Anal Glands

[Tina Patton]

Recently Bella has been licking herself more and because she is so white her fur is stained a reddish brown color around her anus. I have tried to wash it off and wipe it and I know there is no blood.   Her stools are normal and she is eating Canidae All Life Stages Food.  She has not been to the groomer since December so do you think she needs her anal glands expressed or should I take her to the vet?                                  I have never noticed this before.  Bella is 2.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would not be quick to put a dog on steroids because she is licking her behind. You really want to limit steroid use for times when it's absolutely necessary. There are sprays that can be used for that, far less invasive and safer than using prednisone. And if it were allergies, you would be seeing other symptoms like general itchiness, paw licking, etc. This is the wrong time of year for allergy symtoms to start up, too.

Vets call it "allergies" when they don;t have an answer. I wouldn't put much stock in that. There's no harm in switching to a grain-free formula if you want to try it. If you do, I recommend Orijen.

[Tina Patton]

So do you think I should start adding the Orijen to her old Canidae food and phase the old food out or wait a short time to see if she gets better since he expressed her glands?  Also is Orijen the only grain free dog food you would suggest?  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I wouldn't change her food at this point. But you mentioned that you might change her to a grain free food.  If you're going to change her to a grain-free anyway because of anal gland/allergy issues, nothing else comes close to Orijen.

[Julie and Maggie]

Tina, my vet said the same thing that Karen said about not expressing them externally like the groomers do. My vet said if your dog needs them expressed at all that it should be done in their office because they do it internally. They can easily check the glands to see if there is a problem. So since I have learned this I have expressly told my groomers to not do anything with the anal glands when Maggie gets groomed.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

my vet also reports to me on the quality and quantity of the fluid expressed.  I guess they can tell if the fluid looks normal and if the glands expressed easily.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

It may be her anal glands, but not necessarily.  Sometimes they start licking the anal area and it just seems to perpetuate itself.  This has happened a couple times with my Guinness...he creates a little "hot spot"....and the more he licks it the more irritated it gets which keeps it all going.  Since she's not scooting this could be it.  Try wiping her butt really well with a baby wipe a few times a day.  Also I use a cortisone spray which seems to provide relief.  You should know pretty quickly if that's helping....if not I'd take her to the vet to have her anal glands checked.  It just surprises me that would be the case since she has solid poop. Karen also raises a good possibility with parasites....when's the last time she had a fecal?  Please let us know.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yep, JD once had some kind of irritation back there that he licked until there was a tiny little hot spot. The vet gave me a gentocin spray for it that cleared it up in a couple of days.