Anal Sac Infections

[kayla1]

About three months ago, one of my dogs had an anal gland infection. He had them flushed out under general anaesthetic and an antibiotic was put in. All was ok and since then I've been adding psyllium to his food each day to bulk up his poos.

He has been fine up until yesterday when I noticed him licking, and today the vet confirmed they are infected again. So this time we're trying antibiotic tablets and have been prescribed clinacin for 10 days.

Is there anything else that may help? I'm not considering removal, just looking for other things I can try before another flush under GA.

[Gretel]

Can you empty them regularly?

[kayla1]

Thanks for your reply. I can try that. If they're emptied regularly, does that prevent future infections?

He's never had a problem before this year so I don't know what started it all.

[Salukifan]

Take him to a decent chiropractor and have his hip alignment checked.

This has made a massive difference to several dogs I know.

[BlackJaq]

What is his diet like? My dog also has trouble expressing them herself sometimes but they never got bad enough to get infected so far, we always caught it early. I would also try a chiro, as per HW post

[Pretty Miss Emma]

Kenzie has anal gland issues. She once had an infection that was able to be cleared up with the vet expressing them and then going on to AB's. I now express them each month as a preventative measure. I also put bran in her food and lots of veges so that it makes her poo a bit bulkier. Each year when she gets her vacc the vet will express them again and fingers crossed we haven't had any infection issues since. We did also go to a chiro and I think this has helped. I was also recommended to get her to do as much extensive free running as possible (on the theory that the exercise would help with all that - we do what we can but this is the hardest piece of advice for me to do!).

[kayla1]

Take him to a decent chiropractor and have his hip alignment checked.

This has made a massive difference to several dogs I know.

Thanks, I'll do that.

What is his diet like? My dog also has trouble expressing them herself sometimes but they never got bad enough to get infected so far, we always caught it early. I would also try a chiro, as per HW post

Thanks. It's odd because with the last infection he was clearly bothered, scooting and licking, but this time he hasn't had any scooting and didn't start licking until yesterday. The only other thing is his skin is a bit pinkish, and Annie developed the itchies on the weekend too. Can't think what it could be caused by though because they haven't been anywhere different.

His diet is a mix of dry and raw, with the usual extras (eggs, sardines etc) thrown in. Although I did feed them 4 legs dog food a few times last week, but they have had that before.

[kayla1]

Kenzie has anal gland issues. She once had an infection that was able to be cleared up with the vet expressing them and then going on to AB's. I now express them each month as a preventative measure. I also put bran in her food and lots of veges so that it makes her poo a bit bulkier. Each year when she gets her vacc the vet will express them again and fingers crossed we haven't had any infection issues since. We did also go to a chiro and I think this has helped. I was also recommended to get her to do as much extensive free running as possible (on the theory that the exercise would help with all that - we do what we can but this is the hardest piece of advice for me to do!).

Thanks, good to hear ABs worked for your girl. I went with the flushing under GA for the first infection because the vet said that oral ABs weren't as effective. Hopefully they'll work for Maxie because I'd rather avoid another GA if possible.

Why extensive free running, is it the exercise itself that helps, or building muscle tone perhaps?

[BlackJaq]

I do believe muscle tone and fat in that region may have an impact, along with hip/pelvis alignment.

When Foxy was younger, probably up until about 18 months or so, I used to have some trouble getting a good weight on her and during the "skinny" stages she would have anal gland trouble.

I spayed her and around that age they often just "grow out of it" apparently, and she stopped having trouble (while she did have trouble I also fed psyllium husks, sardines and lots of chicken wings and bones and such, sometimes even rice to help bulk up poos). Eventually she ate some cabbage soup and got the runs pretty badly and had to stay at the vet's on the drip over night for dehydration. This then prompted an anal gland episode much worse than what she had previously and with the extreme swelling and such we were afraid one gland was going to have to come out (the vet says one of hers is positioned a bit funny and it's usually first to play up, we think the bad positioning may make it a little more difficult for her to express when conditions aren't ideal).

We also went with oral ABs and thankfully the swelling went down quickly (the vet had tried to express but none came out). I fed her all the same stuff as before for that time (was only a few days). My bad, I forgot all a bout the cabbage soup incident, I think it must have been infected that time actually, but completely resolved itself with just ABs.... I would definitely give them a go again next time (with a Weimaraner I just know that there will be another time when she eats something she shouldn't.....)

Edited July 29, 2013 by BlackJaq

[TigerJack]

I have a male chihuahua who got chronic abscessed anal glands. He would be perfectly fine one day then overnight they would burst out through his skin. Quite disgusting and horribly painful He was getting the abscesses lanced and drained and then antibiotics for double the usual length of time which would clear it up. A week after the antibiotics stopped, back would come the abscesses. Didn't seem to matter what diet he had, they still came back. He was miserable, came to hate the sight of men (all my vets were male at the time) and he lost a lot of weight. Not something you can afford to do when you only weigh 3 kilos. He felt lousy, as the antibiotics must have made him queasy and he was always with an infection so he didn't want to eat. It was no quality of life. After 6 months of this we decided to have them removed even though being faecally incontinent is a risk. Have to say that for him, it was the best thing we ever did. Surgery was a bit painful but after the recovery period he never looked back. No more pain, no more abscesses and his appetite came back. Took a few more years but he eventually managed not to growl at male vets too.

If they are chronic, I would definitely get them out.

[luvsdogs]

My son's cross breed dog used to have anal gland infections. The first time she was put on ab's & was told to add phylum to her food. It cleared up but she had another 3 episodes & many expressions we where advised to have the anal gland removed that was causing the problem. He told us of the risks but said if the other one was left she shouldn't have a problem. Which she didn't.

I didn't know about the chiro manipulation as she had trouble with her hips later in life but no more anal gland trouble. Although as to free running, she got plenty of that as she was a real ball freak & would retrieve it till the cows came home.

Edited July 31, 2013 by luvsdogs

[kayla1]

I have a male chihuahua who got chronic abscessed anal glands. He would be perfectly fine one day then overnight they would burst out through his skin. Quite disgusting and horribly painful He was getting the abscesses lanced and drained and then antibiotics for double the usual length of time which would clear it up. A week after the antibiotics stopped, back would come the abscesses. Didn't seem to matter what diet he had, they still came back. He was miserable, came to hate the sight of men (all my vets were male at the time) and he lost a lot of weight. Not something you can afford to do when you only weigh 3 kilos. He felt lousy, as the antibiotics must have made him queasy and he was always with an infection so he didn't want to eat. It was no quality of life. After 6 months of this we decided to have them removed even though being faecally incontinent is a risk. Have to say that for him, it was the best thing we ever did. Surgery was a bit painful but after the recovery period he never looked back. No more pain, no more abscesses and his appetite came back. Took a few more years but he eventually managed not to growl at male vets too.

If they are chronic, I would definitely get them out.

That sounds awful, it must have been very painful for him. It's great that the surgery worked though.

My son's cross breed dog used to have anal gland infections. The first time she was put on ab's & was told to add phylum to her food. It cleared up but she had another 3 episodes & many expressions we where advised to have the anal gland removed that was causing the problem. He told us of the risks but said if the other one was left she shouldn't have a problem. Which she didn't.

I didn't know about the chiro manipulation as she had trouble with her hips later in life but no more anal gland trouble. Although as to free running, she got plenty of that as she was a real ball freak & would retrieve it till the cows came home.

That's interesting, I haven't heard of only one being removed.

Actually I don't know which one of Maxie's was infected, or whether it was both. I must ask the vet about that next time I'm there.

[kayla1]

I do believe muscle tone and fat in that region may have an impact, along with hip/pelvis alignment.

When Foxy was younger, probably up until about 18 months or so, I used to have some trouble getting a good weight on her and during the "skinny" stages she would have anal gland trouble.

I spayed her and around that age they often just "grow out of it" apparently, and she stopped having trouble (while she did have trouble I also fed psyllium husks, sardines and lots of chicken wings and bones and such, sometimes even rice to help bulk up poos). Eventually she ate some cabbage soup and got the runs pretty badly and had to stay at the vet's on the drip over night for dehydration. This then prompted an anal gland episode much worse than what she had previously and with the extreme swelling and such we were afraid one gland was going to have to come out (the vet says one of hers is positioned a bit funny and it's usually first to play up, we think the bad positioning may make it a little more difficult for her to express when conditions aren't ideal).

We also went with oral ABs and thankfully the swelling went down quickly (the vet had tried to express but none came out). I fed her all the same stuff as before for that time (was only a few days). My bad, I forgot all a bout the cabbage soup incident, I think it must have been infected that time actually, but completely resolved itself with just ABs.... I would definitely give them a go again next time (with a Weimaraner I just know that there will be another time when she eats something she shouldn't.....)

Perhaps it depends on the type of AB given too...maybe some are more effective than others with anal gland infections.

[Erny]

Take him to a decent chiropractor and have his hip alignment checked.

This has made a massive difference to several dogs I know.

That's a fantastic suggestion, HW - something I hadn't thought of but makes perfect sense. My boy has had some anal gland issues - understandable given his problems over the while, but I am finding that whilst they aren't becoming infected, they do become uncomfortable a bit too quickly for my liking. I'll see if I can check him in to a chiropractor to have him looked at as a "rule it out" measure :).

It's a fine line, I know, but I don't like to have the anal glands expressed too frequently (or at all, if it can be avoided completely) as I think this exacerbates the problem. But you get to a point where if you don't have them expressed they can become impacted and worse, infected.

Edited August 3, 2013 by Erny

[Erny]

I do believe muscle tone and fat in that region may have an impact, along with hip/pelvis alignment.

When Foxy was younger, probably up until about 18 months or so, I used to have some trouble getting a good weight on her and during the "skinny" stages she would have anal gland trouble.

I find your experience with this and your observations, interesting, BlackJaq. As per above, I intend to look at hip/pelvis alignment. But he's also a dog who has trouble gaining and maintaining weight. Muscle tone is pretty good though (IMO). Do you know what the lack of fat/weight would have to do with anal gland problems?

[wuffles]

Take him to a decent chiropractor and have his hip alignment checked.

This has made a massive difference to several dogs I know.

This. Chiro identified hip/spine alignment issues with my dog (she had persistent anal gland abscesses) and with regular chiro we are able to keep on top of the issue and avoid anal gland problems. She does also get psyllium husk every day as backup.

Edited August 3, 2013 by wuffles

[BlackJaq]

I do believe muscle tone and fat in that region may have an impact, along with hip/pelvis alignment.

When Foxy was younger, probably up until about 18 months or so, I used to have some trouble getting a good weight on her and during the "skinny" stages she would have anal gland trouble.

I find your experience with this and your observations, interesting, BlackJaq. As per above, I intend to look at hip/pelvis alignment. But he's also a dog who has trouble gaining and maintaining weight. Muscle tone is pretty good though (IMO). Do you know what the lack of fat/weight would have to do with anal gland problems?

I was thinking about the positioning mostly. When Foxy was very lean, the anal area would be sort of sunken in just under her tail. She now has some fatty tissue in that area and the anal area is sort of even/flat instead of sunken in... Not sure if I'm describing that very well.....