Anal Gland Excretion

My 16 month old Golden has had his anal gland expressed a few times. The first time the vet suggested it because he kept dragging his butt. The next time he stunk so bad and I had a groomer do it and she said they were full.
Well it's been 2 months since the last time it was done and he's dragging his butt quite a bit now although I haven't smelt anything as bad as last time.

My question is is this something that will need to be done regularly. Is it ok to have a groomer to this instead of a vet? Groomer charges $15 and Vet charges $43.

Thanks!

Groomers can do it instead of the vet, and for some dogs it is something that needs to be done regularly. You can even learn to do it yourself.

Another thing to try is to add canned pumpkin to his food and see if that helps. The fiber sometimes helps bulk up the stool enough that the anal glands get expressed on their own, like they should.

I am not sure what you mean by bulked up stool?

Wow, that's ridiculous. We charge $10.

Yah a groomer can do it as long as it's not impacted/ruptured/etc. Or you can just do it yourself (I'd get someone who knows what they're doing to show you first though).

More fiber to produce a harder stool. It's the pressure from the feces that presses on the sacs that expresses them naturally. If they're not hard enough, sometimes they don't get expressed.

You might even want to learn how to do it yourself if you're not too squeemish. It's pretty easy

I went to groomer on Friday and she said his glands were full and drained them, too her all of 20 seconds. Although all weekend he was biting his backside, I'm wondering if something is still not right in that area.
His stool is usually on the hard side so I am not sure what is going on.
Yes I am squeamish, especially to smell. I hope I don't have to do this every couple of months.

Has he been de-wormed recently? If it's not the glands that would be my second guess at the scooting/backside biting.

you might also consider having the glands removed if he has a continuing problem.

The majority of dogs NEVER need their anal glands expressed, once it starts, it's usually something that has to be continually done. Also can result in perianal fistula's from gland problems, (been there done this twice)..Having the glands removed by a surgeon who knows what they're doing can get rid of the problem once and for all.

Removing the anal glands also leaves a BIG chance that the dog will become fecally incontinent. I'd take anal glands over that any day. Marsupialization of the anal glands is a slightly better option than removing them.

The reason the vet charges more is because they do it from the inside (actually stick finger in there and remove every last bit). The groomer squeezes from the outside, which is fine for most dogs, but I'd say your's probably needs to see the vet. I'd also switch the food to something that produces larger firmer stools and see if that helps.

I went to the hairdresser on Friday and said that his glands were filled and drained them, she also around 20 seconds. Although all weekend I was biting back, I wonder if something is still not fair in that area. Their feces are usually on the hard side, so I'm not sure what is happening. Yes, I am sensitive, especially to smell. I hope not to have to do this every two months.

I do it myself. There are some good articles online - videos are the best (altho gross to some) I don't remember which ones I used...if I find them I will post 'em.

*giggles*


*hysterical fits of laughter*

NOW you may safely click on the sig

You wouldn't say that if you've ever had a dog with really bad problems with them.

I've had friends that have had their dog's anal sacs removed and none had anything more than a temporary incontinence issues. Like a day or two, so when King needed the left one done, due to chronic infections (nothing worked, and he was getting pretty miserable because of it), I wasn't too worried. I took a whole week off work, just in case he had issues. About 3 hours after I brought him home, he made his first movement without any problems. His main problem seemed to be he was depressed due to the opaque cone that the vet put on his head. Once I got one he could see through, he was fine, making Molly miserable by using the cone as a battering ram. By the end of the two weeks until his stitches were due to be taken out, I was sick of being hit in the legs too. About 2 hours before I was supposed to take him to the vet, I took the cone off. When we got to the vet, they took him in the back to remove the stitches, but he had already done a "nice job" taking them out himself.

There comes a point when they get so bad, the dog is miserable. King's right one was constantly infected, and had a nasty, smelly discharge. Even after a long course of several antibiotics, and irragation of the sac, which cured it on my last dog that had issues with it, it just never really got better.

My vet was one of the ones recommended by the local kennel club, so I wasn't too worried about there being any problems like incontinence. After I got him home, he went normally the next morning, and except for some pain on night, bad enough I took him to the emergency vet for a pain shot, the recovery was quick and uneventful. He even removed his own stitches a couple of hours before I took him in to have them removed, and he did a very good job of it, as he had years ago when he was neutered.