Swolen anal glands and allergies

[Michael C.]

Finally figured out why Sasha was licking her feet and the carpet all the time. I changed her dog food from Wellness chicken to the lamb. So I switched back to the Chicken. While she was on the lamb, one of her anal glands had to be drained. Could her being allergic to the food be linked to the anal gland problem?? Just curious.

Thanks

[JFred]

I doubt that an allergy played a part in the infected anal gland. I have a 6 yr old Saliki that has this problem occasionally..usually just before a season. The first vet reccomended removal of the glands which seemed too aggressive since it had happened only once. Both sides absessed and drained. She was on antibiotics for about 10 days.

The vets explanation was that dogs usually have a much firmer stool in the wild and because of that and the act of breeding they usually empty on their own. We opted not to do surgery but I can tell by her licking and the attention she gives her rump when they're swelling so I give antibiotics for 5-7 days. Happens maybe once a yr now. Anytime you take your dog in, to the Vet, ask him/her to clean them for you. Good luck.

Bennie Sue

[Teena]

And dogs in the wild eat, you guessed it ,BONES. :D
Bones make for harder stools.

[Michael C.]

She just had one drained last month and she is licking her butt again. It is constant licking and is rather annoying. I know she is probably uncomfortable though. I guess we will have to take her back in to the vet. It is not a pretty sight seeing the vet drain one of those glands. Especially when Sasha is yelping and hollering.

[Teena]

Most kibble fed dogs do not produce a really firm stool. They don't have to work any at all to have a BM. With barf fed dogs the stool is harder and they have to work just a bit to get it out. This keeps the glands clear.
I'm sorry your girl is having a rough time of it. :(
One of my friends that i work with, has a beagle that has alot of trouble with these glands too. She has to take her to the vets every few months and have hers drained too. I don't think hers get infected, just full. I have been working on her to try barf. She is agreeable, but her husband is the hold out.
I'm supposed to go to their house for Xmas dinner. She has told me i'm expected to give a detailed account of barf to her husband then.
:D

[JFred]

Michael, when you say " drain" the gland, do you mean that he surgically opens the gland..or does he digitally drain? Has he ever reccomended antibiotics?

The first time this happened with Taj..while I was trying to make a decision wheither or not to have them surgically removed..one opened and drained. I used a catheter tip syringe and flushed the opening with a mix of sterile saline and peroxide..then put a triple antibotic ointment in the opening. I did that twice a day . It healed from the inside out and I hoped She wouldn't have any further problems. Unfortunately she will still on occasion start to swell and start licking. I give her oral antibiotics and it doesn't progress any further.

Teena..you're absolutely right. BONES make their stool quite firm and help clean out the glands. All my dogs are fed BARF for 3 yrs now..even the little Italian Greyhound!

Michael, if they need to be drained by the vet.. you might want to insist that he sedate her. Not like anesthetising her for surgery. A fast acting..fast recovery type of drug. I agree, it is extrememly painfull for the dog and painful for the owner to hear and watch. If it tends to be a recurring thing you might want to opt for the surgery. Good Luck!!!

Bennie Sue

[Michael C.]

Bennie Sue,

The vet stuck two fingers inside her and squeezed. I would much rather give her antibiotics if that works.

[JFred]

Hi Michael, yes we've been there..done that. Not much fun for anybody. Do you feed BARF? This problem started before we began feeding Barf and obviously it's not working 100% because she's had symptoms twice in the last 3 yrs.The swelling occurs now on only one side. The vet managed to get the other side cleaned out well enough that it hasn't given her any trouble. If you could get him to clean them out regularly when they're not swollen it will be far less painful for the both of you and maybe the cycle will stop. The old " a stitch in time saves nine" theory. You can do it your self if you have the stomach for it. Just don't try it while she's tender. I wish I could do more to help you. We decided to talk to more than one vet before we made any major decisions..like surgery. We live in a rural area and I would have chosen someone other than the local vet for any treatment other than the digital cleaning you described.

Maybe someone else on the forum will have some information. You might even check the holistic sites. If I can find anything else I'll let you go. Again..good luck.

Bennie Sue

[Michael C.]

Thanks,

Doing it myself is not an option!! Pretty messy and smelly!! She is 2 1/2 years old and just started having this problem recently.

[Barbara Surplus]

Michael, I sent you an e-mail a while back but think you may not have received it as I was having some problems with my computer. Here is the text I copied from Goldstein's book which may explain how Sasha's anal glands may have come to be inflamed.

From The Nature of Animal Healing:

Take a dog at six months old that begins to exhibit itchiness, iinflammation and pustules containing staphylococcal bacteria (a condition called stalph or juvenile pyoderma). A conventional vet will assume that this is a bacterial infection of the skin and administer antibiotics. A holistic vet, mindful that the skin is a powerful eliminator of toxins, will first consider than any inflammation is part of a healthful process. As in throat infections, toxins that are being eliminated promote bacterial growth which white cells then "clean up." What do I do about it? Nothing more than support the overall health of the patient - and perhaps add a homeopathic remedy or herbal preparation to help relieve symptoms - because this elimination, and the bacteria that appear with it, is part of a pet's maturation, just as acne is associated with puberty in humans. If the bacteria are killed by antibiotics, the symptoms will subside but the overall effect will be one of retained toxicity, especially if cortisone is used in conjunction with the antibiotics. Then the dog's dermatitis - itis means inflammation - will reappear as another inflammation, perhaps of the ear (otitis) or the throat (tracheobronchitis), the intestines (enteritis) or the anal sacs (anal sacculitis).

Externally and internally, a pet's body, like a human body, heals via inflammation. Sprain an ankle and it swells. Get a cut and the skin around the cut inflames. Ingest poisons, and the liver will swell. As the poisons get eliminated, the lining of the colon will inflame (i.e., colitis). A body whose inflammations are repeatedly suppressed by drugs will exhibit increasingly serious symptoms, or diseases, until they grow powerful enough to be potentially lethal.
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Bearing the above in mind, you may wish to reconsider the antibiotics. The allergies seem to me to be a sign that there is much more happening here than meets the eye. Would you be receptive to a consultation with an holistic vet?
Barbara

[CarolineS]

Well, I wouldn't totally count out diet as part of the problem. A good friend of mine has a Bichon that had impacted anal glands, the dog was constipated, constantly on antibiotics and had to go to the vet's once a month to get them expresssed. As well as that, my friend was really worried because the little dog is getting quite old, is a really picky eater and ate very little of the different kibble she was offered. I talked her into giving the dog a home-made, cooked diet, more to encourage her appetite than anything (no bones, the little dog doesn't have a whole bunch of teeth). The little dog, of course, loves eating "people food" and her owner is thrilled. She told me that she just had her dog into the vet's the other day for some small problem and he asked her if she'd been doing the anal glands herself because he hadn't seen her for eight months!! She'd noticed that the dog was no longer constipated, but she hadn't really kept track of when the dog's glands had last been done. She hasn't had one problem since she switched diets.

Dogs with allergies are very prone to skin and ear infections, so who's to say it maybe couldn't have played a part in your dog's problem. Allergies cause inflammation which in turn sets up a breeding ground for bacterial infections to get a hold. Maybe the switch back to the original kibble will help.

[Vicki]

My little girl had to have her anal glands expressed on a regular basis, until we switched to a home cooked diet. They've been functioning fine since we made the diet change.

[JFred]

Well Michael,
You've got lots of info and opinions here. Let us know how things go and what works or doesn't work for you. Good Luck!!

Bennie Sue