My miniature Dachshund has a reoccurring problem with infected anal glands. I have taken him to the vet as soon as I can see a small pink speck on his buttock to have the gland emptied, but within 24 hours this small speck becomes inflamed. This has happened 3 times in the past 15 weeks. Today the vet advised I have his anal glands removed, is this something you'd recommend? I've changed his diet and this doesn't seem to have helped.

Do you feed raw? You could ask your Vet to show you how to empty his anal glands.......

no, I fed him on Royal Canin Dachshund but have recently switched to Burns. I put cooked meets on his kibble 3 or 4 times a week.

I've had the same trouble in the past. Nothing made a difference in my case. No matter what I fed, no matter if I emptied them or if the vet did I would still get infections. In the end the vet said enough was enough and I agreed with him. So one op later from which the dog rapidly recovered, its been great. Best thing really in my case.

Had this with a 10 year old bitch, one anal gland abscessed on two occasions.  She eventually had to have surgery to have it removed, was given antibiotics during the healing process and a powder to sprinkle on her food, to make it easier to pass her faeces.   She never looked back, although I believe that there is a risk invovled with the operation which you should ask your vet about in the first instance.   So that you may make a fully informed decision.

I would speak to your Vet about adding bran to his feed.  I would also feed a raw chicken wing for him meal every other day.
If you'd rather keep feeding him just the complete, then maybe the operation would be the easy option.

Whistler was squeezed twice - then we got some probiotic pellets to add to every meal and he has been fine ever since I would try that before surgery if I was you.

I mentioned bran today but the vet said he doesn't think it will make a difference, however I'm willing to give anything a try.

This is a disease of modern living, where commercial pet foods lack sufficient insoluble fiber (bulk) to produce a normal stool volume that helps express the scent glands on a daily basis.

http://www.crvetcenter.com/diseasesofmodliving.htm

I'd ask a lot of questions before allowing that surgery as it can leave them incontinent.. and try all other avenues first.
my last dog had a horrible infected anal gland when recovering from surgery. had antibitics, flush out under sedation, and vet was talking removal : ( 
as she was not bothered or upset by it (despite it looking awlful) I decided to try leaving it a little while unmeddled with and see what happened.  she had by now recovered from her surgery and was able to exersise properly again and as her exersise increased the anal galnd issue decreased with whole mess draining away never to reaccur . she also was given raw marrow bones to chew and I think the combination of good fast physical exersise and extra roughage from the bones shifted it.

I intend to try different means of aiding the issue before having the surgery. I read earlier that making homemade dog food like stews etc can help also, I'm going to put more fiber into his diet and see if this helps any.

Our Vet recommends adding bran for starters too with blocked anal glands.

This was the supplement advised by i think a Newf magazine and then printed in our breed one as something which is good to aid blocked anal glands

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=769

We had Ellis's anal glands removed at the end of October, he's a GSP.  He had an infection that antibiotics could not clear up and therefore the vet suggested removing them.

After a week of being walked on the lead, much to his discust, he was back to normal with no problems since.

My vet's were very good, there were no stitches on the outside to see, it was all very neat and tidy.  We also had him castrated at the same time rather than put him through another op in a couple of years time.

So in his case surgery worked and was the best option all round.

Hope all goes well with your dog ....

Juliet

Thats the stuff I use for Whistler!!!!

I'm going back to the vet on Monday so I'll talk to our usual vet about that supplement.

After having a recurring problems with anul glands not emptying in on of my girls she was put on pro fibre as reccomended above.  Never been emptied since.  Worth a shot before opting for surgery.

Had Golden Retriever with frequently infected anal glands in the past. Was at the end of my tether, he had been in to vet and had them 'flushed and packed' which did not work, the last resort was removing them, but as suggested above this comes with risks.

I came across Dorwest at a champ show and started him on garlic and fenugreek tablets. He started on a treatment dose and then reduced to maintenance. Never, ever had another problem (and he lived for another 7 years). I would always try it again if I had another dog with a problem.