Anal Glands

[Asalei]

Just wondering what would cause a dogs anal glands to empty while they are asleep? Sally and I were having a nap on the lounge this afternoon and she got up to go outside and woke me up. I stretched out and felt something wet. Looked down and there were two patches of that horrible horrible smelling liquid on the lounge. It was right about where her bum was, so I knew it was something to do with her bum?

We are off to the vets in 10 minutes, but I'm just wondering what would make her anal glands express like that? I'm pretty sure it was her that had vomited this morning. Not sure if those two things are connected.

Her bum looks like it's still leaking a little bit. As gross as this is, I've tried to clean her bum up a little bit (whilst holding my nose) and she was starting to squat like she needed to go to the toilet. Maybe she's constipated? I have no idea...

Any ideas would be great.

Worry wort me is off to the vet with her. I'm taking the sheet that was on the lounge with me so the vet can see what it was (lucky him!).

[disorder]

Poor pup, hope shes okay! I don't know anything about anal glands sorry.

But didn't you just get a new couch?

[stormie]

Happens to Orbit when his are full. His don't empty normally when he defecates like most dogs do and instead they fill up. When he's asleep, his anus relaxes which can expose the openings to his anal glands and the liquid can spill out. Very gross when it happens on my bed. I generally have to empty his glands every 4-6 weeks or so.

[Georgie-boy]

Its also possible that she might have had a nasty dream - dogs can empty their glands when frightened or stressed also.

[dogdogdog]

My boy Leo usually empties his when he is asleep on my lap. When he wakes up and moves we both know what happened. He gets down and then tries to clean me up. Bless him. I just say don't worry. We then go the bedroom where he lays down on the bed and I give him a good wipe down with a wet one. I then change clothes. Just one of those things that happens.

[Kadbury]

Hope this helps out...I do the cavs myself usually when they are in the bath....as it relaxes them and also softens the skin which makes it easier........yukky subject but if you keep a routine you shouldnt have any trouble.....cheers

What can go wrong with anal glands?

In modern-day domestic pets, anal glands can often cause health problems. Sometimes the anal gland secretions are not released naturally and build up - leading to thickening of the secretion, clogging of the duct and sometimes even infection and abscesses. You may have seen your pet with his tail up, dragging his behind across the floor. This is an attempt to relieve the pressure and discomfort of impacted anal glands and is called scooting. Scooting can cause damage to the anus and indicates that your pet is having trouble with his anal glands and needs some type of intervention.

When bacteria find their way into the glands, infection can occur and lead to an abscess. Your pet may whimper or cry when attempting to defecate - this should alert you to the possibility of infection. Abscesses can also be extremely painful for your pet and will require the attention of a vet and possibly antibiotics to clear the infection. For this reason, it is best to prevent complications as much as possible.

Prevention and treatment

Anal glands should be regularly checked and expressed when necessary in order to empty the build up of secretions from the gland. This can be done by your vet, groomer or even by you - getting the knack of this is not difficult especially once you have been shown the technique. To express your pet’s anal glands use your fingers or a thumb and forefinger to gently apply pressure on either side of the anal opening - on the outside of the glands. Press inwards and upwards and you should see the fluid being expressed.

[Asalei]

But didn't you just get a new couch? :D

It's about 6 months old, but yes, still new :p I stopped and got some carpet cleaner on the way home and cleaned it off strait away. I'd already sponged it off. The sheet/towel/blanket that's been touched is now soaking in the washing machine ;)

I didn't realise that they could just leak whilst asleep. That's really gross. OH and I felt really sorry for Sally because she's more of the dignified dog, looks embarassed when she does a poo in public and doesn't like people looking. Poor girl for some k y and a finger up the bum. She looked horrified (as I would if I had a finger up MY bum!). Poor Leia (who's had previous anal gland problems) was sitting in the corner with her bum firmly planted on the ground!

The vet advised us that we should start giving them some metamucil(sp?) twice a week to help them. Their stools have always been of normal consistancy, so I'm concerned the fibre will make them constipated!

If you give your dog metamucil, how do you do it? I was thinking of mixing some up and putting it in ice cubes because the girls like eating ice.

Any other ideas?

[Asalei]

Prevention and treatment

Anal glands should be regularly checked and expressed when necessary in order to empty the build up of secretions from the gland. This can be done by your vet, groomer or even by you - getting the knack of this is not difficult especially once you have been shown the technique. To express your pet’s anal glands use your fingers or a thumb and forefinger to gently apply pressure on either side of the anal opening - on the outside of the glands. Press inwards and upwards and you should see the fluid being expressed.

I don't know how well we'd go with doing it ourselves, as Leia is petrified of the vet now because her first vet appointment was her anal glands. Sally might be okay.

I always thought you have to put your finger in their bums to do it.

If you just have to squeeze from the outside, I might just be able to do that. Might need to put a gas mask on.

[Georgie-boy]

You do need to insert your index finger to get the side of the gland that is on the inside. Its not a wonderful experience but once you have the knack its quite easy and saves on vet trips!

[belgavin]

Our Yoshi expelled his all over the car back seat last month, it was the first time I have seen or noticed it happening in his 3+ years of life. He was asleep most of the trip home so I assume it happened then when he was relaxed. Kind of scary knowing it could happen at any time in the house!

[Asalei]

Tell me about it belgavin! I have a new found fear of them getting into the house now and expelling all over the lounge!

Time to go to spotlight and get that plastic I've been meaning to go get for the last couple of months.

[luv mini schnauzers]

Hi all'

as to anal glands,my Ruby leaks when sitting or sleeping on or with us all the time. I express her weekly or else she leaks and it stinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!worse then poop itself. Well go to the vet and get them to teach you, easy as pie, just wear thin gloves and do it at bath time. Her sister Olive has no problem, nervy types I think are alittle prone to the problem.Love your dog,love the anal glands!You get used to it. ;) ;) ;) cheers

[Dogsfevr]

We always do ours when the dogs are being bathed but dogs leaking all the time i would be very worried about as i my opinion that isnt normal at all.

Its is very easy to do & when done during bath time it is easily washed away with no smell at all.

We also do all the dogs we groom in the salon but not all groomers do & we will inform the owners whether they where very full or not & then they can address there diet,

[idigadog]

If you give your dog metamucil, how do you do it?

We used to just sprinkle it on our old girl's food. I always bought her the orange flavour because it smelt nice! Unprocessed bran helps too but unfortunately, it seems that once a dog has an anal gland problem, they're always going to have that weakness.

It's so gross and although I miss Aspen dearly, I don't miss blocked anal glands one bit!

[Mushiemum]

It's always very reassuring to read these threads when you have a worrying question!

We have an 8 year old rescued Samoyed who has been with us a month now (this is his permanent home) and yesterday he had this foul smell about him, I couldn't figure out what it was as he didn't seem to have any poo on him but it wasn't that smell. Later in the day I had another look at his rear and to my horror I thought he was bleeding. His teeth are a bit dodgy and I had given both dogs a couple of brisket bones the day before and my first panicky thought was that a splintered piece of bone had made him bleed. That would have been unusual as they normally consume the brisket bones entirely and there's no sharp bits. I cleaned him up but noticed the liquid on the paper towel was brown and not red and really foul smelling. I know brown can be old blood. So I watched him closely for the next little while and he seemed completely fine, ravenously hungry as usual, keen to go on his walk, bounding strongly along on the walk, I brushed him later and he was loving it, not in any pain, yet there still seemed to be some of this brown liquid leaking.

We rescued him from a pound and before that he was on the streets, I just received a copy of his microchip history and this poor dog has been lost several times, once for over a year so heaven knows where he was all that time, possibly living on the streets and scrounging for food so his diet has been dreadful and going by the state of his teeth he rarely if ever got bones. Sometimes he will still try and knock the lid off the bin out of habit, it will take a while before he learns that he's going to get every meal served to him every day and trusts me.

I have been wondering about his anal sacs as he also chews his legs dreadfully, but I didn't know if that was due to previous neglect and being tied up in a backyard. We know he was tied up or confined somehow by various other behaviours like having no back leg muscle tone or strength at all and the way he sits down, as if he's in a little box, and only being happy when he's squashed up against some furniture to sleep (but he's getting better with that) so here's the theory - due to his poor treatment and poor diet he did have an anal sac fluid buildup, but in the month that he's been here I have fed him properly, he's putting on weight and gaining strength, having regular bones & chicken wings and I just started adding pumpkin to his food (which I make myself, mince and vegies and rice/pasta, + eggs) as I suspected the anal gland problem due to the leg chewing. So is it a good thing that his anal glands seem to have just emptied themselves everywhere, maybe they were impacted before but the good diet has done the job?

I saw a video online which demonstrated emptying them but the liquid was a light brown colour, this liquid in Pchelka is a reddy brown but I am reasonably sure there's no blood in it. I have carefully inspected his stools and they seem fine, no blood, normal smell and he's still happily bounding about the house today. The other thing is he's been eating or licking little pieces of gravel from the driveway which mystified us, but maybe that was instinctive to try and empty his glands too? Due to his back leg weakness he would have been physically unable to scoot his backside along the ground as I have read and I don't think he would have been able to reach around to lick his own backside due to his legs and hips.

Sorry to rave on but it's been concerning me and Easter weekend I have Buckley's of finding a vet open unless it's an emergency (I live out in the country) and I don't think this is. He's due to be desexed shortly so I will definitely be consulting them about the anal glands but in the meantime do you think that sounds right, that he'd suddenly empty the glands due to the improved diet and is the reddy brown colour normal, I have read it can be several colours like black, grey, tan, brown? It certainly smells revolting!

Thanks in anticipation, this poor boy has been through so much in his life that I want to make sure he's happy and comfortable.

[puggy_puggy]

Anal glands just happen. Pugs are renound for them.

We have throw rugs on the dog couch that can be taken off and washed. Can't say I am a happy mummy if some of that fishy slime expresses itself on my bed sheets but.

I usually get my vet to empty the pugs once or twice a year. Some people have to get their dogs done every month or so. I am of the opinion if it is done to often it makes them worse and they can become infected and impacted. They can be removed in a surgery but it is rather risky with all the nerves around that area.

More bones and chicken necks should help.

[persephone]

Anal glands are best expressed naturally by faeces which are hard, rather than soft!

The dog should 'work' a bit to defecate... this applies pressure to the gland, and forces liquid out the tiny openings.

Modern dogs, I believe suffer from this problem mainly because of diet.

they do not have the roughage which is needed....the fur, bones, cartilage, and even teeth of their prey..which provides the firmness needed to empty the glands.

Feeding more large meaty bones may be worth a try ..

I believe(just my opinion) that what so many people call "normal" faeces, are too soft, and smooth..

Some dogs are born with a problem...and I believe , as dogs are bred 'softer' these problems will become much more common.

Re the metamucil...

you will find PSYLLIUM husks at your healthfood store or pharmacy..( metamucil contains this..in a very refined form)

This works out HEAPS cheaper than metamucil.... and has no flavouring or colours in.

Our horse, cats and any dog who eats rubbish get dosed with it :rolleyes:

Just mix with mince/canned food/ or put in some broth or milk.

Even the cats eat it happily.

They only require a very small amount, and when it dissolves, it turns to a slippery gel.

Edited March 22, 2008 by persephone

[lucknow]

The vet advised us that we should start giving them some metamucil(sp?) twice a week to help them. Their stools have always been of normal consistancy, so I'm concerned the fibre will make them constipated!

If you give your dog metamucil, how do you do it? I was thinking of mixing some up and putting it in ice cubes because the girls like eating ice.

Any other ideas?

I just advise sprinkling on food, I like Persephones advice on Physllium Husk, none of the unnecessary flavours or cost!

RE fibre, it acts to regulate the passage of food so can be effective in helping with both diarrhoea and constipation. It will bulk up the stools dramatically which would hopefully help with expresing the anal glands naturally and avoiding the dreaded lubricated glove. It won't cause constipation or diarrhoea itself - these are only a symptom of a problem not a result of extra fibre. Good luck, especially with the sofa, I find bi carb can be great in removing lingering smell :rolleyes:

[Asalei]

Looks like she may have a problem again. We've been feeding BARF patties every few days and it seems to have blocked sooner than last time!

The vets are closed now except the emergency vet. Is it bad to leave her till the morning? Will it do any damage? Or is it just discomfort for her?

I might go to the health store tomorrow and buy some physillium husk for them.

[puggy_puggy]

Looks like she may have a problem again. We've been feeding BARF patties every few days and it seems to have blocked sooner than last time!

The vets are closed now except the emergency vet. Is it bad to leave her till the morning? Will it do any damage? Or is it just discomfort for her?

I might go to the health store tomorrow and buy some physillium husk for them.

What do you mean by a problem again?

If it's just that she has left an expulsion of slimey goo it's nothing to worry about. They have no idea that they do it other then to be disgusted, along with the rest of us, by the vile smell.

Is she scooting?