Anal glands and food type

[Rosiegirl]

Hello,

I am interested in hearing what brands of food have been successful in bulking up poop to encourage natural anal gland expression. Rosie girl is 3 years old and has had anal gland issues since day one. She tends to "blow out" her anal glands every 3-4 days inside the house which results in weekly vet visits to get her anal glands expressed. I have been to a handful of vets and am told that her glands are deep and placed irregularly. All of the vets claim she is the only dog they have seen who needs this done on a weekly basis. The vets will express them and claim they are empty and then 3-4 days she is expressing in the house and scooting her butt. She does not have any infections nor abscesses. I have been taught to perform this on my own, but can't do it by myself so this has become very costly for me. I've tried countless food options from prescription to a variety of food brands. I have had the most success with Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Fish, but this is no longer working. Not too mention she has food allergies and she is allergic to chicken which results in her licking her paws raw if I don't clean her paws and between her digits on a daily basis. The vet is recommending another prescription brand which costs nearly $100 per bag. I'm going to try to increase fiber and have heard that pumpkin can be effective. I'm open to any suggestions at this point. If anything, it might help to hear that somebody else is dealing with this issue as regularly as me! I love my dog with all of my heart, but this is getting old! Thanks for the help!
Jim

 

[NewEnglandBully]

Have you considered feeding RAW? Everything I have read on this suggests feeding raw including bone, as it helps firm stool. Yes, pumpkin is a good choice for increasing fiber and firming stool. The best firmness I have ever seen in my dog was when he was on Pioneer Naturals (Pork, I believe), if you're looking for a kibble suggestion. The protein was higher than other kibbles if I can recall from memory.

We currently feed Fromm (Pork and Peas) and have never had a soft stool issue on this.

One of my clients is strictly RAW and the stool is very firm, but not a constipated firm and there is little to no odor, unlike a kibble fed canine's stool. I don't have experience with this though, it is just what I have read on the matter…dogs naturally magazine recommends adding probiotics and feeding fiber broth with psyllium husks (<-but be careful about adding psyllium husks and do a lot of reading/research on it first). A product called Glandex was mentioned quite a bit in other forums regarding this matter, I have not used it though, so cannot say one way or another… An article by Dr. Peter Dobias DVM suggests having testing done for an underlying cause (arsenic, lead and mercury levels along with mineral deficiencies). Another suggestion was to do a complete elimination diet, but I believe that was in case of allergies being the cause of gland issues…I hope this helps a bit. Hoping others will offer some insight for you, good luck to you and sweet Rosie and keep us updated!

 

[ddnene]

My Walter has issues w/his anal glands... I have to have his expressed about every month or so. I can tell by the way he is behaving when his are full, and he actually becomes aggressive and tries to bite at his rear end

Food wise I have him on Fromm's beef and pork/applesauce. I give him a supplement and probiotic daily which seems to help, and if things become problematic I give him pumpkin. If proteins are an issue, you could try Honest Kitchen... you add your own proteins to the kibble and many members have had luck w/it.

 

[Manydogs]

[h=1]Dog Anal Glands: The DIY Solution To Stinky Problems [MENTION=14969]Rosiegirl[/MENTION] Read this page![/h]

• DIY /
• By Phivo Christodoulou

2.4k

2.4k

9

1

Anal glands … a very stinky problem with an easy and cost-effective solution.
Sure, it’s not the most pleasant subject, but it’s a really important part of your dog’s health. If the anal glands aren’t functioning correctly, they can cause discomfort and even infection.
I’d like to share with you an easy way to help express your dog’s anal glands naturally.
First, ponder this…
If you decided to juice fast yourself for a week the last thing you’d expect is to have is solid poop. Yet when it comes to our dogs, many of us seem to think that we can feed them foods with a mushy puréed consistency and expect fairy dust and rainbow sprinkles to come out the other end.
To help the anal glands to function properly, dogs need to consume the right amounts of fiber. Sadly, due to a lack of good fiber in the average canine diet, many dogs have to have their anal glands expressed manually … meaning the vet or groomer squeezes them by hand to get the fluid out.
[h=1]The Function Of Dog Anal Glands – Both Fascinating And Gross![/h]You know your dog marks his (or her – girls do it too!) territory with his pee, but did you know he also marks with his poop?
Dogs have two small glands on either side of the anus. These glands fill up with a fluid that has a scent exclusive to each dog. When your dog secretes this fluid during defecation, he spreads his unique signature through his poop.

Isn’t it remarkable that when dogs sniff each other’s backsides they are analyzing their equivalent to human passports!
[h=1]Anal Gland Problems[/h]When the anal glands don’t express naturally during defecation they become painful and produce a foul odor. This can lead to chronic infection and, in some extreme cases, conventional vets will surgically remove the glands.
If you see your dog scooting his butt on the ground, licking or biting at it, or sitting seems to be uncomfortable, he may have an anal gland problem.
The reason that diet plays such a big role in anal gland problems is that commercially processed foods and even some raw foods are too soft. When the diet contains the right fiber it promotes a good push with wide expansion of the anus during defecation, which in turn helps to express the anal glands.
[h=1]Naturally Expressing The Anal Glands Through Diet[/h]In 2010 I started working toward my ambitious goal of making the world’s greatest dog food. I wanted to give my Boxer, Augustine, the best chance at living a long and healthy life that far exceeds the Boxer average.
Once I’d produced a successful recipe that was benefiting Augustine and also turning dogs around from all sorts of ailments, people started to ask me about cruelty free options. They pressed me for short-term vegan diets for dogs who had intolerances to all meat proteins, or had conditions needing a much higher fiber diet.
So I got back in the test kitchen and formulated a fresh vegan recipe. Here’s where it gets interesting…

[h=1]My Aha Moment[/h]All science starts with an observation, which leads to a hypothesis and then on to trials. I fed this new vegan recipe to my dogs and made an interesting observation.
There’s no way to say the following without admitting that I’m a poop watcher. Let’s be honest – observing your best friend’s poop is a great way to get an indication of physical health.
I was astounded by how large Augustine’s poop was on the new vegan recipe. Even my little Maltese, Mishka’s poop looked like it came from a dog twice her size.
That’s when this enthusiastic poop watcher had an epiphany. I thought back to conversations about dogs who couldn’t express their anal glands through raw diets with bones and realized…
… it’s less about how hard a dog squeezes when pooping and more about how wide the anus expands.
This makes sense to me. Bones in the diet partially dissolve during the digestive process, creating those small firm poops raw feeders are so proud of! But sometimes these little poops are too small to expand the anus wide enough to naturally express the glands.
So… I made some calls and asked dog owners to try the vegan high-fiber recipe twice a week. It worked! The recipe got their dogs’ anal glands working properly.
[h=1]An Easier Solution[/h]I don’t expect everyone to make fresh vegan dog food for their dogs twice a week, so here’s an anus-expanding recipe for Fiber-Broth. This simple recipe produces firm rubbery poops that help expand the anus wide enough to get the job done.
Fiber-Broth also acts as a doggy colon cleanse. The extra bulk that the psyllium creates will stimulate better movement of the muscles in the walls of the intestines and help to push waste matter along.

[h=1]Some Pointers[/h]Here’s how to make your own bone broth.
Bone broth and fresh coconut water are for extra nourishment, as well as flavoring to encourage your dog to eat the broth. If your dog will drink the broth with water that’s fine too.
Please read ALL the directions before feeding. It’s important to follow this recipe carefully as psyllium husk sucks moisture out of the digestive tract and can cause constipation if over-fed.

If the poops are still not large enough, you can very slowly and carefully increase the amount of psyllium husk.
Just to give you an idea of the difference the fiber broth can make to your dog’s poop size, take a look at this comparison between an adult Boxer’s poop (without fiber broth) and an adult Maltese’s poop with fiber broth. As you’ll see, the poops are almost the same size, even though the Maltese is a much smaller dog.

And there’s one more thing…
Supervise your dog during poop time while you’re feeding the fiber broth. This is gross, but some dogs may need help getting their poop out at first. You can do it by placing your hand in a clean poop bag and pulling the poop out. Your hands won’t get dirty so grit your teeth, hold your nose, and give your dog a hand if he needs it.
I wish your dog a happy pooping experience and please remember that food IS medicine and don’t let anyone tell you different!


[h=3]About the Author Phivo Christodoulou[/h]Phivo The Dog Health Guy is the director of Augustine Approved and has a strong interest in natural health and nutrition. He puts all his knowledge into free recipes, blogs and organic products to help share his approach to canine health. Phivo is a passionate animal rights advocate and an innovator in the canine health care space.


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[Hankster]

wow,interesting article!! /study... As far as poop goes, Hank has almost always had very good ones, but!!!! With the Honest Kitchen (we use the Preference and Kindly where yo add your own protein) it is even better!! Not cheep but cheeper than vet bills.. Ya may check it out and they also have with turkey, fish, beef or chicken (which I know you don't want)

 

[2BullyMama]

Lambeau has issues too but 1 tablespoon of pure pumpkin with each meal solved his problem


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[helsonwheels]

Home cooking, Honest Kitchen, Raw... cant go wrong avoids a lot of issues.

 

[Annie1991]

My Punk is on Royal Canin - since day 1 and I do not express or have anyone express her glands because - SHE DOES IT HERSELF ON MY SHOES !!!!!!! But to get back to the subject - hers are solid - the only time they are not is when I give her some cheese. So, I stopped giving cheese -