Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

Sorry - Gross Topic . . . Anal Glands

kenny

kenny

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
34,350
Does anyone here express the anal glands for their dog or cat?
We have taken our dogs to the vet but it seems like it is becoming a more frequent thing.
A woman yesterday saw our dog scooting and she said just do it yourself; she does
It takes 10 seconds so why throw away $25 paying a vet?

Is it difficult?
Do you use a second person to hold the head?
Is yours a large dog or a small one like our (near 11 pounds)?

Here's a short video (not pleasant to watch).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJStqOPCFdA
 
I know groomers will do this when they do haircuts, but I do the grooming myself.
Being thrifty all my life leaves more money for diamonds :tongue:
 
I am lucky enough not to have needed to do it (knock on wood), but I have a friend who does--she says it takes less than a minute, which is good because that's all she can stand. Our vet offered to show us how to do it if we ever need to. I also know that some groomers offer it as an "add on" if needed (just saw your last post--sounds like the vet option would be better).

For us it would probably be a two person job. Our dogs are mellow and they never blink when having their temp taken (in the rear), but I'm afraid that the urge to sit down would be strong.

Sorry you have to deal with this, I don't get grossed out by much but it would gross me out. I'd still do it, but I'd gag.
 
I don't do it because my cat rarely (maybe three times in three years?) expressed them near me.

So I don't bother with it.

If I felt it was necessary, I absolutely would do it myself.

My mother worked for a vet, she still grooms dogs, and sometimes this is something she has to do.

It's not a big deal.
 
When I had my dog grooming business - relieving anal glands was customary of the bath procedure.
It is nor hard nor painful for the dog - it is ONLY painful for your nostrils. The odor is RETCHED. Have a good ventilation going!

It is easy to do... When the glands are full, the dog will rub its bum of the carpet, pavement or even your bed lol.
that action alone can sometimes help the release - but it does stain. People think the dogs are actually wiping their butts from poo, when they are actually not:

WHAT YOU SEE ON THE CARPET IS NOT POO, BUT IN FACT ANAL GOO.

I never wore gloves or anything - what you do is you hold the dog from under the tummy ( do this in your sink or tub! ) with one hand and the other free hand, you put your thumb and index on either side of the anus and slowly push inward... If the glands are full, you'll feel a bulge. When you feel the bulge, the trick is to place your fingers BEHIND the bulge. Once you are there, all you have to do is to squeeze underneath and then slide your fingers outward like you would pop a pimple ( kinda )

The liquid is usually a brownish gel-like residue and is quite hmmm Fragrant.

Good luck! lol :bigsmile:
 
Hi Kenny.

I asked my vet about this the last time we were in with our dog (it was looking like we'd have to bring her in every 6 weeks or so :knockout: ) for this. I am aware that groomers usually offer this service and was curious to hear what the vet had to say about this.

What the groomers (and pet owners who do this themselves) do is clean the outer glands. There are additional glands further in that they do not clean and the vet does. Cleaning these outer glands may help SOME but leaves stuff building up inside. She does NOT recommend people try to clean the inner glands themselves as it can be extremely uncomfortable for the dog and could cause serious damage.


ETA: Our dog is 70 pounds and I would NOT consider doing it myself. The smell is gross, but mostly I want to make sure that the inner glands are clean too so she is as healthy as possible.
 
In 3 years we have only done it once and I gladly paid the vet to do it. We don't get the dog groomed and we do his nails so I don't mind treating myself to a break and not doing it while paying the vet. Also my dog doesn't seem to really need them expressed, tmi, but he is a good 'pusher' and they say that helps keep them from needing frequent expressing.
 
We have had it done twice at the vet for Lola. Murphy has never needed it. We did find however, that there is a prevention mode to look at that might at least cut down on how many times it needs to be done. With Lola, we changed her diet to exclude any human food at all, and had to find small treats with no gluten and other things that we found gave her issues. She didn't need it done again. It was a lot of trial and error with the treats. We like to give something to promote good dental health but it's a tough balance. Anyway, just something to consider. ;))
 
Sorry Kenny, can't tell ya how to do it, our dogs do it themselves and it smells disgusting.

I've read that a high protein diet (protein causes hard dense stool) can actually help express the glands themselves. Since the stool is hard and dense, the anal sacs are expressed as the stool passes by. The anal sac has two purposes, creating a scent marker and assists in passing the stool.

Both my dogs are on the high protein diet. The friends who gave us Mia, had her on a store bought brand, I think Eukenuba. She had anal sac problems and was scootin' her butt constantly. We've never had a problem since she came to live with us.

And a tip to get the anal sac secretion out of things- It is an oil based mixture. Using dish soap or facial astringent will break down the oil and you can then clean up the rest of the spot with other cleaners.
 
our groomer does this when they groom P. our vet showed us how to do it but it is not something i would prefer us to do ourselves. it's part of the grooming and i am SOOO grateful.

there are a few rare times that P has expressed somewhere and MAN do you know it. it's disgusting. and it's very hard to get out/get clean. i just keep chanting to myself...at least it's not poop.

i have also heard it's more of a small dog problem than a large dog problem, but i imagine that's not totally cut and dry.

if you want to find out how to do it, ask your vet to show you. when she showed us, G was squeezing in the wrong place so it's def not 'easy' to figure out.
 
Both of my dogs go to the vet once a month or so and have their butts squeezed and nails clipped. When my family had a chocolate lab, our vet offered to show my father how to do it himself at home. My father said no way, he'd prefer to pay someone else to do it than get bit in the process.

I will caution against doing it at home without proper instruction. My BF tried to do it for his mini-doxie and ended up giving poor Frankie an anal abscess. It looked like he had a golf ball coming out his butt and it was painful for him. Not to mention even more vet visits to treat it.

But boy does it smelll!!! :knockout:
 
Not on the dogs, but our bigger cat Bella has had to have it done. At the vets a couple times and then my brother's then-girlfriend mentioned she worked for a vet for years and would do it so we didn't have to pay. I was the holder and she was the squeezer. Icky.
 
Kenny, it is an absolutely GROSS odor & not easy to do right, as everyone has said

But it's very important to get it done if you notice your dog scooting on his rear or licking, etc. Sometimes the fluid in the glands becomes viscous or even solid & builds up as it can't come out of the gland.

One of my Siberians showed no signs of any discomfort -- that darned breed is so stoic, they drive me nuts! -- but suddenly she gave a yelp & blood poured from her rear end. Scared me to death. It turned out the glands had ruptured internally & she was seething with infection throughout her body. They had to operate & install a drain in the wound; I had to do hot compresses a few times/day & meds, then more surgery to remove the drain. $$$ plus incredible pain for my poor dog.

All this resulted in thick scar tissue on that gland, which made it impossible for me to express, you had to press really hard. Took her to the vet once a month to let him do the honors for the rest of her life. (Most dogs don't need it that often.) I think he charged me $40 a time but it was worth every penny not do be stuck with the job myself.

It can mean the dog's life, not to mention agony.

---Laurie
 
I'm almost a vet (18 more months to go) so I do my own dogs. It's not difficult to do once you know what you're doing but a lot of people prefer to get the groomers or vets to do it.
 
My dog has never needed it. Nor has any family dog I've been around.
I have a friend that has the vet do it.
Gross. But I guess it's something that has to be done.
 
Also, I just watched the video.
I should not have watched it.
:o
 
Kenny -

Our Yellow Lab needs to get this done once every 4-8 weeks. We've found that making her diet even more protein heavy has helped and she's now more at the 8 week than the 4 week interval, but she still needs it done. The vet also says it can be because of the dog's anatomy, and may even be a function of allergies too.

Our vet tech offered to teach us how to do this ourselves, but we decided not to because our dog doesn't like the procedure - she backs up to walls when we go to the vet! - and we didn't want her associating the discomfort with us. The fact that it's smelly and potentially messy just made the decision even easier.
 
OK, shouldn't have watched that video...I almost lost my dinner! :shock:

Never had to do it for any of my dogs, and hope it remains that way, lol!
 
I watched the video, despite being warned!

I haven't had to express my cats' anal glands but I've had anal gland goo sprayed on me by my mother's dog! She does it when she gets scared or feels cornered. I was trying to help my mother stabilize the dog so she could look in her ears. I approached her from behind and tried to sort of hug her to get her to stand still. BIIIIIIIG mistake. In less than a couple of seconds she had emptied her anal glands on my legs, shorts, and shoes. I threw the shoes out, and screamed at my husband who was taking a shower upstairs to get out NOW because I was coming in, whether he was there or not!
 
LaHonda, manx cat, kitty girl gets this done during one of her many trips to the vet........ yes, the vet assures me i can do it and are more than willing to show me how to do it.....i've mastered everything else they have had me doing for/with her! but i figure since she's there anyway, what's another few bucks tossed at the vet bill?

MoZo
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top