Stinky Little Rump
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Last week we took our little stinker to the vet for his final puppy shots. I told the vet about Chance's smelly back end. He showed me how swollen anal glands feel. He said that normal ones are tiny but his felt like jelly beans which ment that they needed to be expressed. He told me it is kind of like milking a cow backwards. Your supposed to take your thumb and index finger and squeeze the jelly beans (anal sacks) and as you are squeezing you push in a little and up towards the rectum. You need to make sure you have a tissue and a nose plug cuz this stuff smells gross! My toes curled when I got a whif of it.
Now the vet actually did it but I watched. I will be doing this soon and hopefully I have it figured out right.
*** for the people who do this…am I explaining it right??? -
You are explaining it correctly, however hopefully you will not have to do it that often…
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pumpkin is a great way to add fiber to their diet to help- my basenjis love it and it is what my vet recommended to help
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Yes, pumpkin does help…. but be sure to use the pure canned, not the kind pre-mixed for pies
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also…too much pumpkin can be a really bad thing. Our cat needed it when he had health problems and I over-fed him some...it caused his stool to become too soft so it was leaking from his back end! eewww
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Wow, really??? I have never had that happen from Pumpkin, but then you did say that "it was too much"…. and no experience with cats... gggg
You can also feed sweet potatoes or Yams... mine love them... and in a pinch, canned yams work too... -
I have used the same vet Vanessa uses for years. When my last B (Max) was about 8, his glands stopped working normally. They were also oddly positioned, which may have had something to do with it. Instead of the risk of surgery, I ended up taking him in every two weeks for about 7 years and had them expressed. Max had to be put on antibiotics a few times over the years; but for the most part, the two week expressions kept infection away. I recently adopted two basenjis, and the female had an impacted gland and then her glands kept filling up. She is on antibiotics right now, and we haven't had a problem with her glands. I'm hoping they will get back to normal. She is only 3, and I would hate to have to take her in every two weeks for the rest of her life! I would also hate to take the risk of surgery….it's a somewhat difficult surgery--for both the vet to get it perfect so there are no problems after and the dog (especially the recuperation). It's interesting--every basenji my vet has treated has had some problems with anal glands.
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I would have to think that maybe you need to add more fiber in the diet? Or have you tried that? And that is interesting the your basenjis have had problems woth anl glands… What are you feeding and have you always fed that?
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I would have to think that maybe you need to add more fiber in the diet? Or have you tried that? And that is interesting the your basenjis have had problems woth anl glands… What are you feeding and have you always fed that?
Max also had inflammatory bowel disease which may have contributed to the anal gland problem. He was on Eukanuba Low Residue which helped the IFB. I did try adding fiber (pumpkin and metamucil–not together), but it didn't help and sometimes seemed to make the IFB worse. I have kept Zoey and Tyler on the same food they were on the past two years at the Basenji Rescue in Southern CA--Natural Choice Lamb and Rice dry with a little
Nature's Recipie Lamb and Rice canned. I started adding fiber a couple of weeks ago to see if that will help. I haven't had a problem with Tyler's glands. -
Yes, IBD would most likely contribute to the problem….
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And hopefully just that one time with Zoey will be it…. and she will not have more problems...
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And hopefully just that one time with Zoey will be it…. and she will not have more problems...
That's what I am hoping, too :)
