Fibre For Scooting

[fifi trixibell]

Ok, well Lulu has been 'scooting' quite regularly lately on the floor.

Neither of the girls have been getting many vegetables lately due to many things - mainly Lulu's food intolerance/allergies.

Any suggestions, diet wise, for increasing her fibre to induce the anal glands to excrete whatever the yucky stuff is that they get rid of?

She was 'drained' about a month ago, but was extremely sore already from her diarreah at the time. What is the usual amount of time between 'squeezing'?

Also, I am thinking of taking her to a groomer. Is it something a groomer will do or do I need to take her to a vet to get it done. Not at all confident about doing it myself

Thanks

Ange

Edited September 13, 2005 by fifi trixibell

[Vehs]

I'd love to see a photo of her scooting - sorry! :D

There are a few threads on anal glands already if you have a search.

I thought having firmer poos was better if it encouraged the dogs to strain a bit to express the glands?

Some groomers will do it, but make sure they know what their talking about as they could make the impaction worse. Perhaps better to try a vet - although the threads have explicit instructions :rolleyes:

[Poodle wrangler]

My vet suggested giving Metamusil to bulk up the poo. It's fibre supplement for humans from the chemist or supermarket. The vet can also show you how to express the glands yourself which was easier than trying to feed my dog Metamusil!. Trust me, the stuff stored in those glands smells and you DON'T want any left by your dog around the house.

[Alprazolam]

Phuscuillum (sp) husks that you can buy at woolworths are Metamusicul without the flavouring, and a quarter of the price.

For my Chi the vet told me 1 level teaspoon in warm water then blend with food.

I do that and it is great. However she still has a problem with her anal glands so once a month I pop up to the vet and he does them.

He says I cannot do them as she is too small and he does not charge for that "wonderful" act so who am I to complain.

[poodlefan]

My vet recommends pumpkin. Of course, digestable bones like chicken wings are good too.

I do my dog's anal glands every time I wash them - so no less often that once per fortnight. Check with your vet about this and get him/her to show you how. If done under a running tap, its not too unpleasant.

[YappyLittleDawg]

once a month I pop up to the vet and he does them.

He says I cannot do them as she is too small and he does not charge for that "wonderful" act so who am I to complain.

Can I come and live in Never, Never Land too?

Seriously, there is a wonderful description of how to perform "the act" very generously posted here some time ago by poodlefan, in response to a question from me. Have a search - it'[s quite ...er...explicit ( :rolleyes: ) !

Edited September 13, 2005 by YappyLittleDawg

[chicko]

I got sunnies done at a vet last week..and his nails clipped..cost me 20$!

VERY STINKY THOUGH

i heard that u can give them a little bit of metamucil? is this the case?

[fifi trixibell]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

It sounds like even if I do give her additional fibre, she will still need to be drained monthly (from your accounts). At the mo' she is getting bones and additional grated sweet potato or pumpkin so I figured it was enough - I have some metamucil at home - might try it for her.

Anyway, i am not at all confident about doing it myself so I thought if she goes to the groomer monthly and they can do it, all the better. Be much better than paying for an additional vet visit. Will groomers generally do this?

Ange

[chicko]

I dont think groomers actually do it..i thought it was more a vet thing..could be wrong though.

just give your groomer a call and ask them

do you take the girls to joondalup (which should be wanneroo) vet?

[Nekhbet]

dont trust a groomer, take the dog to a vet if its having anal gland problems. This way you will be able to work on a more pro-active solution then constant manual draining.

Is it just me? Of all the dogs and breeds my family has had we've never had to take a dog regularly for squeezing or do it ourselves. Maybe we're just lucky. Its a stinky job though bleh

[jemappelle]

I had a dog that had this problem and after about the sixth visit to the vet to have her glands expressed he talked me into having the anal glands removed.

He said: "God put 2 things on this earth which we have no need for - cockroaches and anal glands"

So my girl had hers removed and never looked back! She always smelt very pleasant after that. Best money I ever spent!!!

[Clyde]

I dont think groomers actually do it..i thought it was more a vet thing..could be wrong though.

Yep, I do it But I'm also a vet nurse :D

[InspectorRex]

I groom but I would not do it. feel it is a job for a Vet or vet nurse, like DRU.

Vets can remove the anal glands and solve the problem for you.

[fifi trixibell]

ok, what are the issues for the dog with the glands removed?

i think my OH's sister had her maltese x shitzu's glands removed recently because they kept rupturing (vet's suggestion), so have thought about it but . . . . well, you know. would rather avoid surgery for my girl if possible.

should i just get them removed and be done with it? she is obviously in discomfort with the scooting.

BTW Chicko - i take them to belridge vet clinic. v. good thus far. they are on ocean reef road.

ange

[cavNrott]

.

Edited May 7, 2009 by cavNrott

[TigerJack]

I took Daisy (chihuahua) for her vaccination last night and the vet said she smelt a bit like her anal glands were yucky. They were and she emptied them. Really bad stink. I guess I'm either going to have to learn how to do it or go back to the vet.

She said to use metamucil too (but make sure you use the plain one that is not effervescent or the dog will get the farts.) Other thing she suggested was bran fibre and for my chi she suggested a quarter teaspoon a day in her food.

I went through the bad anal gland thing with Daisy's dad, Montezuma. He kept getting very bad abscesses and was constantly on antibiotics. He had them removed earlier this year and whilst he isn't fond of the vet anymore (had his bum poked enough for a while) he is great since the op.

Vet did warn me that there is a slight possibility of anal sphincter failure after such surgery but said it was uncommon. I don't have any statistics on this but my boy recovered with no problems at all. It is not a cheap operation (I spent almost $600 even after my 'gold customer' discount) but when I consider I was spending a fortune on constant antibiotics and abscess drainages with sedation, the op was the cheaper deal.

Lovely subject for luchtime by the way!!

Jo

[poodlefan]

From my observation of dogs that have had the op, its extremely painful.

Worst side effect can be faecal incontinence - ie dog cannot control its bowels.

An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure in this case. No point in being squeamish if your dog's welfare is involved.

SOME groomers do anal glands. Its not rocket science if you know what you are doing.

[TigerJack]

I would agree with Poodlefan, the op did appear to be quite painful and my boy Montezuma was not a happy chappy for the first few days.

Some dogs will just need the op regardless of what you do. His glands were emptied regularly and he still managed to get them infected every second month and a few times they abscessed and this broke through the skin surface. Quite disgusting and a very sick little dog and far more painful for him than recovering from the surgery was. He was far more distressed at these times than he was post op. He also lost alot of condition when he was getting abscesses all the time and when you only weight 3kg to start with, that can get dangerous fairly quickly.

Jo

[LouiseBrooks]

From my observation of dogs that have had the op, its extremely painful.

Worst side effect can be faecal incontinence - ie dog cannot control its bowels.

An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure in this case. No point in being squeamish if your dog's welfare is involved.

SOME groomers do anal glands. Its not rocket science if you know what you are doing.

This explains why my vet will not do the op.

Lillie already has ruptered anal pinchers muscles.

Visiting the vet again tomorrow poor lillie whimpers when she see the vet now.

[Baxlse]

I guess it depends on how bad the problem is in the individual dog but Mick has had anal sac problems his whole life & he's had them drained a few times at the Vets. Never impacted or infected, just full but I'll share the "cure" I found for Mick.

He used to "bum-rub" ALL the time, it was very embarassing because he'd do it on friend's carpet & in the park on the grass. He'd make grunting noises as he scooted down my hallway.

Anyway, a few months ago in an effort to reduce his fat intake, I switched half of his canned dinner with a rice, pea & corn mix. The peas & corn are the tinned variety.

Since I switched him onto the corn (just a tablespoonful or so a day) he has almost completely stopped scooting I made the connection when I noticed the complete corn kernals in his stools, they don't digest corn & the kernals seem to be just the right size to help empty his sacs on their way out.

Probably won't work for all dogs but it helped Mick.