# Anal Gland Expression



## C&B's Grizzly (Nov 20, 2007)

Hey guys! So I took Grizzly into see the vet in October right before his 2nd birthday and he had an irritated b-hole so they expressed his anal glands. Well I noticed last night that "the smell" that we so lovingly refer to in our home as "stinky smelly butt" came back. We went to see the vet again today and they said that his anal glands were the size of walnuts and about to rupture themselves. 

He said that I should come back in two weeks to see how big they are then and we might have to have this procedure done once a month. He also said that if we have to keep doing this we might want to think about surgery to have them removed!! I don't want my little grizzly bear to be in pain or go into surgery! 

Please give me some feedback on this as I feel clueless!

Also, I'm battling a bladder infection with my mastiff now so I have two sickie pups!

Thanks in advance for the help guys!


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

I would opt for frequent regular expression over surgery. You might want to ask you vet about what can go wrong with this kind of surgery and how often he/she performs a successful surgery. I've read that sometimes from surgery, the nerves are damaged and then the dog has less (or none?) control over elimination -- you definitely don't want that. 

Hope your dogs get better soon!


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## C&B's Grizzly (Nov 20, 2007)

Grizzly doesn't seem to be effected at all by this except that he smells when they are full. The vet said that he apparently can't express himself whenever he goes to the bathroom so he needs to have it done in the office. It's not a problem taking him in but I don't understand why he is unable to do this now. He went two years without having it done and the first time was October 7.... then we go in today and they are the size of walnuts?! 

I'm just worried about him!


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

I'd be worried too  Maybe you need to wait this out a bit to see if it's just a temporary flare? 

How are his poops? Are they solid and firm? I've read that soft poops can make it hard for the dogs to express their glands naturally.


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## C&B's Grizzly (Nov 20, 2007)

Literally, nothing is different! He still has very big hard poops and he doesn't seem like anything bothers him! 

The smell is bothering me, my husband and even the mastiff will turn up her little nose if it gets too bad!


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

It's beyond nasty, for sure. If this doesn't go away, surgery is definitely an option, just be sure you have confidence in the vet who performs the surgery and that the benefits outweigh the risks.

But surgery in that area with all the nerves .... ouch


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## C&B's Grizzly (Nov 20, 2007)

Could it be his dog food? He's on Nutro now for sensitive skin.


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## MyMaggieGirl (Nov 12, 2008)

Oh that smell ----Eeeewwwwww!

My bridge girl Maggie would need hers expressed every few months. Nothing we tried helped (as far as solid poop goes), just waited for the special smell and got her in to the vet.

Poor Grizzly having his butt touched but poor your family with that lovely odor! Some people can do it themselves, I couldn't.


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

Possibly? I have no idea. Did you recently change his food?


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

The more you express the anal glands, the more they will need to be expressed, and ultimately, may need surgery.

Some Golden folk have had good luck using bran on their dogs food, to help firm up the stool so the dog can express the glands naturally themselves. It may be worth a try. I would start with a couple of teaspoonsful and you may need to work up to a tablespoonful or two.


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## C&B's Grizzly (Nov 20, 2007)

OKay. I just recently changed his food. He was getting a three dog bakery low fat chicken food but that irritated his skin so I switched him to Nutro sensitive skin... Maybe it isn't allowing him to express his anal glands by himself. 

When he was on Innova he had NO problems.... guess I'll search for a store that carries Innova down here in Dallas!


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

I would definitely go back to the Innova then. I suppose it's possible that he just needs more time to adjust to his current food ... but hey, you've got something to work with here. Yay! 

I like the bran idea too. Maybe you could try adding that to his current food until you find the Innova? Couldn't hurt!


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## C&B's Grizzly (Nov 20, 2007)

Yeah, I'll try some bran on his food and then let you guys know. I just HATE the surgery option for him.... It isn't fair!


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## slip_kid (May 12, 2009)

I have zero clue about anal glands and expressions as they were not covered in ANY of three or four golden books we read last spring.

after two pages of this i dont think i want to know either.


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## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

I expressed Jack's (BassettX) this morning and the groomer did Copper's.

Copper has recently been switched to W/D and he gets canned mixed with dry whereas he has always eaten just dry before. Jack now gets canned mixed with dry so I can play fair.

I will try adding bran and somewhere on here they have said adding pumpkin (check the thread and see just what kind) can help. I think my guys are having this problem because of the change in food but figure it is just one more thing I have to deal with.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

My parents had to remove the anal glands on their sheltie because they were really bad. It does have the potential for incontinence--but sometimes that is what you have to do. He isn't real bad, but he occasionally leaves tiny pieces of poop in the house. They just smile and clean it up with tissue (he doesn't actually poop in the house, just these small, maybe m&m size pieces).

If he needs it done regularly too, perhaps you could learn how to do so you don't have to go to the vet office every 2 weeks....


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

A raw diet works awesome for helping solve the problem. They tend to have hard, solid poops that do the job naturally. Just a thought. Even just doing a bone day once a week (something like chicken backs for a meal) would go a long way.

Anal glands are not my favorite smell by any means! But it does happen...

Lana


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## Jazz & Jules (Feb 25, 2007)

Try giving them a raw carrot a day or a fair sized chunk of raw broccoli daily. This add roughage to the stools to help empty those glands better.


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## Montana's Mommy (Mar 10, 2009)

My friends Golden was having problems expressing his glands and opted for surgery. He is doing fine its been 2 years. Montana has prob's once in awhile when his stool isn't hard enough to express them his self. My vet taught me how to do this, buttttttttttt i did it twice and OH MY.........I didn't like it, yukkkkyyyy. So if it gets that bad I take him in for the vet to do!!! Gotta love your golden to do that!!!!


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## C&B's Grizzly (Nov 20, 2007)

The carrot sounds like a great idea since he loves them anyway! I will try that and see if it works to harden his stool. 

I just hope that this is something that can pass and not something that will be a lifelong problem. We will switch back to Innova and see if that helps also. 

He chews probably two bones a week, rawhide bones but aren't they supposed to make his stool harder?


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## C&B's Grizzly (Nov 20, 2007)

And as far as expressing his glands myself... I had to step out of the room after they expressed his in another room and brought him back into the exam room.... the vet looked at me and said, "are you okay.... you look a little pale?" Obviously the freshly expressed stinky butthole smell and my nose do not agree!


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## alanckaye (Feb 7, 2009)

KD and Karma go through this fishy nose once a month, no matter what I put in their food or what type of food they eat. If you have the stomach for it, you can express them yourself. It's not pleasant - this you tube video tells you how http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJStqOPCFdA
there are others. I've been told you could cause them injury if you express them from the outside so you know what that means...violating them with a digit. They don't like it much as you might identify with but (no pun) when you are done they stop biting their butt. What I do is put on a rubber glove on both hands, put some lube on a finger - insert and the glands are on either side of the anus - I find the one on the left with my right hand and gently squeeze from the bottom - often the hole where the liquid comes out seems clogged (like a tube of glue) so I have to minipulate it for a few minutes then I feel the warm liquid on my fingers and the gland is no longer swollen - then I use my left hand for the right gland and do the same - it beats taking them to the vet all the time. Like I said, you have to have the stomach and really, really love your dog to take this action - I just know they are very uncomfortable and it always seems to be before bed - so I get to go to bed with the image of a dog butt in my mind some times. You can do damage to them if not very careful. Hope this helps


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

Selka went through a period of time where he had smelly butt and I bet that's what it was! He has been fine for 6 months or more now. 
I don't think I could do it myself! I'd be so freaked I'd hurt them for life! 

I hope the roughage works! Let us know!


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

C&B's Grizzly said:


> Could it be his dog food? He's on Nutro now for sensitive skin.


You say "he's on Nutro *now*" did this problem start with the food change? Possibly not enough fiber or something else in the food.

Just a thought.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

C&B's Grizzly said:


> He chews probably two bones a week, rawhide bones but aren't they supposed to make his stool harder?


Rawhide is not bone - .....see if you can find chicken or turkey backs/necks


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## alanckaye (Feb 7, 2009)

Debles, that's a good thing - I hope after two years their problem goes away - I've heard if you let it go the glands can become infected and the contents that is expressed looks like grease and smells 10 x worse than fish butt. I remember taking my 14 year old to the vet and he expressed her glands while I was in the room so I saw the results and smelled same - it was nearly as bad as some dead things I've smelled. Whoa.


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## alanckaye (Feb 7, 2009)

*anal glands*



C&B's Grizzly said:


> Hey guys! So I took Grizzly into see the vet in October right before his 2nd birthday and he had an irritated b-hole so they expressed his anal glands. Well I noticed last night that "the smell" that we so lovingly refer to in our home as "stinky smelly butt" came back. We went to see the vet again today and they said that his anal glands were the size of walnuts and about to rupture themselves.
> 
> He said that I should come back in two weeks to see how big they are then and we might have to have this procedure done once a month. He also said that if we have to keep doing this we might want to think about surgery to have them removed!! I don't want my little grizzly bear to be in pain or go into surgery!
> 
> ...


I have had problems with the anal gland issues in both my girls. For some reason they do not express when they poop - as you probably know the liquid in the glands (located at 4 and 8 on the b-hole, just inside) is so when a dog poops the liquid is squeezed out on the poop so it identifies that dog to other dogs. I've been told to use a spoon full of pumpkin in their food every day but grocery stores every where I go say they can not get canned pumpkin - so I used some small shreaded wheat cereal - that didn't work so I used a mixture taken from this forum for fiber so the poop will be firm but I use dry kibble and most of the stuff falls into the bowl and they do not eat it. I've learned that if the gland gets too filled it could rupture and that's bad but I've been told by my vet to avoid surgery - something I wouldn't even consider unless it were a life and death situation so I undertake the unpleasant task of expressing the glands for them both, which is normally at night when they start picking at their butt. Anyway I saw on you tube where a vet said the anal glands SHOULD NOT be expressed too often because it could cause the muscle around the gland to cease to function. Does anyone know if this is true? My vet assistant said she had never heard of that.


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

alanckaye said:


> Anyway I saw on you tube where a vet said the anal glands SHOULD NOT be expressed too often because it could cause the muscle around the gland to cease to function. Does anyone know if this is true? My vet assistant said she had never heard of that.


I've not heard that theory, but do think one shouldn't express them too often. More of a supply and demand thing. The more you express them, the faster the gland will refill. But too often is subjective. In some dogs, once a month is too often, in others a couple of times a month isn't often enough. Hopefully your vet can help you determine what is right for your individual dog.


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## alanckaye (Feb 7, 2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Cr1MQaGHc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA9SeHAEyQ4
these two videos may be of assistance re: the anal glands


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