Ebony had to have her anal glands cleared yesterday because i noticed a foul smell from her back end . I asked the vet if she needed more fibre in her diet to help them and he said by all means try it but I don't think it matters, some dogs are prone to it

What does everyone else think?

 

Hi Ella,
Maybe some are prone to it, but I would think they were the very ones who need a change in diet!! :) I'd say more fibre and raw meaty bones are the best things to help. My Springer used to have slight gland trouble and now she has chicken wings every day and bones to knaw she hasn't had any trouble.

Kath. (I'm in West Yorks too :) )

I used to have a dobe and my ex and i drew straws to see whose turn it was to do the glands,vet told us the secret is a figure of 8,yuk :D :D

Hi Kath
I will try the chicken wings but what sort of bones do you get? If it becomes a problem i would ask the vet to show me how it's done as i was charged £8 for the privilige.
I loved to be on a farm when i younger being around horses,dogs,pigs,ducks,geese and the fresh air ( not that you get much on a farm)was great.My best friends dad owned a  farm
and i was there every day after school ,at weekends i never went home.

Thanks for the advice ,much appreciated

Ella x.

Ahh, there's nothing like the country life,  eh?  :D

This has some info on types of bones to give. The main point though,  is *never* give cooked bones. :)

http://www.k9rawdiet.com/bones.htm

Kath.x

My 9yr old mongrel suffered with anal gland probs since a young age, we tried extra fibre, changing her foods etc & it didn`t help. I do think some dogs are more prone to it than others but she hasn`t had any more probs with them for more than 2yrs now & that was when I changed her diet to raw foods including bones :)

Christine, Spain.

If I was to introduce raw bones in my dogs diet what should I start with and can I get then from normal supermarkets or do I need an old fashioned butchers shop.

chicken wings from Tesco! :)

I get my chicken wings from Morrisons £1.09 a kilo. :) Bones I get free from a farm shop. :) :)

Kath

Christine

As you seem to be an expert on anal glands :) can you give me some advice ? My younger one (18 months) sometimes empties her own anal glands - she will go for a long while without seeming to need to do it, then we get that awful smell as she is licking her bum :D Has she actually got a problem that I should be doing something about (she does eat a raw food diet, so should get plenty of roughage) - or is it OK that she just needs to do it once in a while ?

Thanks

Daisy

LOL@ *expert on anal glands* :D I`m not an expert on anything Daisy, except maybe my dogs :) They`re the experts & teach me!
All my lot empty their anal glands when they do a no.2, I see a little liquid squirt out to the side when they do & it`s not urine, thats the way it`s supposed to be. They don`t do it every time tho, just sometimes.
One of the ways to tell if the glands are full is the dog scooting & dragging it`s bum along the floor or maybe turning round & biting/nibbling, if she`s only licking could be she`s cleaning up after herself. If she isn`t doing those things then you`ve got nothing to worry about & she`s doing it herself, as long as they are emptied everything should be fine. I think it`s the firmness of the poop, when feeding bones, that makes them empty naturally. As for the smell I believe when they are emptied manually they really pong but since I don`t smell I don`t know :D Can you try to get her to do it outside?

Christine, Spain.

Thanks , Christine :) If she is going to do it - she usually does it while sitting at my feet as I am on CD :D She doesn't scoot and most of the time she doesn't seem to have a problem, I'll try to see if there is a pattern to it and may be up the bones a bit - she gets a mixture of bones and AMP raw meat. Perhaps she needs more bones and veg. Older dog never has a problem, so I was surprised when she first did this - fortunately it's not a regular thing and seems to happen a couple of times and then stop. With a fluffy bum it's difficult to see what's happening when she does a poo :D

Thanks again

Daisy

hi there. last year my gsd bitch had anal gland problems which caused a very nasty infection .she had to be operated on to clean it all up. then a friend mentioned changing her food to burns which i did and have never looked back .maybe it was just a coincidence but anything is worth a try .hope everything works out  fine