Dog with leaking anal gland

[tincup]

Hi,

I have a staffy x blue heeler that is releasing her anal gland at least once daily and some days twice.

She isn’t in distress and isn’t scooting but will lick the affected area when the glands express.

We recently added brown rice (roughly 4 weeks ago) to her daily dinner Which didn’t seem to have any effect, and the past week we have also added Metamucil which hasn’t improved anything either.

We also give her a dental stick in the morning and a beef strap before bed. (Not sure if that is affecting anything or not)

Does anyone have any advice on getting a handle on this issue?

The only thing I can think of doing is giving her a single food diet and if we see improvement slowly adding in other foods.

Thanks for reading, and hopefully someone can give me some help with this

 

[steve77]

@tincup How often do you get her glands expressed at the vet? My chihuahua needs his done about every other month. Some dogs need it more than others or as they age. My significant other is a vet tech though, so that makes it a lot more convenient/cheaper.

 

[cathya]

@tincup Get it expressed at a vet. They’ll be able to tell if it’s just full glands or an infection. Once you know it’s not an infection you will probably be good to get them expressed at a groomers whenever they get full.

 

[kof_king]

@tincup I think you are on the right track going with single proteins to see if there is an allergy or another factor involving food. Is the stool very soft? Consistently soft stool can prevent the anal glands from expressing properly during evacuation. An expression could help for sure, then you could work on finding the right food. Pumpkin helps but can further soften stool. If you can find something like dried Sweet potato chews those are very helpful in binding stool.

 

[john1277]

@tincup Our vet taught me how to do it. It’s pretty easy.

My goldendoodle seemed to have gotten used to having them expressed every two months at the groomer but now seems to have adjusted to far less frequent need.