Anal gland removal

[zmom2010]

Has anyone had their dog's anal glands removed? We have been having our dog's glands expressed every 2-4 weeks for almost 2 years. We have tried high fiber diets, gluten free diet, fish oil, flush and packs and nothing has worked. I am nervous to do the surgery b/c there is a serious potential side effect of permanent fecal incontinence. Considering our DS is 7 months, I cannot consider this as a good possibilty.

If anyone has other potential treatments, or has had their dog's glands removed, I would really like to know what ANYONE has to offer

[Oubliette8]

Have you tried feeding raw bones? You don't need to go totally raw, just a meal every week or two. I used to feed whole chicken quarters to my dogs and a few days later they're pass the digested bones in a meal-type form. Those stools were very hard, almost sandy in texture. And EXCELLENT at naturally expressing anal glands. After we started that I never needed to have their glands expressed again. That might be something to consider trying.

[Jane]

Could you just do the expression at home? I have a cat with an issue that I have to take care of about once a week. It's not really a big deal. I went on youtube for instruction.