Anal Glands

[metime]

I had Brady groomed yesterday and the veterinary nurse said his were full and she had cleaned them. He is a 11 months and this is the first time he has it done and to be honest I never knew this had to be done.

She just told me to keep an eye out for him bum shuffling.

Is it a necessary procedure every so often?

[*Pauline*]

someone on here suggested feeding Chappie canned food, its worked brilliantly. her stools are much firmer and touch wood we been ok so far.

I wonder if that was me! I use Chappie too and it gave firmer stools than any dry food I used.

Dylan has never had his anal glands emptied. He scoots maybe once a week for a couple of seconds. I don't see this as a problem.

[petcrazyme]

This is a quote from a cavalier care site that Karlin left a link to in one of her posts:

[FONT=Eurostile][SIZE=4]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? [/SIZE][/FONT]

There was more on the topic but I only copied a small portion. The whole site is very worth while looking at. Find it at:

http://roycroftcavaliers.com/manualcare.htm

My vet agreed. He said the glands can be stimulated to over produce if they are expressed too often ..thereby causing a perpetual problem that should never have been created in the first place.