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Glands

S

sallymum

Registered user
this last week Sally who is 17 weeks has been dragging her self across the floor, my vets nurse says to bring her in she prob needs her glands emptying. She says that a Cav that who is a regulary with them has this prob quiet often, so have now changed her food to royal canin sensitivity control. She says the cav has know gone ages without getting her glands done. Would this work. She gave me a couple samples of this food and Sally licks the bowl clean. would it be worth changing her food.
 
I think most cavaliers scoot - basically their anal glands have this smelly liquid in them that is supposed to eject when they go to poo, if they do not empty the just fill up and that causes the scooting, the vet will squeeze them - my vet said not to bother changing the food (mine are all on James Wellbeloved) just add some oats which should add a bit more fibre to their poo, so that it squeezes glands on way out....

:yikes
 
Have you compared the ingredient lists of Sally's regular food to the royal canin sensitivity control food? I would base my decision which one has the best ingredients and the highest quality.
 
I know that some owners do it - but I always let me vet do them, at least they can check they are okay - you could damage them and they may get infected......
 
I've never done either of mine. My groomer does them once a month when they go to her. I've also (knock on wood) never had an anal gland problem. Both of mine do "boot scoot" (that's what we call it, the boot scoot boogie) but I think they just do it because it feels good. :D
 
I've started Holly on a new dry food- Wainwrights. I personally thought the ingredients comparable to Canin and it was half the price. *Definitely* better ingredients than the Ped Chum I was using! Holly loves it (and it does smell of real salmon, right enough) and the combination of that, half an unsalted organic rice cake for brekkie, and the JWB crackerjacks have done wonders for her poo. It was always not soft, but not easy to pick up either, and a palish brown. Now it's dark, more solid, and much easier to lift.
Sorry for the Gillian McKeith style digression :D
...I'm hoping this will mean Holly's glands will stay clear. They've only been cleared once, when she had a bad go of the runs and needed it. Otherwise it doesn't seem to be anissue for her.
 
I have 2 cavy fur kids as you can see from the pic and digby needs his done quite regularly (every 3 weeks or so) but Harry does not get the same build up and they are both fed the same food.
Digby does scoot more than Harry though, usually waits till I have company and then goes all round the house doing it like its his party trick. :roll:
 
luvzcavs said:
Digby does scoot more than Harry though, usually waits till I have company and then goes all round the house doing it like its his party trick. :roll:
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:lol: icon_blshing :roll: :lol:
 
Merlin does the "boot scoot boogie" ( :lol: ) now and again - he looks at ou whilst doing it as if to say "bet you can't do this!" He tends to only do it on carpet - must be the extra friction that feels so good!
 
Just a different perspective (I often have 'em... :lol:):

I think cavaliers just tend to butt scoot and it only sometimes has anything to do with anal glands. I know many breeders with lots of cavaliers say theirs all regularly scoot when their glands are empty and I know mine will do this too, even after they might have had them squeezed.

There is also a line of thought that you shouldn't have them done manually but just focus on a good diet with roughage. Breeder Laura Lang for example feels that you should never have anal glands squeezed unless absolutely necessary and not to let groomers or vets squeeze them regularly as once you start emptying them manually they start filling up all the time. Laura says she has almost never had to squeeze an anal gland. not for years and years with most of her dogs.

Jaspar and Leo at three-ish have had their glands done maybe 2-3 times. They occasionally scoot; not too often. I sometimes wonder if they should be done more regularly but even when the vets do rarely do them, they have saidf they are basically OK.

The Whole Dog Journal actually has an article on this and healthy poops :lol: in the current issue. They recommend a number of things that can be added to meals to help add roughage. For small dogs they say a pitted prune once a week or a dried fig every few days are good. They also talk about coconut oil, dried unsweetened coconut, soaked wheat bran, etc. Lots of detail in the article as well as amounts and methods.
 
Yes, some people give a bit of shredded wheat or weetabix. Oats are good. Giving any kind of vegetable cooked or raw adds roughage. Raw carrots are recommended by some vets as a good treat because it gets chewed into nice small undigested chunks that help. Raw bone from something like raw chicken necks are good.

The problem with kibble and wet food and pureed raw too is that it doesn't provde much roughage -- anything easily digestible is easily digestible because there's little to put the digestive system to work there.

Just giving lots of veggie and fruit treats is good. I am going to start trying out the prune a week or occasional dried fig treat too. I love prunes and figs myself so usually have one or the other around.

Incidentally this is what Laura Lang says in her care manual on her Roycroft Cavaliers website (the one I refer to often for diet advice):

ANAL SACS

Leave them alone; don't let your vet touch them in a puppy less than one year of age--unless they are truly uncomfortable. Nearly ALL anal sac problems are caused by vets expressing them too often starting at a young age. Once they start, they can never stop. Dogs in the wild do not need their anal sacs expressed, why should yours? Your puppy may scoot occasionally. It could be because of filled anal sacs, but it could also be because they have an itch or are trying to put their scent on the floor (after all that is what they are for!). Anal sacs can also develop problems whenever a dog has loose stools, so try to avoid this. If your puppy has loose stools/diarrhea, look for a cause. The wrong food is often the culprit--so try changing foods. Look at the ingredients--if the food has chicken, try one with lamb. See if a different food will cause the stool to harden up. Check for worms--they can cause occasional diarrhea as well. Unfortunately vaccinations often cause loose stools as well which is why so many puppies end up having their anal sacs expressed so often and end up with a problem. I suggest attempting to leave them alone while they are getting their vaccinations unless the puppy gets truly uncomfortable. If you can make it through the first 6 months without the vet expressing the anal sacs, you will be well on your way to having a dog that may only rarely or never need them expressed. Dogs fed a whole foods diet have VERY tiny, hard poops that naturally express the dog's anal sacs. I have only done one or two of my dogs ever--always after a bout of diarrhea. The rest of them have never been done--not even once.
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From: http://roycroftcavaliers.com/manualcare.htm

Laura would probably go slightly against the grain here but on the other hand, she hasn't had to squeeze glands so something must be right...
 
Tobys glands got so bad that we had to have them removed. He was scooting all the time and having his glands emptied every week. He was so sore on his bottom the poor love. Anyway since he had them removed he hasn't had any probs. The vet did say it was the worst case he had ever seen and they only remove them in special cases :yikes
 
Ouch ! poor love, I would not wish that on anyone, but if its gotta be done its gotta be done right.
 
my vet told me to feed chappie dog food{tinned} its the cheapest smellist food but because its full of fibre it really hardens poo and this should help cavi empty their own natrualy.i feed this twice a week,and had no problems,yes they all scoot still but sacks are empty.plus its low fat.
 
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