Content
- What are they exactly?
- What are the consequences of not emptying the anal glands
- what should you do
- How to empty the dog's glands
- How often should the glands be emptied
At anal glands of puppies have a main function which is to lubricate the rectum for better defecation.
If these are not cared for with the proper regularity and, especially if it is a larger dog, we can suffer consequences such as an infection, bad smell and even an abscess.
But, how should it be cleaned and how often? Continue reading this PeritoAnimal article about dog anal glands and find out about everything you need to know.
What are they exactly?
In the anatomy of dogs and cats we find the anal glands, they are located on both sides of the anus and are about the size of a marble. The main function of the anal glands is store a lubricating substance they use when emptying or defecating for better defecation.
The appearance of the liquid is usually yellow or even brown in color, if you found tracks in your puppy's bed or on the ground, your puppy is likely to suffer from an excess of accumulated liquid.
In addition to the function mentioned above, the anal glands provide each dog with a unique identity, which is why puppies tend to smell each other. identify each other through the smell itself.
What are the consequences of not emptying the anal glands
Although puppies generally empty their anal glands on their own, they may have difficulties with this, such as age, pregnancy or other circumstances.
If you decide not to do anything about it and your puppy is unable to empty his glands, it can result in a big problem how can be:
- Infection
- Inflammation
- Discomfort
- Bad smell
- Abscess
- Cysts
- adenoma
- adenocarcinoma
what should you do
Although your puppy doesn't secrete any type of liquid around the house, that doesn't mean he doesn't have a significant accumulation of liquid. For that, we have two options if we don't want to do it ourselves: go to a veterinarian or a canine hairdresser. Both specialists are used to carrying out this task and will undoubtedly know how to proceed.
But if you prefer to carry out this task yourself, we recommend that you go out onto the terrace and put on a pair of gloves. Let's start by identifying them:
How to empty the dog's glands
Once we know where the glands are, we are ready to start. You must use a gauze that you will put in the anus so that the secretion (which can sometimes come out with force) does not jump onto your face or clothes.
We advise that you have the help of someone else to hold the dog, as the natural tendency is for them to try to sit down when they begin the process. Remember it can have a strong smell.
Massage your dog's tail with gentle pressure until you find the glands and, once you've identified them, increase the pressure for the liquid to come out through the anus. And that's it!
How often should the glands be emptied
We must pay attention to those puppies that have problems of accumulation of fluids in their anal glands as elderly puppies can be, otherwise we can facilitate the serious problems mentioned above.
The frequency of emptying the anal glands should be once a month approximately, depending always on the accumulation of fluid that the dog suffers.
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.