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anal glands :-S

dougdog

New member
I have a 15 week old male, he's never eaten much at all. we took him to the vets at 10 weeks and they gave us some hills science plan, squeezed his bum and he put on a little bit of weight straight away. now were back to square 1, we only leave his food out for 10 mins when he's fed 3 times a day but he only picks at it a little then isn't interested. this last week he been scooting round on his bum a little so I'm wondering if he needs his glads squeezing again? could this be whats putting him off his food? does anyone else dog/puppy need this doing frequently and do you do it yourselves or go to the vets? how much do they charge? thanks
 
Yes, Cavs are very prone to needing their anal glands emptied...and each is so different so you will just have to see through trial and error how many times your needs them done. Brooklyn is at about every 8 weeks, I have friends that are 6 weeks and every 3 months. So, I would bring him in, say he is scooting again and the vet will empty them. She will be able to tell you how much comes out (1/4 full, 1/2 full, totally full) and then you will know "okay, this is how often he needs to go, or I could have waited "X" number of weeks if they were only 1/2 full".

Also, Brooky tends to scoot a lot anyway, even after we get her glands done. Some of it is a bit habitual (I think we gave her attention when she was little, like "no! not on the carpet" :rolleyes: and that can feed into it. Best thing is to ignore the behavior or distract without giving attention to it. But you need to make sure they glands are not full again and the he is wormed. You could talk with your vet about other things it could be too...allergies, etc.

Also, once I realised that I needed Brooklyns emptied every 8 weeks, I just make a standing appointment with a vet nurse there and she does it...much cheaper. And if you just say it is for an anal glad empty ONLY, they will work something out and not charge you a full appointment. Talk to your vet about it and tell him/her that you would love to be able to make an anal glad only appointment and how you could work out costs.

While they are this young though, you are in the vet a lot anyway, so just always have them emptied while he is there whether they are full or not :)
 
Hi there

I know that Anal gland issues are very common with Cavaliers and beleive me Ive been there with Charlie.

His ruptured once and was having them empptied continuously. Ruby also had issues as a puppy- this was the same time her feeding habits left alot to be desired. To say she had me wrapped around her little paws would be a vast understatement.

But in my experience its all about diet. After being on a high oats diet (which is also great for weight control) she hasn't had them emptied in over a year (nor has she needed it). And this is a dog I used to take every 3 weeks!!!!

Charlie also last easter had the issues where they ruptured- after having them emptied alot.

So I changed his diet too and since then we havn't had to empty them either!!

So please don't think that all you can do is get them emptied all the time! It isn't that normal to have to go every 8 weeks!

At least not that I know of!

A high fibre or oats diet can really help- or adding natural bran to food!
 
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