Unfortunately owning a dog sometimes means dealing with infected or impacted anal glands. This can be done by you in the home or by us at Apollo Animal Hospital. It is a fairly easy procedure, but the smell and discharge can be rather odorous. If left untreated your dog could be left in pain and discomfort and eventually and infection. Prevention is fairly straight forward: a healthy diet and regular exercise
Symptoms: Scooting bum across rug or grass; licking or biting his rear end; nasty odorous smells, constipation or pain when pooping/sitting Stages of Anal Gland (Sac) Disease
- When a dog defecates(poops), the normal fluid in his anal sacs is squeezed out, too.
- If the sacs are not completely emptied, the remaining fluid can become dry and thick eventually plugging up (impacting).
- Glands then need to be emptied with your fingers or we can do it for you.
- This may have to be done regularly, but can be mitigated by changing diet to increase the size of poop and therefore pressuring the sacs to empty normally
- Untreated impaction can grow into an infection resulting in puss oozing and your dog being in great pain.
- At this point we would have to flush the sacs and put your dog on antibiotics.
- If the infection is untreated the mass could explode and require us to open and drain the remaining abscess, give medication and prescribe warm daily compresses
- Worst outcome would mean the removal of the anal sacs surgically, but this could mean your pet could poop uncontrollably
Do it yourself resources:
How To… Express a Dog’s Anal Glands, by Dr. Jennifer Coates
How to Express Your Dog’s Anal Glands by Star of Texas Veterinary Hospital
