OurBoys Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Today when I took Jake to the vet to have his anal glands expressed I was told the right one was empty but the left one was quite full. Does anybody have any idea why one would empty normally but the other one wouldn’t? His poop is obviously firm enough to empty the one and I’m scared to try to make it firmer in case he might become constipated. I don't know if it has anything to do with helping empty his right anal gland but I gave the dogs a turkey neck the other day. Because of that, I'm going to start a journal to see if feeding him more turkey necks will help empty his glands. (He's not a very good chewer. He swallows everything ASAP.) Does that sound crazy? Jake has had anal gland problems for so long, I feel I'm on the verge of desperation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon's girl Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 The turkey neck probably did help, but you need to make sure your dog is chewing his food if you're going to feed raw. You need to hold on to one end of it until you are satisfied that he knows he must chew it. Not chewing properly is what causes intestinal problems with raw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcnewe2 Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 Bulk or fiber might help him empty but really, just learn to do them yourself and quit stressing. This from a person whose dog has a command for letting me do his anal glands. ''Come'ere Mick let me do your butt" puts him in the right position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon's girl Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 I do my dogs when I give them a bath. It's really easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurBoys Posted December 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 I've always been scared to do it myself because I've read if you don't know what you're doing you can do more harm than good. I think the next few times I take him in I'm going to tell the vet tech I want to watch. After a couple of times, I'll then tell her I want to do it myself under her supervision. If they won't allow that, I'll find someone who will. Thanks you guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denice Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 You can add some pumpkin to their food to add fiber or a bit of metamusil(sp?)- a teaspoon to a tablespoon. SOmetimes they can have one gland clogged a bit. Most of the time it resolves and the dogs can express them normally. I check my gang and if the glads are normal sized and no one is licking or scooting I let it go. I only express them if I need to. I do know dogs that will occasionally have an infected anal gland and that it very painful for them. Denice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon's girl Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 If you squeeze the opening closed and squeeze too hard, you can cause problems. Once you know what you're doing, it's really easy. Having them show you once should be enough, it's really not rocket science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurBoys Posted December 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 Denice, he gets pumpkin with every meal but thanks for the tip. Gideon's girl, I'm sure you're right. It's the fear of the unknown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcnewe2 Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 Mick has always needed his done, monthly or under high stress more often. When I fed raw he didn't need them done near as often. Harder poo?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurBoys Posted December 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 Kristen, I looked back on a thread I started back in Feb. You mentioned stress back then. I believe stress has a major part in Jake’s problem too. He can stress over the least little thing. I’m still going to give him more turkey necks and keep a journal on when I feed him and how often I have to take him in but like you, I think I might always have to get it done or learn to do it myself. Hopefully, the turkey necks will at least minimize the number of times it needs to be done. There’s a possibility he ‘might’ be allergic to chicken but I’ve eliminated most of the chicken in his diet (1 or 2 mini Milkbones a day) so I’m going to start off with one neck/week and go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puppytoes Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 How would one know that anal glands are blocked and need to be expressed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurBoys Posted December 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 How would one know that anal glands are blocked and need to be expressed? A dog will butt scoot across the floor or in the yard and/or will lick themselves back there a lot. If you have a dog that does either one of those, I would take them in and have their anal glands expressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCjetta Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 Do they say what the material is like in the glands? It should be liquid. Sometimes a gland gets plugged up by "chunkies" which will block the duct leading out and make it overfull. Sometimes a gland can get infected (it usually gets an obvious greenish colour instead of brown). Sometimes the material produced in one of the glands is too thick and therefore doesn't express easily. Sometimes the conformation of how one or both glands was formed is off and will cause problems. Overweight dogs can have more problems than lean ones because they get fat in that area which makes it harder for it to express. I'd say the easiest thing is learn how to do it...all the vet tech's had to learn and were new at it once...and when we learned that we didn't know much more than the average pet owner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurBoys Posted December 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 The vet techs always tell me it's normal; no "chunkies", no infection, no thickness. Jake's not overweight either. You can feel his ribs good. In fact, when he was on stock, I had a problem keeping weight on him. He is a "nervous" dog. If we move anything, he paces. If it rains, he paces. (Rain = thunder) One spring a few years ago we had thunderstorms for a week and he gave himself diarrhea. I wish we had some livestock. I feel if I could work him often at home it might help with his nervousness. (Riding isn't one of his favorite things to do but doG forbid if he gets left behind. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcnewe2 Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 So I'm sorta the butt expert round these parts. Mick's stuff is clear dark brown liquid, he once got impacted as I forgot to do them for a while. I had to take him to the vet cause I didn't want to hurt him. Not sure what it looked like then. But, or butts some dogs are a bit chunky, some are different colors, from light yellow (not pussy yellow) to think creamy colored (Ravens are alwasy creamy white, go figure) to dark brown thick. How you know they are impacted is the butt gets red swollen or just swollen and they are in pain. Or if they aren't showing pain they will lick allot and scoot. Mick never scoots but he will lick. I don't know why some dogs need help and some don't. I've never done Dew's, rarely done Ravens and only seen Faye's butt when she's running by me with her tail up. Mick will get a smell about him if I let them get really full. I've gotten so good that I don't get it on me, rarely get it on the dog and am able to clean up the dog with a diaper wiper or wet papertowel. Some dogs are harder to express than others but I think that depends on how thick and full the glands are. This is the grossest post I think I've ever done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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