Does Feeding Your Dog a Fish Based Food Cause Their Butt to Stink
What are a dog's anal glands?
What are dogs' anal glands? Your dogs anal glands are a pair of oval-shaped glands, located below the tail of your dog, situated in the muscular ring either side of its anus.
Why do dogs have anal glands?
There are two prevailing theories about why dogs have anal glands:
- They help to lubricate the stool as your dog passes a bowel movement.
- They secrete pheromones which are a chemical signature or marker, containing lots of interesting information about your dog
Theory 2 seems more likely. The passing of poo (with the correct amount of fibre present) forces a dog's anal glands to excrete, leaving your dog's signature scent there for other dogs. The position of the glands and quantity of material they normally hold is not sufficient for lubrication. Normal healthy gut movement and secretions of mucous from the bowel wall is all the lubrication they need.
3 common dog anal gland problems
There are a range of problems with a dog's anal glands that they can experience. If you are concerned in any way about your dog's anal glands, you should seek immediate veterinary advice, find a pro-raw vet.
The 3 most common dog anal gland problems include:
1) Impacted anal glands in dogs
Impacted anal glands in dogs are the often the first stage of anal sac disease, which is a common problem in dogs. It can be easily treated, however if it is ignored, the second stage of inflammation, referred to as sacculitis can lead to much more serious complications.
2) Infection of anal glands
With an infection of anal glands, it is important to treat it quickly, to avoid severe damage to the anus and rectum.
3) Tumours of anal glands
Anal gland tumours require veterinary diagnosis, but can cause calcium levels to increase in the blood, leading to increased urination, thirst, weight loss, lack of appetite and vomiting.
5 ways to keep a dog's anal glands healthy
The best preventative method of avoiding dog anal gland problems in the first place is to pay close attention to diet. By feeding a suitable, species-specific diet, you can help to avoid problems with any dog's anal glands.
Here are 6 ways to keep anal glands in dogs healthy:
- Feed a healthy, raw diet
- Add additional fibre
- Add probiotics to your dog's diet
- Add prebiotics to your dog's diet
- Deal with food sensitivities, allergies and intolerances
We will now take a closer look at each of the ways to use a healthy diet to avoid dog anal gland problems, such as infected anal glands in dogs and impacted anal glands in dogs.
1. Feed your dog a healthy diet
A healthy diet is extremely important. If your dogs anal glands regularly become blocked, it could be down to their diet, especially if your dog's current food contains highly processed foods including refined starch or low fibre canned meat.
Can a raw food diet help anal gland problems in dogs? A raw dog food diet is extremely important in supporting digestive health. If your dog's anal glands regularly become blocked, it could be down to their diet, especially if your dog's current food contains grains and unnecessary fillers. Discover the benefits of raw dog food.
Ensuring your dog is getting enough healthy fibre in their diet will add sufficient 'firmness' to your dog's stool. Fibre helps to keep your dog's anal glands clear and 'expressed'. It can also help with constipation in dogs.
In carnivores, suitable fibre may be accessed from collagen in skin and joint materials (1) or through pre-digested plant material ingested by prey species like rabbits etc.
Raw dog food includes two sources of natural fibre which help your dogs anal glands, Plant sources in select vegetables, kelp and berries or Animal sources ground-up bone and cartilage or treats including fur and skin. This can also help in reducing any anal gland inflammation. Learn more about inflammation in dogs.
In a Bella & Duke meal, we only include an ingredient if it improves the nutritional value of the food, meaning there are no fillers or grains. We include two sources of natural fibre which help your dog's anal glands; plant (Can dogs eat vegetables? & Can dogs eat fruit?) and animal (Can dogs eat raw meat?). If you are new to the concept of raw dog food read our BARF raw dog food guide for beginners.
2. Add additional fibre
Adding more fibre to a dog's diet can be an ongoing change, or even a temporary addition while you treat your dog's anal gland problems. Even in meals that have a reasonable amount of healthy fibre, adding a little additional fibre can provide extra help to express anal glands.
In certain situations, you may require a little more to get things back on an even keel. Adding psyllium husk, seaweed (kelp) powder or treats like rabbit ears with fur can supplement further fibre into your dog's diet.
3. Prebiotics
Prebiotics are the food on which your dog's friendly bacteria feed & thrive on (they love fibre). Settling your dogs microbiome can influence gut motility and faecal consistency.
Resolving diarrhoea and constipation from bacterial overgrowth can be an important part of not only improving your dogs gut health (2) but also emptying their anal glands.
4. Add in digestive enzymes
These aid the digestion process and improve nutrient absorption.
5. Deal with food allergies, intolerances or sensitivities
This is essential. Food allergies can be one of the root causes of your dogs anal gland issues. They may cause diarrhoea, constipation and general irritation. Deal with this and you are halfway there.
How fibre helps your dog's anal glands
Consider fibre as the goldilocks ingredient. You don't want too much or too little... just the right amount.
Fibre is excellent at 'moderating' the transit time of food in the digestive tract. When this transit time is too fast e.g. your dog has diarrhoea, fibre can slow digestion down. Where it is too slow e.g. your dog has constipation, it can help speed it up.
Transit time is important. The correct amount of time allows your dog's body to absorb the essential vitamins, minerals & nutrients from its food, whilst binding to any damaging toxins to prevent them being reabsorbed into your dog's bloodstream.
Ideally, you are aiming for your dog to pass one to two stools per day. These should be firm and relatively small (What should your dog's poo look like?), especially compared to the kibble variant! Read our comparison of raw dog food vs kibble.
There are various different sources of fibre, all of which play a role in dogs' digestive systems, working happily, healthily and efficiently.
Making sure our canine friends get adequate fibre can help to avoid blocked anal glands in dogs. This means the best food for dogs' anal glands is a balanced, species-specific one that offers everything they need for healthy digestion.
As well as the 'transit time' benefits, fibre provides the food for healthy bacteria and promotes the production of essential fatty acids.
3 types of fibre to add to your dog's diet
Ensuring your dog is getting enough fibre in their diet will add sufficient 'firmness' to your dog's stool. Fibre helps to keep your dogs anal glands clear and 'expressed'. Here are 3 additions you can look to add to your dog's diet.
Steamed leafy greens
Try blended up, steamed cabbage or broccoli. Aim for 1 teaspoon per 10lbs of body weight, twice per day with your dog's meal.
Psyllium husk
Psyllium husk expands rapidly with water, so just 1/2 teaspoon per 10lbs of body weight twice a day, mixed in with a dog's meals will be plenty.
Slippery elm
Add slippery elm if your dog has what Dr Karen Becker calls long thin "pencil" style stools. Slippery Elm is 'mucilaginous', meaning it oozes a slimy substance when wet.
This mucilage also helps to calm down inflammation inside the intestine. As with Psyllium husk, feed 1/2 teaspoon per 10lbs of body weight. Read more info from Dr Becker's article.
How to identify dog anal gland problems
The top 5 symptoms of anal gland problems in dogs are:
- Your dog scooting their bottom across the floor.
- The area is red or swollen and your dog is sitting awkwardly.
- Excessively licking or biting their itchy anus.
- Crying or whining when going to the toilet.
- There is a strong fishy/metallic odour from under their tail or their breath after licking.
What to do if your dog has anal gland problems
If you believe your dog may have a problem with its anal glands, it's important to seek veterinary advice as soon as possible. This is the best way to make sure your dog receives anal gland treatment as soon as possible and avoid it worsening or becoming more painful.
What not to do
There are certain things that you should not do if you have problems with dogs' anal glands. These include:
Clearing your dog's anal glands yourself
Despite what some practitioners recommend, or what you may read on certain forums about how to empty your dogs anal glands, please do not be tempted to clear your dogs anal glands yourself. Unless you are experienced they could rupture and cause a lot of problems.
Generally, this will only temporarily relieve the pressure on the anal gland, whilst further inflaming it and potentially infecting it. There are some situations where this might be necessary. e.g. when they are causing a lot of pain but it is always best to go to a professional first.
Only remove when there is nothing else to do
Never let anyone remove the anal glands with out significant reasons such as cancer or chronic intractable furunculosis. If someone suggests removing them, simply because they aren't working efficiently, please seek a second professional opinion before proceeding.
There is a risk that following surgery it may leave the muscular anal ring weakened or paralysed due to nerve damage. This could mean faecal incontinence for the remainder of their life. Let's get to the root of the problem & let them heal.
Source: https://www.bellaandduke.com/learn/dog-health/dogs-anal-glands/
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