Akita Health Issue?

sujewelsujewel
edited February 2008 in Akita (秋田犬)


Hi There.


 I'm sorry, this isn't the most pleasant discussion topic, but I need some advice. Keigo, my male Akita ,'pops' (doctor's word) his anal gland at LEAST 2xs a day. I vaguely spoke to my vet about it and he said it's normal. But I don't think I expressed (no pun intended) the frequency of the occurrence.


 Recently I read that expressing a dogs' anal gland can be detrimental to their health. Is this a health issue/problem. Is there something I can/should do about this? I can take him to the vet tomorrow, but wanted some opinions about it first.


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Comments

  • kwyldkwyld
    edited February 2008


    If a dog's anal sacs are not expressed enough then you could run into problems like impaction and abcessing.  If your dog is doing it on his own, that sounds like a good sign, even though it's the nastiest smell ever. 


    Most groomers will express the dogs glands if you ask them to, so I don't really think it's detrimental to their health.  Honestly the only dogs we see come in with problems regarding their anal glands are the ones that cannot do it on their own, and they've been scooting all day long and their owners bring them in to be looked at.  Those are the ones that have to be lanced, and flushed out and put on antibiotics because of an infection due to the impaction from not expressing them.  Call your vet or other vets to get more info about it though.   

  • sujewelsujewel
    edited November -1


    Thanks for the info! It is a terribly nasty odor. And if I'm home all day, Keigo gets the opportunity to share it with me often. Yay.


     I'm glad it's not a health issue. He just does it so often, I thought it might be.

  • zoiegirlzoiegirl
    edited May 2008
    Have you tried feeding raw baby carrots. Dogs dont have the enxymes to break down the cellular wall so they come out mostly like they go in. The firmness of the carrot in the poo helps express the glands naturally when they use the restroom.

    you can also rotate with plain shredded wheat cereal and frozen green beans
  • sujewelsujewel
    edited November -1
    I'll give it a shot! THANKS.
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