My dog has chronic anal gland infections. Should I get them removed?

You may speak with your veterinarian about a diet trial with a hydrolyzed protein diet for 12 weeks. This will tell you if an allergy is present. If you can;t control it with food, you may look into surgery to remove the glands. I hope this helps.

Chronic anal gland problems can be highly unpleasant to manage. Have you discussed surgical removal of the anal glands with Bear's vet? From your description, it sounds as though he may be a good candidate for this procedure. If surgery is not an option for one reason or another, euthanasia may be an option if Bear's quality of life is declining. I can understand your heartbreak over this situation, but I strongly recommend discussing all options with your veterinarian before making any final decisions.

Hello. Most anal gland infections heal up quite nicely with medications & keeping the area clean. Unless there is a special circumstance involving Tia's glands, such as the area is just not healing, additional flushing & treatment is usually not necessary. See how she does after a week on antibiotics & if she is doing well, just continue the antibiotics. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Anal gland issues are not uncommon and I hate to hear that they are bothering Sadie. Not knowing the history, I'm just giving a brief over view of glands in general. Chronic anal gland irritation is often due to food allergies. If you have not tried a food trial yet, I would try it and see if the gland issues go away. There is a specific prescription diet made by Royal Canin called Ultimino. It will diagnose ALL forms of food allergy. Once you figure out thats the problem, then you can start figuring out what food exactly that Sadie is allergic to. If its not food related, then its likely hereditary that she has unhealthy glands. There is a supplement called Glandex that can be purchased at Petsmart and some dogs do well on it. There's also a surgery to remove the glands for dogs that are constantly plagued. I hope I have answered your questions. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Anal glands are sometimes difficult to determine what causes them to fill up quickly and why they don't empty on their own. What we typically recommend is switching the diet completely to a different brand / formula and adding in supplementation for the anal glands such as Glandex (which can be purchased online). I've known Glandex to reduce the time between anal gland expressions by months and sometimes the diet switch alone makes a big difference. Try this for a few months and if the problem persists after, I would speak with your veterinarian about other options. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I have seen a few dogs like Bella. Many times there will be an underlying cause such as allergies that cause this but not always. I would recommend a food trial with a prescription diet made by Royal Canin called Ultamino. You will feed her ONLY this diet for 2 months. She cannot eat ANYTHING else, no treats, bread crusts...absolutely nothing. At the end of the food trial, if her anal glands are not bothering her, then you know its a food allergy. If they are still bothering her, then its not a food allergy. If you haven't tried this yet, its worthwhile. Sometimes a short dose of anti-inflammatory or steroids can also help wth residual inflammation. Her doctor can prescribe these medications if they seem warranted. Best of luck with Bella!

Place an e-collar (cone) on Smugde to prevent any licking. Have her rechecked by your veterinarian. The anal glands should be expressed and flushed. Afterwards, medication can be instilled directly into the glands. Before all this, consider obtaining a sample to submit for culture and sensitivity panels. This may identify the responsible organism as well as the best antibiotic to use in treatment.