Anal Gland Troubles

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Anal glands are little sacs on the side of the and they typically fill up with a smelly brown fluid. They may become inflamed or impacted. Sometimes constipation is the culprit. This is typical among Pugs. Some Pugs go in regularly to have their anal glands done. A typcical sign of Anal Gland Impaction is Puggins scooting along the ground or turning around looking at his anal area. Some owners may even feel that their spayed female is still having a heat cycle because she may emit a brown fluid.  This is coming from her anal glands, not her vulva.Puggins needs his anal glands to be expressed. You can do this yourself, however, I have not very many Pug owners willing to do this. Your vet can show you how..It is important that the glands are emptied or one or both can become infected and abscess. If the anal glands become infected, they can generally be treated with antibiotics, however, if they abscess, surgical drainage is often the only way to irradicate the problem. If the infection is very inflammed or chronically infected, they may need to be removed.

A good balanced diet and daily exercise can eliminate anal gland problems. A good walk around the block will not only help the glands from getting impacted, but also will keep your Pugs nails down!

A very small leak from the anal glands of your Pug can cause a horrible, foul odor.  You may not even see it but it may be only a smudge into your Pug's coat or legs.  Some Pug owners who can not determine the origin of a bad odor on their Pug have come to discover that is is anal gland 'juice' leaking. 

Infected sacs will usually cause a lot of pain for your Pug. Do not allow it to get to this stage.

If your Pug expresses bloody mucous material from the sac, then chances are, his anals glands are infected and this is best handled by your Vet.

Originally appeared as Ask the Vet by Dr. Shawn Ashley in Pug Talk Magazine (Sept/Oct/92)

The true function of anal glands in the 21st century house dog and cat is not well known. Scent marking and territorial boundary setting has been the most acceptable theory.

The anal glands are paired sacs located at four and eight o'clock positions around the rectum. They are comprised of sebaceous oil glands that secrete a serous odoriferous brown discharge.

The discharge is usually expressed as feces are eliminated. However, in smaller breed dogs this discharge seems to be saved until times of extreme fear, anger, or revenge! in these breeds the anal glands are usually expressed as the groomer lifts the tail and manually pushes up and out.

Anal sacs are very prone to an array of problems, from impactions, abscessation, and tumours. Anal sac problems often go unnoticed -until the dog begins to scoot or drag its rear end on the floor usually in front of reputable guests.

It is felt that anal sac impaction in the adult animal may be influenced by the socially restrictive environments of inside dogs; ie. sedentary lifestyles, obesity, seborrheic (oily, infected) skin conditions, poor muscle tone, and abnormal bowel elimination/retention.

Intestinal parasites, especially tapeworms, in younger dogs have been implicated in anal gland impactions, as well. As the glands fill the discharge becomes thickened and pasty, the dog continues to scoot, lick and chew which leads to discomfort and eventually infection.

If the infected gland is not emptied the gland becomes abscessed often described by owners as a hemorrhoidal mass. If the pressure is not released the dog becomes a tyrant due to the pain and the gland soon ruptures.

These series of events will continue over and over if the gland is not properly lanced, expressed, flushed, and the anal sac's duct is evaluated for patency. If due to chronic irritation, strictures of scar tissues, or tumour growth the anal sac cannot drain through the duct, surgical excision is the treatment of choice.

Anal sacculectomy of anal sac removal should not be performed until the infection and inflammation have been resolved by medical management. Once the surrounding skin integrity is improved the anal sac and duct are totally excised.

If the animal is kept from the incision and it is kept clean the incision heals completely without complication.

Post operative complications arise primarily from self-trauma and factors leading to poor skin healing ability -- old age produces lowered immunity and skin protective mechanisms; oily chronic infected skin conditions, allergic dermatitis, poor nutrition, debilitating disease, and obesity are a few examples of the factors that influence wound healing.

Further complications revolve around cases where out of control infections or tumours have been allowed to grow.

In these cases damage to the external anal sphincter or incomplete removal of the anal sac may occur.

This leads to fecal incontinence and chronic draining tracts, respectively. Depending on the severity of the abscessed anal gland the surgical procedure can be long and tedious; therefore, pre-operative blood work and a complete physical are of the utmost importance.

The best medicine is prevention by controlling skin infections, allergies, FLEAS, intestinal worms, and expressing the anal glands regularly (the frequency depends on the individual dog ranging on average from 4 - 16 weeks).

If the discharge becomes thickened and/or the gland is hard to express a trip to the veterinarian is in order so the anal duct and sac can be flushed and impaction avoided.

Finally, if you find yourself expressing often seek help to insure you are properly 'squeezing' and seek out any factors that may be contributing to the problem - - low residue diets such as prescription i/d or w/d may help, as well.

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