Has anyone had experience of anal glands? I am sure there will be some of you out there.My dog has got an infection in his at the moemnt, never had this problem before although I know people who have had  this with their dogs. Some say to increase the bran /roughage in their diet. Does this help??.

Althouth he is on a dry food, and likes brown bread!, if anyone has any suggestions,on how it has helped their dog., it will be much appreciated.Vet was saying this morning that they can "flush" them out if they get a problem but before I go down that road if there is something that can be done more naturally I will.
Many Thanks.

Yes, one of my girls got an abscess in one of her glands, which formed and burst within 8 hours. She'd shown none of the classic signs of anal discomfort (scooting, nibbling etc) so it was a great shock. I had to bathe the abscess, keeping it open all the time and fill it with antibiotic cream for three days before it was allowed to close and heal. I now have to check that her glands are empty once a month - not a fun job, but worthwhile.

Hi Hairydog,
My dog has the same problem at the moment and my vet sent of a swab to culture and it came back with what Antibiotics would help.
Flushing them out is more of a last resort if treatment doesnt work,but let me tell you,Anal gland infections can take a while to sort out.
My dogs has been ongoing for about three months and we are just coming to end(fingers crossed}
All the best for you dogs speedy recovery.

Jonelle

Hi hairy dog, i've went they vet with two of my dog on Monday the Westie has anal gland trouble to be honest though i thougt he had worms so i wormed him, no joy there so i took him the vet on Monday because he had been licking at his bum, they emptyied them as they were full, she also adviced me to feed bran, but according to my sister bran isn't good for them as it stops them absorbing calcium, he's now on antibiotics, but he's still licking at his bum, so i think i'll be going the vet again myself if he doesn't stop doing it after his antibiotics have finished.  All bran will do is make the dogs stools harder, then the stool should make the glands empty when the dog relieves it self.

Warm regards Susan

As I understand it the issue with bran and children is that they need higher levels of calcium for their growing bones.  I suppose this could apply to puppies too but I don't think a little given to adults is going to upset things too much.  I just look for a complete food with at least 3% fibre that way the companies qualified nutritionists have worked out that the balance of nutrients is sufficiently in balance with that and certainly for my dogs that has worked out very well in terms of well being and problem free anal glands.

Yep we had problems a while ago and the vet wanted to opperate. I told her that I could not understand how it was necessary as dogs in the wild cannot possibly suffer such problems. Went away and did my research, yes it is roughage but also volume, my lab could live on thin air and was not passing enough out the other end. So I now feed a dried food but with a low protein content - he just dosent need it. Together with porrige made with water occaisionally and chicken wings about once a week. Just out of interest I have been really busy lately and OH has been feeding most of the time, needless to say it has not included chicken wings and porrige, last night he started showing shgns of anal problems again, so I will be straight down the butchers today to restock before it cost more money at the vet!

It is the bones in the chicken wings that are helping.  In the wild the main roughage would be small bones and feathers/fur.  Our dogs already get mostly grain in their feed when we feed commercial food.

Many thanks to those of you who replied.Today no licking etc, back to vet this aft for follow up constult,etc,back to his usual bouncy self and eating well. He does like brown bread so I think I will try the roughage option as its makes sense.
Thanks once again all.

My dog had problems with his anal glands where he developed an abscess and it burst.  He was put on antibiotics and I had to clean it twice a day with salted water.  I then changed his diet to James Wellbeloved as I believe this has a higher fibre content and he has been fine ever since although he does have his anal glands emptied every three months now at the groomers.