on their own. If their bm's are soft or they get diahrrea they sometimes don't get emptied naturally and this happens. If they are not having solid stools check them daily to see if they need expressed.

I had another yorkie a few years ago (she now lives with my mother) and she started walking funny like that and scooting. My grandparents bred yorkies for many years so my mom knew what it was and how to fix it, so she expressed the anal gland herself and vomited hahaha. We just took her to the groomer from then on.

You should be alright, it's very common.

According to the vet, once upon a time when canines were wild, they excreted that material to mark their territory. Since being domesticated anal glands continue existing only that they dont excrete this thing. Some will get impacted others may never have this problem. Hopefully with Cody it was just this one time incident and then never again!!! But if it should happen, it's back to the Vet.

I am so glad that I read this thread. Murfee has been scooting for the last couple of days. I called the vet but they are closed on Saturday so will have to wait until Monday. See I learned something new again today. YT is awesome.

Ask the vet to show you how it's done. It's a good thing to know.

Ellie's have never been expressed. She does scoot sometimes but her vets feels that if you start, you can usually never stop. There is a fine line though between letting it go and letting it go too far and them getting impacted. If Ellie's don't get really large, I will probably never have it done.

THat's exactly what happened to Teddy about two months ago. All the same symptoms. I ended up taking him to an E-vet in the middle of the night. They expressed the glands, definitely gross! and did an x-ray to see if there was any blockage because what they got out of him was string and aluminum foil. I still haven't figured out when/where/how he ate those things because I don't have them in the house, but he hasn't had any further problems so far. Good luck !

i have learned a lots from these post so glad im a member i would have never thought it to be a problem with dj scooting on the floor so now im gonna look into this and watch him for further issues....

If he is scooting its best to take him in and get them expressed because waiting can cause much bigger problems.