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Anal gland removal

sarahso

Well-known member
hi every one - its been so long since i posted on here!

Baxter our youngest cav has had numerous anal gland infections and was rushed into surgery last monday for a blockage and abcess that grew very quickly!
he is recovering well and we have been advised by the vet once again to have his anal glands removed, previously we have been told it was something to think about.

Baxter has scar tissue due to previous problems with his anal glands and cant express them normally with diet etc and has to go to the vets every 8 weeks for them to be done as they become impacted.

has anybody else got experience of anal glands being removed in their dogs?
im so worried as one of the side effects is possible incontinence and he is such a young dog :-(
 
We had issues with our boxer. We started to take him into the vet every 4 weeks, and it seemed to do the trick. Our vet discussed the possibility of incontinence and taking him in more often for them to express his anals won out.
 
We had issues with our boxer. We started to take him into the vet every 4 weeks, and it seemed to do the trick. Our vet discussed the possibility of incontinence and taking him in more often for them to express his anals won out.
 
wow that is useful and quite sad reading.. though preparing me its horrible to see what they go through :-(
 
Hi Sarah, I can see that you read my blog. It WAS some rough days, but the reward comes afterwards. Both Molly and Éowyn have been very fine ever since, with no problems at all. They were to their annual vet check this Friday, and it is a huge relief that we never have to worry about anal glands again. Of course it isn't necessary - or possible - to remove all problems with surgery, but if Baxter has recurring issues with anal glands, it is worth considering.
By the way, both of them have long since been their own happy selves, and they stlll love going to the vet!
 
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I followed Molly and Eowyn's story with interest as Jasper is having recurring anal gland problems, its getting to the point that he needs extended antibiotics when they are infected, tried different solutions over the years such as his diet, bran etc, I feel that surgery is the solution but I cannot bring myself to go ahead. I am so glad that both Molly and Eowyn's surgery as been a huge success. Gentle hugs to Baxter from us, we know how miserable this problem is. Our vet as said that in her 25 years in practice she as not seen incontinence of this surgery, she said two cavaliers have already had this op in the practice this year and they are fine now. I wish I was brave enough to book jasper into surgery, I know he needs to go and have his glands checked because he as started showing the signs, and he only finished a course of antibiotics around 5 weeks ago.
 
We recently had a contact through the Cavalier Matters website from someone whose Cavalier did become incontinent following anal gland surgery :( It is very hard to manage when that happens, and I have heard of people putting their dogs to sleep due to this complication. I appreciate that it is rare but just something to be aware of.
 
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