Possible anal gland secretion?

    • Silver

    Possible anal gland secretion?

    My dog has never had to have her anal gland squeezed.  Today I came home and found what looked to be poo but lighter in color and mostly liquidly  with a little mushy( like apple sauce) texture to it.  When I went to clean it up I noticed that it had a foul smell to it. acidic, almost like fish mixed with Orange juice. Ick!

     At first I didn't think much of it.  She has a sensitive stomach combined with my idiot family who won't stop giving table scraps= runny to loose stool. Sad

     I also noticed a couple of days ago that in the snow where she will normally lay  there was some liquid there too....looked like when you spill soda on snow. Didn't think much of it at the time( thought my bros spilled  something there.)

    Could she need her glands expressed or is she doing them herself some how.

     It seems like she is having more problems since she got spayed...no regrets though.  oh and by the way she is 8yrs old.  Never had this problem before.

    Oh and by the way...sorry if I ruined any of the above mentioned foods for ya.  I know.....gross.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Well, the smell description was certainly accurate!  Ick!  If she's not licking back there or scooting much, she may just be expressing them herself (some dogs do it if they're stressed I hear).  Or you could take her to the vet or even a groomer and have them check, they can usually tell you if the glands were full or not.

    Good luck!

    • Silver

    She doesn't lick or scoot. If it may be due to stress I can understand.  My brother Just got home last week after being away for a year.  that may be it. 

     But...today lately she has been having more bowel movements.  woke me up twice last night.  She did it again.... she went in our laundry room to defecate.....Suprisingly very little and a little less watery.  Mucus still came out but this time there was a little blood in it which scares me. 

    So i don't for sure know if it's from the anal glands or poop.  Today was def. poop. 

    I did some research and it sounds like colitis to me.

    http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/colitis.html

     Hopefully I can get her into the vet this week. My brother is leaving on wed. and we won't be seeing him for another 2 1/2 years. She still seems like her normal self.......still eating, playing, non-gassy.  She does strain a little to  poop.

    I'll have to keep very close watch

    • Gold Top Dog

    I would watch her very closely.  Blood can be a sign of something minor (like a hemmorrhoid) or very serious like Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis (sp?).  My airedale had that 3 times and the only sign was runny stools and he ended up in ICU all 3 times very sick.

     Hope she gets well soon!