Health problem any suggestions please

Hi Everyone

We have just joined and already loving it, but i just wondered if anyone else had come across anal gland problems in a puppy. Currently we have got Harvey on a high fibre dog food diet. The vet recommended Hills Science food but this has not worked, he is also on a food supplement to see if that works (i will wait and see on that one), he is having his glands emptied every 2 to 3 weeks (not very nice for him) if anyone has any suggestion i would be very grateful. If we cannot solve the problem the vet suggest surgery to remove them but i want to try and avoid that if possible but will have it done if needed and nothing works. Thanks

Anna mum of Harvey

Hi Anna......Science Diet didn't work for Lily. Her pooh's were not very firm and she was going many times a day. SD has a lot of fillers in it. I changed her to Royal Canine after we had her home for about 2 weeks. Her poohs firmed up and she went to pooping just 3x a day. I also give her a little pumpkin which also helps to keep everything firm. Hope little Harvey gets better soon.

I have no experience with anal glands, but I do know that canned pumpkin is high in fiber - you could give it a try - many of us feed it with our dog's foods. Hope you get things worked out! :flwr:

Thanks

Thanks for such a quick response. I will try the pumpkin and let you know how i get on. I would never of thought of that, i have been told to only give him dog food and nothing else but i will definately give it a go. Thanks Again

Anna mum of Harvey

Anna--There are alot of different dog foods that may work better for Harvey. Science Diet is not a very good dog food because of all the fillers, etc. If you do a search here on the forum for "dog food", you'll find quite a few threads about what's worked and not worked for many people on the board.

I personally use Nature's Variety raw dog food for Mia, only because I couldn't find a kibble that didn't give her runny poop. They also make kibble that is very good. Like I said, there are many other good dog foods and you'll probably get more information than you wanted if you do a search--ha!

Hope Harvey feels better soon! :flwr:

The complete raw foods are supposed to be good for firming poop. They're easy enough to buy at any specialist pet shop incl petsathome. I'm a big fan of petsathome's Wainwright's- it has ingredients of a quality and type comparable to Royal Canin etc at a fraction of the price- no soya, fillers etc- and a 15kg bag bought at the beginning of December is still going strong. Remarkable when you remember I have two cavs! Their poops have been firm throughout, although Holly's become slightly softer if too many extras are added.

Green beans are good for helping to firm poo and if you are buying pumpkin (not easy in the UK- I've only found one shop that does the right kind) it needs to be plain pumpkin, not the spiced kind for pies. Although I suppose you could buy the pumpkin itself and do something. My mother used to make pumpkin soup and my dogs love soup. You just need to make sure you don't put anything toxic like onions in.