Tempest Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 Jess has had a problem with an irritation around her bottom recently We took her to our original vet (we've recently swtiched vets) and he gave her a steroid injection which helped for a couple of days and then she went back to gnawing away again When we swapped vets recently they had a good look at it while she was under for her spay and they suggested that it could be some form of mange mites and suggested Advantage We saw a homeopathic vet a few weeks back and he said he didn't think it was mange mites and that he thought it was to do with her anal glands She had her anal glands unblocked at the first vets and they were quite full, then again when she was in for her spay, then again when she went back for her stitches, then again at the homeopathic vets (which was two weeks ago) and the dog groomer came to do Ollie today so I asked her to check Jess' glands again and once again she got quite a lot out of them Now bearing in mind that I've had Ollie three years and he's never had his anal glands emptied Jess' glands seem to be filling up every couple of weeks which doesn't seem normal to me - just wondered if anyone had dealt with anything similar The groomer suggested adding some bran to her food (she's on Arden Grange) so that could be a way to start Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Rescue Lover Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 Thats a lot of emptying over a short space of time. I would go with the suggestion of giving her some bran in her food to start with. When they're emptied is it yucky, smelly gunge (as opposed to smelly gunge) - sorry, not explained very well. Anyone who has had a dog with infected anal glands will know what I mean! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandy Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 (edited) Jess has had a problem with an irritation around her bottom recently We took her to our original vet (we've recently swtiched vets) and he gave her a steroid injection which helped for a couple of days and then she went back to gnawing away again When we swapped vets recently they had a good look at it while she was under for her spay and they suggested that it could be some form of mange mites and suggested Advantage We saw a homeopathic vet a few weeks back and he said he didn't think it was mange mites and that he thought it was to do with her anal glands She had her anal glands unblocked at the first vets and they were quite full, then again when she was in for her spay, then again when she went back for her stitches, then again at the homeopathic vets (which was two weeks ago) and the dog groomer came to do Ollie today so I asked her to check Jess' glands again and once again she got quite a lot out of them Now bearing in mind that I've had Ollie three years and he's never had his anal glands emptied Jess' glands seem to be filling up every couple of weeks which doesn't seem normal to me - just wondered if anyone had dealt with anything similar The groomer suggested adding some bran to her food (she's on Arden Grange) so that could be a way to start I had similar problems with Elmo for a while....we were contemplating surgery. Someone mentioned about the possibility of a gluten allergy so i changed his food to Autarky (gluten free) and it appears to have pretty much done the trick. He scoots now and again, and has his glands emptied when he goes for his booster. He seldom has to have them done in between (Thank God!!) Also according to my vet, you can get into a viscious circle if you have to keep emptying the frequently Edited March 15, 2007 by mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted March 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 Not sure if it smells yucky when it's been emptied as it's the vets that have done it - mind you if they thought it was infected I'm guessing they would have mentioned it Jess doesn't really 'scoot' at all - it's just that she keeps nibbling/gnawing away at the area and making it look sore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helly Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 i had archie on arden grange and was having to get his bum squeezed far too regularly for my liking. i switched him to supapoo like all my others (who have never had a gland squeezed between them) and i cant remember him needing them doing ever sinse. it could just be Jess's food that isnt quite agreeing with her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranirottie Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 I had this problem recently with a bullmastiff rescue and it turned out to be an abcess in her anal gland. It was simply and quickly solved with antibiotics. x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owl Posted March 16, 2007 Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 I had this problem with my Bridge puli Amy. She got into the vicious circle, which is that she had infected glands so had antibiotic which made the anal glands more gungy, which irritated them more, etc ect. Vet said after emptying them for the zillionth time that the only way forward was an op to remove them. With her permission and co-operation I got another opinion from a homeopathic vet who put Amy on a series of very high potency remedies. This got the problem under control, and when I decided to try a magnetic collar on the grounds that they improve circulation which I thought might improve clearing of glands, the problem was solved completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted March 16, 2007 Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 Lily lab had anal gland problems when she was about 2 - she didn't scoot and the main sign of a problem was her tail being held straight down. I thought she had broken her tail the first time it happened. The vet emptied the glands more and more frequently and by the time we were going once a week we agreed that she should have the op to removed the glands. There are risks involved but she has had no problems and has been a much happier dog. The glands turned out to have an abnormal lining apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel n Hardy Posted March 16, 2007 Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 I had heard that it can be food related too but am by no means an expert. Archie n Cliffy are on the wheat & gluten free James Wellbeloved kibble and never had a problem with either of them. Am sat at my desk, eating a butty whilst enjoying this thread and graphic descriptions greatly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendbert Posted March 16, 2007 Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 Don't have any advice I'm afraid but hope Jess is ok and you can find out whats causing this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Rescue Lover Posted March 16, 2007 Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 Just spoken to a friend about this and her dog is doing exactly the same thing. Ellas problem is her diet and she is now on a special diet for 6 weeks to see if it can stop the irritation. Hope you sort it out for her Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teddmus Posted March 16, 2007 Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 Having this problem with Gem at the moment, having hers emptied every 4 to 6 weeks, she had an abcess there at first, she doesn't scoot much (we have laminate all the way through downstairs so only seen her scoot a couple of times upstairs) but she does tends to use her feet as a distraction, licking paws and chewing her nails. Tried the bran addition to her diet but it didn't change much, vet has said we might look at maybe flushing them out and packing them(????) or eventually having them removed. Feed both the dogs on Superdog plus a bit of various cooked meats mixed in (corned beef, ham, chicken etc) Never smelled a smell like it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted March 16, 2007 Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 I have this problem with both mine, they are on JWB, i have used bone meal once a week which has improved matters, i tried the bran but it didn't do anything, luckily my friend is very experienced at butt squeezing so we trot round to her when they need doing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirisox Posted March 16, 2007 Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 I agree that it may be worth looking at diet, Jay had terrible anal gland problems which were caused because his poos were not consistently firm enough to give the glands a 'natural squeeze' He also would not hold any condition/weight. I cut out all wheat gluten and put him on CSJ CP21, and made sure he only gets 'natural' treats such as tripe sticks and he has not had them manually emptied for nearly 3 years now. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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