Hi Guys :)
Just wondered if you could tell me HOW you would know if your dogs Anal glands need emptying.( :rolleyes: @ me) :D
Is it obvious? What do you look for.?
The reason I ask is because I noticed Ruby has like a bulge (seems fluidy!!) on her back end.
Does this sound like it could be? and if it is, could that be why she suffers from vile wind :D
I am phoning the vet today, I don't like bulges :D
Thanks
Ali :)

I would LOVE to listen in on that phone call :D :D
Liz:)

:D :D Liz
Ifi email you my vets number, you can ring her!!! hehehe :p :D :D :D

Tee hee:D

One of the ways you can tell is is Ruby doing the bottom scoot?:D

If she was doing it you'd know what I mean;)

Nah You can do it Ali but please let me know what the first sentence was :D :D
Liz

Hi ali, you can do it yourself. I get hubby to do mauser, as he has had probs with his glands. I can't seem to get it right (well* he* believes me:D), but he does it no probs, he squeezes the anus in and then expresses out, (like milking) the glands are just about visable at the rim of the anus roughly at 3o'clock and 8 o'clock at least they are on Maumau. At the mo. he is being emptied approx every 6 weeks, as he doesn't seem able to expell them himself anymore? I have been to the vets several times about it, last time cos he had been biting at his rear and was looking really sore. The vet just says its his glands, empties them and told me to empty them myself whenever it arose, it seems just over every month now, and Mausers white fur around his rear end is quite pinky stained now, from all the licking and biting. They can remove the glands but as he isn't getting infected I am reluctant to put him through this op and it only takes a couple of mins to 'do' him. But is this common, to have to do it so frequently, or is doing it making it worse? Ali, I'll delete and start a new thread if this is cheeky? let me know, its no prob. Just thought I'd ask mine while you were asking about yours. I don't want to hijack yours so, just say - Julie:)

Just remembered something! DD used to have this problem about as frequently as your dog Julie, but one thing that improved it was Weetabix:) When he went to my friends fo his hols he dog has breakfast (Weetabix with milk). DD didn't used to have breakfast but you can't give one without the other can you? So she used to give him a dry Weetabix (he wasn't used to milk) and we carried it on. Think it must have been the extra roufage (sp) that helped.

Do you reckon weetabix are fattening? Trying to keep Barney on a diet but he ends up not eating ANYTHING all day (wont eat boiled chicken etc in the mornings) and then gets miserable and edgy waiting for his dinner when I get home. And husband feels sorry for him and give him a slice of toast with butter!!! Thought weetabix might fill him up a bit without putting on too much weight.

Gina

Well I don't think so Gina (well so long as you don't put full fat milk and half a bag of suger on them!). We had to watch DD's weight too. It's also a food that you can give to babies so I'd like to think there isn't too much salt in it etc.

I'll give him one in the morning then and hope he eats it. Its amazing how touchy he gets when he wants to. He walks around the house like a child wondering what mischief to do next (shall I give Molly a push, kill a toy, keep going to the back door so that I open it and then come straight back in again so I have to shut it again and again). And he still hasnt lost any weight poor babe :)
Gina

Weetabix are a great, low fat, food and full of fibre which will also help with any anal sac problems :)

Well, if she's that 'pooky', and you try to expundge the glands, make certain you are wearing rubber gloves and somewhere easily washable for her backside and the area around... tub?

It will be nasty and smelly, if that's her problem :( :( It could also squirt, so don't be anywhere near it!! I usually do it from the 'top' ....dog's head facing me and I lift the tail from above. It's fairly safe that way.
Sorry to get so graphic...but better to be safe than sorry with this 'close encounter' :P ;) :D

Yep I second toodles, Ali - DONT BE LOOKING REAL CLOSE WHEN YOU DO IT - you will regret it I promise LOL :D :D It might be worth speaking to the vet though just in case. Julie:)

Hope no one is eating.........when DD used to get his done at the vets he used to ermmmmm tidy up afterwards euchhh!

Oh Yuck I dont care how much it would cost but if it needs doing on my two they are going to the vet - my husband would faint if I asked him to do it and I definitely couldnt!!! :D

Gina

PS Glad we dont have them - although Eog will probably tell me we do have something similar somewhere :D :D :D :) :)

Well I'm sorry but the day I have to do that to murph is the day I get a hamster :D
There is no way that I could perform such a function
Liz

Luckily , when we take Thug to the groomers ..SHE checks out his anal glands ;) She reckons it is less stinky if they need doing (Hudsons havent yet) if they are done in the bath ;)

Melody

EEEEUUUWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW :( :( :(
I AM NOT doing it. :D
For Love nor money :p Yuck, I feel quite ill. Its one thing picking up for them, Squeezing it out the the little b*****s is quite another :p :D :D

Thanks all, and Ali for not minding! I'll try weetabix! Let you all know if it makes a difference, and it will save on the cost of disposable rubber gloves (for some reason hubby insists on them! LOL) Julie:)

Hi Julie :)
Course I don't mind. Its not like you went off subject ;) (and what a nice subject :D )
Besides all advice helps me too. :)
Ali :)

So what did the vet say Ali --Have you been for a pair of Marigolds ? :D

:p @ Liz :D

I don't need any marigolds :D

The weetabix does work wonders ..... the extra fibre helps with the bowl movements :D :D

My late bitch's anal glands used to impact frequently and need emptying on average every fortnight. I could feel when either one or both were full. There wasn't a visible bulge but if I gently pressed the area around the anus I could feel the impacted gland. Alternatively she used to scoot if I hadn't checked them for a few days for her.
It doesn't do any harm to express them anyway as long as you do not over squeeze or incorrectly squeeze as you can damage the tissue and cause discomfort and injury. If they really don't need doing then no fluid will come out and no harm done, but if they are starting to fill up then you can empty them before they become uncomfortable.
I check all my dogs glands regularly now :)

Hi Everyone :D

:o :o :o :o How stoopid am I????? :o :o :D

She hasn't got blocked Anal Glands
She just has a Pert Boxer Bottom :o :D :D :D

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :D

I feel very ill!! after reading all those. My brother in law just took his dog to vet to have anal glands done - it cost him £80 but after reading above I think I will be paying if my dog ever needs doing. Yuk.

Karen.

£80 to have his anal glands emptied?! My vet just does them when necessary in an ordinary consultation fee. Won't do it myself, no matter how much he charges though!:(
LynnT

I think he needed antibiotics as well and an injection - does sound expensive but thought it was just the cost of having it done - anyway hope I dont have to cough up that much although I would if had to.
Karen.

Karen, I think your brother in law was ripped off because I had to take my dog to the vet today, it ended up that she had blocked anal glands and the vet sorted it out, gave her a jab of an antibiotic and some tablets and charged me £23.

Ali _I'm so glad to hear of Ruby's *pert boxer bottom* :D

And good Luck with Lucy as well :)
Liz