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Anal Gland ??

My Sophie has been having atime with her anal glands. Can anyone tell me what food out there helps with this? Is there something I can add to her diet? We have already gone through one abcess, I would love to avoid another!!!
 
I have been told that if you feed your dogs raw bones on a regular basis they don't have anal gland problems. They manage to scoot and clean them by themselves. I feed mine chicken frames, Turkey necks and beef soup bones. Soup bones are great for their teeth they spend ages gnawing away. The frames and necks are a great feed for them too. I give them every morning and make sure they don't have the same one twice in a row. And just kibble at night. So far it's been great. I'm hoping not to have any dentals with these two like I had with my last dog Sam.
 
Fiber is the best thing for glands - some Shredded Wheat, high fiber bran, pumpkin or squash are all good fiber providers. They need bulky, solid poo to drain the glands and the best way to achieve this is with really good quality kibble and extra fiber, if needed. One of mine has terrible trouble with glands, he's a rescue and a golden oldie and due to the lack of care his previous owners gave him he still has problems with his glands (had an abscess and fissure removed from them when he first came to me, and they will not drain on their own - all because of his dodgy diet in his former life).

Perhaps, asking you vet to show you how to drain them yourself would be a good idea so you don't have to go to the vet every time they need to be done. Unfortunately, some dogs are just prone to anal gland problems but once you find the right diet it can work miracle
 
I give a small handful of bran or the same amount of Shredded Wheat (maybe 7/8 ish pieces, the mini ones) - not too much at all.
 
If they drag their bum on the ground does that mean they have a problem?

Yes, this is a sign of Anal Glands problems, they need to be emptied before they become impacted or infected. It might be an idea to get this sorted out asap. There
is a simple explanation on www.cavaliermatters.org under the general care section.
If you look through some of the threads in this section there are a lot of posts about this subject as this problem is very common within the breed.
 
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