Odie was back at Midtown Veterinary Clinic last Saturday. He had problem walking so with my over protective imagination, I thought he injured his back again. His symptom was that he would walk a few feet then sit, walk a few more feet then sit.
We went for the “ride” to the Vet and he seemed ok. The normal bad dog jump from the passenger seat to the driver’s seat trying to get a good look out the window. As soon as we got there, he took off with a strong walk towards the Vet’s office and got a good whiff of dog fear and headed back to the car.
I knew at that point it wasn’t his back but his anal glands or something else. Sure enough, his right gland was not coming out clean. (Thanks, Dr. Martin, that was something I didn’t need to see or smell.)
Dr. Martin gave Odie an anti-inflammatory shot for the pain and a round of antibiotics to clear up any infection. That seemed to do the trick. He also recommended adding fiber such as Metamucil to his diet to bulk up his bowel movements.
I found a really good fiber (Konsyl) that is made for Diabetics and does not contain added sugar or sugar substitutes found in other over-the-counter fibers. My thought is that this is a really good fiber for dogs. I just mix in about a 1/4 teaspoon to his dinner every night and he gets a nice bulking poop to help clean out his anal glands.
I am VERY interested in Odie’s experience with fiber and the reason for it. I also put Baxter on Konsyl just a week ago because his stool needed bulking. Did Odie have smelly butt, too? Our vet said he has never encountered a case like Baxter, where the smellies happen when Baxter is just chillin. Baxter is seventeen pounds. I currently add 1 tsp to his dinner (which is already a high fiber kibble) and 3 spoons of water.
Odie has a smelly butt; however, I usually don’t go around sniffing it. But we added pumpkin to his diet and the smell has reduced significantly. The Konsyl also started working once we increased the dose up from 1/4 tsb to 1 tsb.
My dachshund has this problem, we call it the stinkies. It also usually happens when she is chillin. I have to take her to the vet every 4-6 weeks to have her anal glands expressed. She can stink up the whole room and you don’t have to get anywhere near her butt to smell it. she gets very embarresed when this happens.
Where can I get Konsyl? My Fritz just had his anals expressed and he wasn’t very happy about it. At least, though, he stopped chewing out his fur back in that region.
You can get Konsyl at Walgreens. You may want try adding pumpkin to Fritz’s diet since it has fiber.
I got some Konsyl for my doxie Fritz. I didn’t realize it was something I could buy just about anywhere. Now I have a new problem with him. Evidently when he has to make a bowel movement it comes on rather urgently because he doesn’t always wait until he can go outside. He’s been housebroken for a couples years (he’s 3-1/2) but sometimes he’s reverting back to when he was a pup. The Konsyl certainly does the job though. His stool are hugh.
My dachshund mix seems to be swollen in the area of the anal glands. It’s gotten really pronounced, but I thought she could just be packing on the pounds in some strange places.
She’s always been sensitive to scratches around the base of the tail–we thought it was funny: when you scratch on the right, she cocks her head to the right and slowly licks the air. Same for the left. In the last year, she’s been doing this even when you scratch a bit higher on her lower back.
She also has some silent-but-deadlies that cause room-wide evacuations. Does this sound like it could be her anal glands?
On a side note-does anyone else’s dog frighten itself with its own toots?
Momo, if your dog has swollen anal glands, you want to take her to your Vet. Chloe had a swollen gland about a year ago and we got her there before it burst.
We have Oscar a mini D and he was having stinky butt issues. I took him to the vet and I learned to express his glands (externaly) this is very easy and can be done at bath time. We now give him a scoop of 100% pumpkin at dinner he loves it and it is a natural fiber. Now the stinky butt is gone.
My husband puts our dachshund in the bathtub, places his hand in a latex glove, then using KY jelly lubricant on the glove, expresses the anal sacs at home, immediately after gives the dog a shampoo and thorough rinse off, towel dry. Our doxie then runs through the house with joy of life. What a sweet dog. You can save a lot of money doing the express yourself. Just hold your breath while doing it so you do not get nauseated. Throw the glove in a covered trash can as soon as completed. My husband says the glands are at 4 and 8 o’clock, use a gentle motion trying to gently push outward. The dog may yip, but will understand you are helping and are the pack leader.
Thanks for advice! Can your husband come over and express the glands and also give our doxies a bath? But seriously, I’ll have to try the KY and latex glove trick and remember the 8 and 4 o’clock positions.
Hi , my name is Sharon and I have a 2 ½ year old dachshund, her name is Ema. I’m new to having a dog, so don’t know nothing. I found your site yesterday, I need help on what to feed Ema, she is very picky and won’t eat dry or canned dog food at all ( I’ve tried them all) I tried your pumpkin and chicken last night ,she did eat it but this morning she did not won’t to touch it but then when I gave her chicken by itself she would eat it. she does eat chicken ,she loves cheese(don’t know how much I can give her or what kind)she like lunch meats, that’s is about it .i think she needs more vits. ,fiber-she has problems with anal glands all the time. she has had some issues, my grandson found her in the woods in oct.2009 she was almost dead, all her little bones showing ,loaded with ticks and flees( the poor baby),they had two dogs so I took her. she has been sick –I took her to the vet. She has hook worms and another lung worm(she is taking meds. right now)I would love all the info you can give me. I found out in one book that dachshund have back problems –I have five steps to get out the back door and five steps out the front , I worry about her back getting hurt.
also , what happenes if the anal glands do burst and how do you know that they burst?
Hi Sharon. Thanks for the questions and especially rescuing Ema!
We usually feed our dogs once at night and give them a few treats in the morning to sustain them through the day. Chloe doesn’t have an appetite in the morning so this may be typical with Ema. You just need to find the food she likes and stick with it.
Dachshunds do have a tendency to get back problems but they don’t have problems navigating the stairs. We have two stories in our house and the dogs go up and down just fine. Sometimes if they injure their back, they have to extend it straight so this makes it difficult for them to go up stairs.
It’s a bloody mess when this happens. Chloe just had a cyst that burst but it wasn’t the anal gland. Very messy indeed. Your dog will schooch its rear on your rug first if it has gland problems.