Possible anal sac removal

I have no experience with this, but how much pain do the plugged anal sacs cause her? It might be a matter of painful surgery eliminating a chronic painful condition.

Following this. My one boy has the same problem and I have thought about having the surgery for him. Never discussed it with my vet, though.

I know he's miserable with it.

While the task might be unpleasant for you, expressing the anal glands is not difficult to learn. Ask you vet to show you how if he/she will. Then buy a box of disposable gloves.

Express them yourself..........have groomer express them (if allowed) or have them surgically removed.

Having had hemorrhoids the 'cure' was so much BETTER

One thing for sure: the dog will never has another annoying bout of anal sac inflammation which can lead to abscesses/infections

Anal Sac info sheet, go to the bottom for information about anal sacculectomy.

I've done many, not my favorite surgery. This procedure has a very high incidence of complications.

Despite doing a sterile procedure, infection and poor healing are pretty common (think about where the surgery is done and what happens during after-care).

Also, all the nerves to the rectum go through the area of surgery. Post-op inflammation, infections and trauma during surgery can lead to fecal incontinence. Most of the time this is temporary, but can be permantent.

My usual recommendations are not to do it, unless there is a tumor (really mandatory in that case) or chronic serious infections. Frequent expressing of the anal sacs is not usually enough reason for me, but that's my opinion.

Doug, DVM (retired but still doing surgery occasionally)

BTW, the last one I did was last August on our son's dog (anal sac adenocarcinoma - cancer). He had a little slow healing (took two weeks) but had very little pain. He's about 6 months post surgery and no signs of cancer regrowth at this time.

Number of years ago my then 6 year old Liver spotted Dal had them removed. He was constantly licking his anal gland area raw even after draining. The vet recommended based on something she felt. There was no signs of pain, was back to his old self a week later although we kept him close. Licking stopped and he was happier, rested better.

I had to have it done on my poodle. After years of no problems, he had suddenly developed constant, raging infections. We tried everything including weekly emptying, antibiotics, packing from the inside out, etc. I worked at a Veterinary specialty center, so high quality care was readily available. After months of struggling, a very talented animal surgeon removed them. We kept him in ICU for 48 hours, on heavy pain meds, on good pain meds and antibiotics for several weeks, fiber additive for a few weeks. He recovered very well, and we have had no issues since then. It should be a last resort, and done by a vet who has lots experience in this area.

Our Darcy (min pin) is the first dog we've had with anal gland problems. I asked our vet about surgery if worse came to worst. I was worried because I had heard of some dogs becoming incontinent after that operation. The vet told us that's why she refers such patients to a specialist vet who will map where the dog's rectal nerves are to avoid permanent damage. Mucho bucks, I am sure, but we'll do that if we have to. Fortunately, a change of kibble seems to have made a huge difference. Darcy's had no more issues and doesn't even scoot these days.Yay!

Had them removed years ago, on a dachshund. For some reason her glands were emptying themselves on a daily basis. Pretty gross when she was on someone's lap.
got to the point, I had to change clothes every tiem she was on my lap.
That said, I don't think I'd do it again. She was chronically constipated after the surgery - for the remainder of her life.

x2
Too many nerves involved. Seen too many not good outcomes from surgery for me to ever do it. Seems a sad outcome for the dog to be incontinent when all that is needed is to drain a plugged anal sac periodically.

Vets seem to have the knack for correct quick gland expressing. IMHO I would pay a vet to do it when necessary and/or have them show you the 'correct' way to do it. Done correctly it's fast and less uncomfortable for the dog and it gets it all out.