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-   -   Worried sick about my dog!!! ANAL GLAND PROBLEM! (http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=86350)

Kris8282 February 5th, 2015 07:55 AM

Worried sick about my dog!!! ANAL GLAND PROBLEM!
 
Hello everyone,


I have a 16 month male Golden Retriever who is having recurring anal gland problems(scooting, smelly fluid leaking from the gland) and it's becoming more frequent (twice a week). It used to be every two to 3 weeks he'd have issues, but now it's more frequent. Two weeks ago we put him on grain-free kibble(Nature's Variety: Instinct/Grain Free) and have been trying to increase his fiber intake(small amounts of apples, green beans), but it seems to be making it worse. We live in Cairo, Egypt and I find the vets completely useless here. They say it's because he's not neutered and once he's neutered this will resolve the problem. I don't necessarily believe this. I've had dogs back in Canada who had allergy issues and I'm thinking this is some form of an allergy.
Can I get some further insight? I'm worried for my dog and I want to bring him some relief.

Marty11 February 5th, 2015 09:28 AM

I have two situations to share with you. One of my dogs in the past couldn't eat grain free, because the stool was smaller and therefore didn't secret the fluid from the anal glands. If I am correct (and someone will tell me) pure pumpkin in the food may help. I ended up feeding my dog grain food to bulk up the stool. Now if have a current dog that was getting impacted and infected. She is on a raw diet. My vet basically popped the impacted gland (it was bloody and infected) and gave her an antibiotic in a syringe in her anus, she told me that is was they do for cattle and she had success in dogs. She has been great ever since. Her gland was the size of a large nut and she was in a lot of pain. Hope this helps.

SuperWanda February 5th, 2015 12:15 PM

One of our dogs always had anal gland issues and I tried everything. She started out on kibble, I tried grain free, wet food, the addition of fibre, lack of fibre. There was a time when I didn't think anything helped. The one thing I did have success with was a home cooked diet. I was more comfortable cooking the food than raw so that's what I experimented with. At some point I did think it was allergy related but in our case, it did seem to be related to processed food. You could try preparing a simple dinner of chicken, green beans and squash for a week to see if that makes any difference. Not sure what foods are available in Egypt but I also found success using some of the less processed dehydrated foods. I also liked the honest kitchen brand which offers different vegetable premix (grain or grain free) in which you add your own meat (raw or cooked). In the end, I felt the simpler the diet the better and tried to give as much variety as possible.

Longblades February 5th, 2015 06:55 PM

It has nothing to do with being neutered or not, sheesh. You'd think any Vet would know those parts work independently of each other. What would your Vet say about my spayed female I wonder, who had the same issue?

You may find some help with higher fibre food but if he is needing expressing twice a week those glands may need to come out. I do know some people who find they must feed food with grain in it to help with this. A weight loss food will probably be quite high in fibre and may help as well, though you may then find it hard to keep weight on him.

Our girl's anal glands became infected. She had them removed and had no further problem. I worried the glands were essential to sort of grease the skids on the way out but our Vet said no and our dog was fine. Your problem is going to be finding a Vet competent to guide you in how to proceed and doing an operation if that is deemed the next move. Good luck.

Barkingdog February 5th, 2015 07:36 PM

[QUOTE=Longblades;1070408]It has nothing to do with being neutered or not, sheesh. You'd think any Vet would know those parts work independently of each other. What would your Vet say about my spayed female I wonder, who had the same issue?

You may find some help with higher fibre food but if he is needing expressing twice a week those glands may need to come out. I do know some people who find they must feed food with grain in it to help with this. A weight loss food will probably be quite high in fibre and may help as well, though you may then find it hard to keep weight on him.

Our girl's anal glands became infected. She had them removed and had no further problem. I worried the glands were essential to sort of grease the skids on the way out but our Vet said no and our dog was fine. Your problem is going to be finding a Vet competent to guide you in how to proceed and doing an operation if that is deemed the next move. Good luck.[/QUOTE]

I am thinking that vet was trying to made a fast buck for himself by saying that the dog need to be neutered . I had vet that was very dishonest that way.
My had had this problem with his anal glands and he is going better on a grain free dog food. He was attacking his near end and I thought he had something wrong with his skin and it was his anal glands that was bugging him.

Longblades February 5th, 2015 08:02 PM

Yes, I think I was misleading. Grain free foods still use some kind of filler such as peas, sweet potato, lentils, there are all sorts, and some of them will be higher in fibre than some food using grain as the filler. Good comment Barkingdog. The OP should check the labels on the food and others available to see what the fibre content is.

Kris8282 February 6th, 2015 06:08 AM

Yes, I agree that the vet is just trying to make a fast buck. He lacks proper equipment at his clinic and I think a lot of his conceptions about dogs are totally off. I want to get my dog neutered at some point, but NOT while living in Egypt....too sketchy!

I could try a home cooked diet and see whether that helps any. As for pumpkin, is Pumpkin Puree okay? I did see a can of that at the imported super market we have here.

I feel so bad for the lil' monkey. The vets here just infuriate me with their lack of competence.

Marty11 February 6th, 2015 08:49 AM

Make sure it's pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling.

Lynne&Co. February 6th, 2015 08:50 AM

Pure pumpkin purée is what you should use as long as it is pure with no added sugar, spices, etc. just pumpkin;)

Dog Dancer February 6th, 2015 10:52 AM

I had a shep cross many years back who had anal gland issues also. Spraying all the time and totally out of her control. We ended up having them removed and it was just so much better. Less stress on us and the dog. The vet said he had never seen such large glands before. That said I have also heard there can be dangers involved in that surgery. We had no issues. So if all else fails it may be something you need to consider, but I would try to find a better vet to do that type of surgery. Good luck to you and your pup.

totallyhip February 6th, 2015 01:07 PM

Our boy Luke used to have Anal Gland issues too. Its usually diet related. Like Marty11 said Canned Pumpkin (PURE) helps alot. We changed Luke to a raw diet and that totally cleared up the issue for him. If you're not comfortable going raw, there are some kibbles out there that are higher in fiber. I know my friend's Boxer has a horrible problem with hers too and is always at the vet getting them drained. And its quite painful for her. But she has her on a kibble as well (altho I'm not a fan of the brand etc.) it helps her a lot. I think its a Medi-cal brand.

Kris8282 February 6th, 2015 01:29 PM

Hey everyone!

I managed to find real pumpkin at the supermarket here, not the canned stuff. I'll start adding that to his diet and see if it helps a bit. I have a feeling we will eventually have to remove the glands if things don't improve after exhausting all options. I, however, will wait to do so until we come back to Canada.



About how much pumpkin would you recommend for a 60lbs Golden on a daily basis. Do you give it raw or cooked?

Thanks again everyone!

Barkingdog February 6th, 2015 04:21 PM

Cook the pumpkin be sure to peel it and removed the seeds. You can mash it up or put it in a blender . Then take a ice tray and put the pumpkin in that . Once it's frozen you can put the pumpkin cubes in an airtight container and keep it in the freezer . This will keep it fresh ,longer, I made all my baby's food this way. I am not sure how much to give your dog , but I think someone here will know.

Lynne&Co. February 6th, 2015 04:22 PM

I'm wondering if your boy has normal stool?
I realize the problem is the anal glands (which I have no experience with) so I'm thinking you want to add fibre to help firm up the stool which in turn should help naturally express those glands? Reliable Vet advice would be helpful here:wall:
Pure canned purée is what I buy as it's easiest. You can also boil your own fresh, peeled, seeds removed in water, drain, cool and purée.
For a 60lb dog I would add 1/4 cup per meal and if all goes well increase to 1/2 cup per meal.
FYI adding pumpkin helps with diarhea as well as constipation. :D

Kris8282 February 7th, 2015 05:52 AM

Thanks so much!

His stools on the new food are lighter in colour and not very firm at all. They were black and hard as a rock on the older food he was on though. The stools do not seem to be firming up quite yet. I'll keep watching! Maybe the pumpkin will help a bit.

SuperWanda February 7th, 2015 01:18 PM

I hope the addition of pumpkin helps. I have heard good things and always gave our dogs pumpkin or squash as it is high in vitamin A and potassium. In our case the pumpkin on top of everything else only made her stool larger and orange colored but still soft. It didn't seem to rid her of having itchy, leaking glands because I was still feeding foods that caused irritation and that was really the underlying problem in her case. It wasn't until I switched to a simple diet that she finally found relief.

I followed Dr. Karen Becker's advice and eliminated all possible irritants in food that could cause inflammation or allergy like potato, corn, soy, wheat, rice and even oatmeal. I know it is necessary in some cases but from what I read, removing the glands should not be done unless absolutely necessary.
[url]http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/09/16/dog-anal-gland-problem.aspx[/url]

Barkingdog February 7th, 2015 02:48 PM

Will your dog have to be quarantine when you get back home? I am wondering if there are diseases and parasites in Cairo, Egypt that are not in your country.


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