Hello! This is kind of a 'not so pretty' topic, but I was wondering if any fellow Labrador owners have Labradors that suffer recurrent anal gland infections? A little history about my beautiful girl - She's just shy of 6 months old and was bred by a great breeder in Northern NSW who I could not fault. Prior to her, I owned a Labrador for 13 years so become quite knowledgeable on the breed and genetic predispositions. However, I have not yet stumbled across this issue before. My puppy was weaned from birth onto 'Maxi Junior' by Royal Canin dry dog food, which I followed through for a month after her arriving in our household. I then went for a regular check up to the vet and vaccinations and was placed on the 'Junior' veterinary brand of dry dog food as they do not supply Maxi Junior and I thought I was making the best decision for her. As time went on, the cost of Royal Canin was making quite a large dent in my budget so I thought I'd seek different food brands and came across SuperCoat (So obviously going from a reputable brand to a very cheap, supermarket quality food). It was not long after this that my little girl got her first anal gland infection. At first, I thought the smell was blood from teething, but upon further investigation and a trip to the vet, she was diagnosed with an anal gland infection - Being it her first one (As far as I was aware), she was given an anti-itch, antibiotic injection and antibiotic tablets for 7 days. As I did not relate it to the food, and since my vet did not let me know that it may have been the food I switched her to, I continued feeding her SuperCoat mixed with rice and veges. I just seemed so oblivious. All seemed well - Though my girl did still seem a little put out and kept licking her bum, I thought since the smell was gone, the infection was and by passed it as maybe a reflex for having her bum sore from the infection. Two weeks went by and it came to the time when we had her desexxed. She seemed healthy! I picked her up after her operation and the first thing I was aware of was that familiar smell coming from her bum. So I lifted up her tail and sure enough, there was the discharge and the smell. There were two things that I was wondering - Whether the toxins could have attributed to the infection via the surgery? Whether it was just a normal release since I become aware that she had not been let out to go to the toliet and had been holding on (She was crate trained so does not go inside any cage). Or maybe the infection never cleared up. A week before surgery, I did change her food to Black Hawk after noticing her poo was slightly runny from the Super Coat. So that's what has brought me here? Has anyone had any similar experiences of recurrent anal gland infections, ones that never go away, or a food/diet that you could recommend I put her on. I'm seriously considering just placing her back on Royal Canin since we did not have any issues while on it but than again, I was not aware of dogs being able to contract anal gland infections as I had been lucky with my previous labradors. Do I have a food sensitive dog? Thanks in advance.
Oh, it's also worth noting that two days after her surgery, the smell is no longer there and she does seem more relaxed but still likes to lick herself down towards her bum, not her incision site. BUT also she is on pain killers, so I may have to see how she goes after she has completed her course... And also, I read on an internet journal article and rang the vets and asked their opinion on adding 1 tbsp of bran with her food, which they said it was okay. It is known to bulk stools by increasing fibre, allowing for the full emptying - and the poo that would marry up to the passing of the bran, smelt as though the infection was leached out onto it - Do you think that the bran helped in emptying her bowls fully and the infection is slowly coming out or a coincidence? Have officially become one of those people that examine their dogs movements...
Hi @LabloverAlly , welcome to the Forum. I have only very limited experience of this topic, but here it is for what it's worth. I have Cassie, who is 18 months. She has had spells when she has been biting her bum quite hard and is obviously uncomfortable, although she has never done the dragging bottom thing, the vet nurse has once had to empty the anal glands, and she hasn't had an infection. I know what you mean about the smell though! A few weeks ago I changed her food, for various reasons, among other things on her previous food she did quite a lot of large softish poo's which were very smelly. Also I wanted to cut out E numbers. Since she has gone onto the new food (Burns Original Chicken and Brown Rice) her poo is harder and there is less of it (unless of course she has been eating apples). Sometimes she has to strain a little bit to go, and my understanding is that this and harder stools is what releases the fluid from the glands. It wasn't till I read your post that I realise I haven't seen her biting herself for a while now. Hope this helps.
Dogs do need a bit of substance to their poo to allow their anal glands to be stimulated. I'd guess that the bran helped. Another thing you can try is adding raw meaty bones to her diet (eg chicken wings, lamb ribs, pork ribs, oxtail...). The crushed up/dissolved bone should help to give her poos the substance required.
I haven't personally had a dog with any anal gland problems but it is closely related to diet and poo 'quality'. Firm poo helps the glands empty. Rather than keep adding bran I would swap to a better quality food or revert back to one that I knew had been trouble free.
Blackhawk is a good quality food. You could keep going with that for a week or so. If she's producing firm poos that should be enough from an anal gland perspective.
A friend had a young dog with the same problem as you have with her pup and was thinking of having the anal glands removed. I suggested she change to Burns Food as @ Selina27 did and the problem went away. Edited to add that you sound as if you are not in UK so may not be able to get Burns, do try another food that has similar ingredients, you can look online to see what is in Burns for comparison.
I myself would question the bran with this issue, as I think while it would bulk up the stools they might lack the firmness to help with this issue. Just my thoughts. Changing foods is such a big deal, there's so many out there, but it was worth the time and effort I put into researching it, I'm pleased with my choice so far.
