anal gland infection?

Question

my dod had an anal gland infection does any 1 no wat causes i i never heard it b4 but vet says its qite common??

Answer 1

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.

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.

Answer 2

Anal glands secrete an oil just like human skin secretes oils. It's similar to a zit...the pore gets clog and gets an infection. The Anal gland gets clog by the oil and thus gets infected. A dogs anal glands should actually be pressed occasionally to remove the buildup and most grooming salons will check your dogs anal glands if you ask them. It is quite common and no need to worry about. It should heal up after about a week or so.

Answer 3

Yeah it is quite common. When dogs were wild they used their anal glands to excrete that wonderful smelling stuff to mark their territory. It also excretes when they defecate. But as they have been domesticated their use of them has decreased. However they still produce the stuff and if it isnt expressed it can lead to a very full gland or if it gets too full it can cause the gland to abcess and that is very painful for the dog. Dogs sometimes express them if they get very frightened or stressed out. Usually if your dog goes to the groomer the express them there ( or you can ask them to do it) other wise I would either learn to do it yourself or have your vet express them when needed. Usually they wil start scooting their butt on the carpet. That is a sign of full anal glands, not usually worms. Also if your dog has food allergies that tends to make their anal glands worse and need expressing more often. Hope this answers your question.

Answer 4

I have a larger sized yorkie & he had a terrible problem with his anal gland as well as an eczema condition due to an infection in the perineal region,(the vulva in bitches & scrotum in males).The vet prescribed a course of antibiotics & steroids also cleaned his anal gland which helped to relieve his discomfort a great deal.I have him groomed three times annually,bath him every 2-3 weeks with melaseb'antibacterial-fungus infection shampoo' which is very good provided used correctly. Varying his diet is also a good idea because it makes it more interesting for you & your companion.

Answer 5

No, not unless you have access to antibiotics at home. Call your vet (he shouldn't charge you for the telephone call) and tell him the symptoms. If it is serious, he'll tell you to bring the dog in. When you do, he'll probably express the dog's anal glands and give you lots of antibiotics to give your dog. He may even give the dog an injection of antibiotics. If it is a tumor, however, your vet will take an aspirate (remove some of the material using a syringe) and send it off to a laboratory to determine whether it is benign or malignant. If it is malignant, your dog may have to have surgery to remove it; if it is benign, then it will either shrink by itself or it won't be a bother to the dog once the infection is cleared up. Good luck! Apacapacas

Answer 6

The anal glands are two glands located at about 5 and 7 o'clock around the dogs anus. Originally they were used as scent glands/markers to mark territory and were expressed whenever the dog defecated. After years of selective breeding, and with dogs now domesticated and not needing to "mark" territory, they are just left overs from evolution. Most dogs still express them when they defecate, but some breeds (traditionally the smaller toy and companion type breeds) don't express theirs as well. When the secretions sit in the gland, they can hold bacteria, and become infected. This causes the secretions to get thicker, making it harder to excrete, leading to a vicious circle. Sometimes infections can cause scar tissue, further irritating the gland and making it harder to excrete the secretions. This can affect dogs of all breeds, and is quite common due to the fat laden diets many dogs are fed which leads to softer stool and less likelihood of the glands being expressed. Theoretically, since larger dogs were often altered less in the evolution from a wolf, their glands tend to be more "functional" and have less issues although, as I said, any breed or size can have issues. Keeping on top of it can fend off alot of issues int he future. If your dog is "scooting", or licking/chewing at his anus, odds are the glands need to be expressed. Best of luck with your dog.

Answer 7

My late chihuahua had a bad anal gland infection which needed antibiotics to clear it up. It is a good idea to ask the vet to show you how to empty them yourself (but be warned they do stink). It is usually caused by a dog not doing hard motions, as the anal glands should empty each time your dog motions. Dont neglect them I blamed them from causing heart problems worse in my 13 year old chi as they did take a long time to clear even with us emptying them regulaly.

Answer 8

Hi Marie!!
The difficulty really is in figuring out whether the sacs need to be expressed at any time. Symptoms that indicate that they should be expressed include scooting the rear end on the ground, licking or chewing at the area around the rectum or any other sign of discomfort in this region. Anytime that you see signs that the anal sacs are irritated it is a good idea to have them checked out.

If anal sacs aren't expressed and the dog can't express them on its own they may rupture. When this happens there is usually a draining tract about 2 inches below the rectum and about 1 inch from away from the rectum on whichever side the anal sac ruptured on.

Lots of dogs can express their anal sacs by scooting their rear end on the ground. If they do this once or twice and then the behavior stops it may be that they have successfully emptied the sac. If the behavior goes on longer than that it is probably a good idea to have your vet check things out.
Jason Homan

Answer 9

Marie; Every time I look in here I seem to find myself answering the " Anal Gland " / " White, Crumbly Dog Shite - Where Did It Go? " questions.

We may as well add; " Why, after eight years of eating pelleted filth out of a greasy sack, is my Dog dying of Cancer? ". It's all related. Look:

Feed your Dog Raw Flesh and Bones. ('Breast of Lamb' is cheaper than dirt, Plenty of perfectly digestible bone content. Plenty of meat).

Dogs stomach is like an acid bath. Bones, flesh and Bacteria all get sizzled there. K?

Only - as Haigh found out - acid doesn't always dissolve All bone. Thus ye Dog will sh!t rocks.

The natural passage of these hard pellets of - you guessed it; 'Chalky, white Dog poo' - is natures way of expressing those glands.

Work it out: What do Dogs do, when they get loose in the countryside? They rampage and kill sheep. Sheep / Deer being a Dogs natural prey. Then they eat the lot. Then they have a crap. Voilla!

Ever heard of a wolf or even a fox dragging its bum along a carpet - or presenting at the vets?

Dogs, today, present three major problems. Bum Glands. Lousey teeth / gums / breath. Cancer.

ALL due to lousey diets. Feed them naturally - Flesh on the bone and animal fats. Check out " BARF ", if ye like; A new hype on a thing as old as Dogs. Don't get bogged down. Just feed the animal Right. Naturally.

Then Nature will clean it's teeth, as it chews. Nature will squeeze its glands ~ Ye know when! And the poor thing will stand a chance of living around fifteen years. Not needing putting down at half that age, due to a diet of vet sponsered, carcinogenic, vet sponsering sh!t in a greasy sack.

I hope I've got this across to you ~ and who ever? Only it's five in the morning and my powers of communication are probably blunter than a well fed Dog's droppings! ;-)

Answer 10

My dog and cat suffer with blocked anal glands I have to take them every so often to the vet to have them emptied.The vet suggested more dry food as this makes their poo harder which presses on the glads when they go to the loo.Yes it is smelly.