how often do anal glands need to be expressed?

Kristine · Member Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Posts: 47

Oscars anal glands were expressed in mid May. I asked the vet how bad they were and she said medium bad-although Im not sure what that means.

Today after pooping he scooted. This is the first time I have seen him scoot. Do you think its adviseable to take him to the vet for his anal glands to be checked after seeing him scoot one time? I worry as there were no signs that they needed to be expressed the last time, I just asked the vet to check them as I heard that small dogs sometimes have problems with anal glands.

In general how often do glands need to be expressed?

Thanks for your help.

karma · Member Joined: 20 Mar 2004 Posts: 95

There's really no "in general" amount of time to express glands. Some dogs never need to have theirs expressed. I'm not sure what the other extreme might be- maybe two weeks- three? If your dog has had them expressed before and it's been a couple of months, and you've seen him scoot, it wouldn't hurt to take him to the vet. At least you'd know, and this may give you some kind of idea of how fast, if at all, his sacs are filling up.

You might try adding a little pumpkin (canned) into his diet. Many vets favor this type of roughage; it can help him to eliminate the fluid naturally when he poops.

MyBabyShihPoo · Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2004 3:16 am Post subject:

I completely agree with Karma...great info! Your the best

Just to be on the safe side, I would take Oscar in to your vet to have his glands checked checked. It's better to go in and find out that they don't need to be expressed just yet, than to find out that they are infected and inflamed because you waited too long!

Very Happy

MonsterBailey · Super Senior Member Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 1280

Wow, Karma... that is interesting about the canned pumpkin!! PLUS I bet it tastes good for the dog!

4Dogsihave · Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2004 3:07 am Post subject:

Yeah karma that is pretty cool, I will have to try this.