When would you consider it?
Pesto has always had anal gland problems where she is always scooting and licking. She also hates being brushed anywhere near her back end and tries to bite the brush when it needs to be done.
She hasn't however ever had any ruptures or infections (thank goodness).
I am now having to express them every week which she absolutely hates and runs away from me as soon as she sees the glove come out :-(
I know there are complications of incontinence but I am not sure how common these are.

Any ideas as to what to do as I don't want to put her through an unnecessary operation but she does get very annoyed by them.
I haven't talked to my vet as yet as I express them myself so they don't really know how bad the problem is.
Thanks
Anna

Firstly I would discuss it with your vet as if you are having to empty them this often they will become sore which will make your girl more and more reluctant to have them done.
I have had 2 CKCS who had thier anal glands removed because of severe problems and i have to say it was the best thing I could have ever done for them.  There was no complications afterwards in any way.  As long as you get a good vet to do the op with experience in the op you shouldn't have any follow on problems.
If your dog is getting a good diet and its poo's are firm and it is still this bad then yes i would say get your vet to check them and empty them fully maybe  have them flushed out before making a decision on removal.  You may find flushing them out helps a lot.  If not then I personally would consider removing them.
Just to add my vet said when my dogs were done and I had the same concerns of incontinence that it is very rare and he in all his years has personally never come accross one that was incontinent afterwards.

>As long as you get a good vet to do the op with experience in the op you shouldn't have any follow on problems.

Cant stress this enough.There is one vet in my area who specialises in anal gland removal.The other vets in his practice  say he just has the touch.I'd say incontinence problems would arise when a vet that is not experienced in doing the op has a go.

>If your dog is getting a good diet and its poo's are firm

Is this the case?

>Is this the case?

Yes this is. She is fed on Orijen with some little topping of fresh food and then sometimes some RMB or recreational bones.  Her poos are firm and always consistently so.
I am going to talk to my vet about it and see what he says.

Any other experiences of it would be good to hear though

All the best
Anna

>There is one vet in my area who specialises in anal gland removal.

Whereabouts are you, Ktee? Perhaps this vet would be able to help Anna.

My dog had this done a few years ago, as he was also having his glands emptied too often. No regrets at all.
The first few days were awful, mainly because it was suggested he had a diet of chicken and rice so it would be gentle on his tummy. However, we now know that chicken goes straight through him. A loose tummy, following an op on his bottom wasn't good.
It did mean a few days of being with him 100% of the time because in his case he had little control (because of the tummy upset). Once that was sorted and we got him back on his usual food he was fine and recovery was quick.
He had what the vet called 'doorbell' incontinence a week or so later which lasted about 4 days. Basically, if somebody knocked on the door he would jump up and bark as normal and as he ran out a tiny little maltesers would pop out !. It was no problem and he regained control soon after that.

When he was fully over the op we noticed a change in him. He seemed a happier dog, even though we didn't realise he was down before. Going to the loo was so much easier for him, the vet said that he was getting slower going before the op because it was uncomfortable for him.

So yes, I'm glad we did it for him. The vet we used was very experienced with this operation so I had every confidence.

My GSD had anal furunkulosis (maybe spelt wrong) and had his anal glands removed aged 4.  My vet referred me to a specialist in anal gland removal and there were no problems.  The specialist vet said that if your dog has incontinence problems after this operation in his opinion it is a botched operation.  My dog recovered in record time.  Having said that it is a big operation and looks terrible afterwards.

Thanks for letting me know about your dog.  It is very interesting that you have pointed out about your dog becoming happier.  My dog is anxious all the time and has lots of behavioural problems mainly due to noise phobias - I am wondering if because they are always itchy and perhaps sore she is always on edge and then loud noises made this worse - hence her fears.

I feel well bad now I am definately going to talk to my vets.  Could everyone who has posted about specialists in the anal removal operation possible either post or PM me details if they are anywhere near London or Chester - I am obviously willing to travel to find the right person.

Many thanks
Anna

A friend of mine had this op done on one of her cockers last year as a last resort as he had terrible recurrent anal gland infections and was pretty miserable. The recovery period was quite tough and long but once he was over that he never looked back and has had absolutely no problems since. He is also a happier and more relaxed dog, he's better with other dogs now whereas before he was always a bit iffy about them sniffing his back end, probably because it was so sore all the time.

Thanks.  It all sounds very positive - apart from the recovery.  I am going to talk to my vet today and see a)how experienced she is and b) if she knows of anyone experienced.

Thanks for all your help it is great to hear success stories and how much it changed their dogs lives.
Anna

A bitch I bred had an abscessed anal gland and eventually due to recurring infection the glands were removed.  She never had any problems and is now 12 and has no problems with incontinence.  I think she had the op at about 2 or 3 years old.  Unusual for our breed to have problems in this area.

My girl also had an abcessed anal gland (actually she showed no distress beforehand) and it had to be removed as vet thought there may be a tumour inside it. She had the op and it turned out to be scar tissue attached to the side of the anal gland. She was a bit sore and swollen and she was uncomfy for a few days. She did have a problem holding her poo for a day if I remember correctly but she was soon back to normal and had no other problems since.
BTW she only had 1 removed.

I don't know if this will help you.Many years ago I had a similar problem with my dog.Then by chance I called into a different surgery where there was an old vet on duty.He said mix your dogs food with Albran,not other mixers.I never looked back.All the money I'd been paying vets up until then,just something simple like Albran and it was sorted.I was annoyed that the other vets hadn't told me about it.Then again being a vet is all about printing money.

We have been to the vet and discussed it with her.  She basically said it was our choice after everything we told her about her hating us do it, attacking the brush around that area and scooting even just 1 week after them being emptied.

I am going to get some all bran tomorrow and see what that does. How much do you give?

Thanks
Anna

watch the salt content of albran !

I USUALLY PUT A GOOD HANDFUL IN AND MIX IT UP WITH HIS MEAT.YOU WILL START TO SEE THE DIFFERENCE WITHIN THE WEEK.STOOLS WILL BE LARGE AND FIRM.I FIND ASDA HIGH BRAN JUST AS GOOD AND CHEAPER.

I would actually put my money on the opposite. Not albran but something like raw chicken wings 1 or 2 times a week. The bone in the wing firms up the poo no end.

My understanding is the anal gland problem seem to come from too soft stools preventing nature ways of expelling them when pressing down to do the toilet with a firmer stool.

I tried lots of things to try and ease my dog's anal gland problems, including bran and chicken wings, but in the end I opted for surgery.  I was concerned about possible after effects and recovery but my worries were unfounded.  The glands were removed last September and it turned out to be the best decision.  No problems with faecal incontinence or the recovery period.  It was hearing of Bev's experiences with her dogs that made up my mind - thanks Bev :)

LOL your welcome

Well I don't want large soft stools as hers are really nice and firm.  She was on raw and it made no difference :(

I think it might be worth taking the plunge and going for it.

Does anyone know of any vets who are specialists in this area - I am happy to travel a hour by car around london or chester
Thanks
Anna

Hi Anna
I've sent you a pm with some details :)

Just been reading this and the other recent thread on anal glands because I am at a loss - I can't tell if my dog has trouble with hers being impacted or if its the opposite - basically you can tell exactly where my dog has been sitting at any time because of the smell and staining she leaves behind.  So either the problem is that her glands are emptying too much (every where she goes) or they aren't emptying properly - which is causing them to leak constantly.

But basically I have to wipe my furniture every day to get rid of smells and staining and this has been going on for a long time - we have both tried unsuccessfully to squeeze her glands but nothing happens - definitely our fault of not doing it right because the vet did it for us last year (a blissful time whereby we were smell and stain free at home all week!).  Millie goes to the groomers every 7-8 weeks but although we keep mentioning it we don't think they ever actually do her glands and its clearly not regularly enough anyway as she is a real sufferer and probably needs doing them once a week.

My intention was to get some advice on emptying the glands (or paying the vet to show us) so we can squeeze her glands weekly at home which I thought would be the solution - however from reading on here, it would seem that needing them done so often is quite rare and could indicate a problem.  What do people think?

I'm off out shopping in a moment and am now considering buying some bran but I'm not sure if this is the solution in Millie's case - she's fed mainly on Burns so she's getting plenty of dry food, as well as other meals during the week such as chicken or tinned fish so I have the opportunity to add bran to her diet but i'm wondering if this will just make them leak even more and whether bran is a solution for dogs whose glands don't empty at all...

Interested in any views and advice please!

When my vet emptied my dogs one day as I asked him to check them he said they were reluctant to get into the habit of it as if they are regularly manually emptied the dogs body stops doing it naturally.  I suppose it must be like taking laxatives if the body isn't having to function on it's own.

my dogs had gland trouble until i fed half dry and half wet and it cured it. i would def get vet to empty them, its not normal for them to leak all the time. we had a small mongrel that had the op to remove them and never looked back.

just a comment re groomers and anal glands. when i trained to be a groomer, my teacher said she never trained her students to do it because if you dont do it right, u can make the problem worse. a good example of this being true is my hairdresser used to have her shihtzu groomed and her anal glands were done every 6-8 weeks at the same time. when she asked me to start grooming her, she asked me if i did them, and i said i wouldnt as i havent been taught properly and if she was concerned about her dogs glands, to see her vet. i have never touched her anal glands, and she hasnt needed to take her to the vets to have them done, and i have been grooming her for a year and a half now. before, when they were being done regularly, the owner said she used to scoot and bite her bottom in between being groomed, but no signs of this since ive been grooming her and leaving them alone. not saying there is anything wrong with groomers/owners doing them themselves, and i know vets can charge quite a bit to do it, but i personally as a groomer, would rather not do it.

becky x

We have had this problem with our dog since she was a puppy. She's over 2 years old now and has the smell for weeks at a time. It doesn't matter if they're manually emptied or not, the problem comes back a day or two later. My vets say glands shouldn't be removed at all but I know this to be untrue.
We are at our wits end and really need a solution. We've tried more fibre AND natural diets.
If anyone can message me with the details of any vet in Yorkshire who does the operation, please do so. It is clearly affecting her mood as well as our noses.
Keith.

We had trouble with one of ours many years ago and they were flushed through and it did work very well.

The vet back then was reluctant to remove the anal glands.

In a way its nice to hear of somebody else in the same situation as we are, our 2.5yr old westie has had the same problems as you have read earlier since he was a puppy where some weeks he needs them cleared twice per week, the best we have ever got is once every 2 weeks, we have switched him over to raw feeding and upped the bone content but no improvement at the moment, our vet too is reluctant to remove them he was keen till an op went wrong at a specialist with 1 of there dogs in the practice and now he won't even consider the op. He is keen to flush them but i have heard mixed reports on this so not that keen as some people have said its a waste of time.

What breed have you got is it a small breed dog? Just out of interest have you got skin problems aswell with yours?

Flushing did not work for my Golden retriever but 'Garlick and Fengreek' tablets from Dorwest did.

Our dog (toy breed) had his anal glands removed a few years ago.  It took us a while to  decide on the op as we'd heard that removal of the glands can lead to faecal incontinence.  However our vet convinced us that the success of the operation depended on the skill of the surgeon and he was confident that all would be well.  Glad to say that it was and there were no subsequent problems. Sorry I cannot recommend a vet in your area though.

Robbie has garlic and fenugreek from dorwest but it doesnt seem to have helped him, but then what works for 1 dog doesn't always work for others

I had Whistler's op about 8 months ago he is as right as rain and no further problems, he also smells a lot better.