One of my dog always has problems with her anal glands.   I am sure part of the problem is her digestive system, which has always been a bit iffy.  She tends to have soft poos and also poos rather often.  She will also throw up bile if I do not give her something to eat in late afternoon and before bedtime. 

Basically - she has a higher level of acid content in her digestive track and it works at a faster speed than average.  She's been like this since she was 10 weeks old, regardless of the food I feed.   Right now I feed Naturediet, a little people food (meat, some veg) and snacks (JWB or the like).   Feeding Naturediet light (has extra fiber) does not seem to make much of a difference.

What I'm looking for is fiber or anything that I can add to her food to firm her up a bit and see if it helps with her anal glands.  

Has anyone tried anything that actually works?

The only thing I've found that firms up my dogs' poops is either ground chicken with bones, raw, or gusto :) But remember what works for one may not necessarily work for others :)

Raw chicken necks and wings etc should help immensly :) Metamucil or phsyillium husks can work too,however these 2 have no health promoting properties like the bones do.

Gusto worked for mine too! So much so it had to be limited.

my Tyko was always at the vets getting anal glands emptied but since giving her raw chicken wings starting about 7 months ago , she hasnt been once !:) also only poos once a day :)

yes I couldn't believe it. I only bought it because they had no autarky, now she's back on autarky she don't like it so looks like its gusto again for her.

To Missy & Jeangenie.
Please. what is Gusto? and where can I buy it? I have put it into Google and nothing relevant comes up :(
Please help as I also could do to know about extra fibre in diet.
Anndee

Gusto is a complete dry food, sold in many branches of Tesco, at £4.99 for a 10k bag. :)

Thanks for that JG. Is it full of fibre then? Would it be good for a dog that has loose motions do you think?
Anndee

It certainly firmed up one of my dogs who tends to be loosish, and one who had what I'd call 'normal' poos started to produce tiny dry marbles, and had to be taken off it!

Yup,

My 2 were a little too firm with it (dry marbles and crossed eyes :D)  My bro has switched to it as his 2 were a little loose, the one is now much better, the other has to have a mixture of Gusto and her old food as she produced dry marbles that were a little too hard to produce ;)  - what a subject! :)

The dogs look great on it too :D

the advice and information you give on this web site is so good every time i come on i found out more and more about things i never heard of

Anndee be sure and check the ingredients to gusto before you decide to buy,they are,how should i say...terrible

There are far healthier ways to improve poops without compromising your dogs health :)

Which are ....

Bran
Physillium husks
rmb\\\'s-these are the best for firming up poops!
Metamucil(small amount)
Below ground veggies-above ground for constipation
Yogurt,which will help restore proper gut flora,is also great for dire rear.

These are just a few,if you need any more idea\\\'s i will be happy to help :)

Thanks but I can't use any wheat produce or dairy. If you put in 'Safi' in the search you will find I have endless problems with one off my girls due to allergies. I now know what she can and can't have, she's been allergy tested, but even then she's inclinded to go off on one :rolleyes:
so I'm constantly looking for new ideas. does anyone know if  canned chick peas, lentils and the like, are any good for adding fibre? I've just bought some from Sainsbury's. thought I'd give them a go. She already gets carrot, blitzed & blanched, with her dinner. bones don't always help, in fact they can sometimes act the other way
Thanks
Anndee

about the gusto  food the chicken wings and rice

I had this problem with one of my GSD bitches.  The vet told me to add a small handful of bran flakes to each meal.   It's worked great and she's had no more problems since.

Sarah.

One of my vets told me this also, but unfortunately bran flakes are made from wheat bran. I have found oat flake cereals and add these but they don't always work.
Anndee

Physillium husks are what I use to add bulk to one of my Beardies food. He's raw fed but was straining a bit so I suspected anal gland probs. He's fine with 2 tsp of the husks a day. Have a look http://www.healthspan.co.uk/shop/products.aspx?cat=CONS

Hi Anndee,

I have much the same issues with my working Cocker, I know what boat you're in!  Change of diet and including RMBs and fruit and veg helped but I found the best improvement came when I started adding Protexin Pro-Fibre to his meals- it's a fibre supplement which includes probiotics.  Similarly, there is also something called Nutrifyba which is also a supplement without the probiotics.  Both can be found here: http://www.hyperdrug.com

Hope that helps :)
-Kay

Brilliant. thanks for that Kay :)
I have the Canine Chemist catalogue, I'll give them a ring and order some. They always have a stand as well down at Crufts, so I can get some when I'm down there as well.
I appreciate your help. thank you. They are a pain aren't they when they can't eat normally
Anne

It was last year at Crufts where I first discovered the Pro-Fibre and while we still have to make trips to the vets to have his glands emptied, it's approx every four months now instead of every four weeks before !  My vet was also impressed with his improvement, happy people all round really!  I'd tried all different food combinations coupled with different herbal supplements but would recommend this route for the never-ending anal gland problem dog!  Hopefully you notice an improvement! 

-Kay :)

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!  I don't feed raw - so I will definite try the husks and fibre.