Alba Perez, a veterinarian, explains when and how to empty your dog's anal glands at home. She covers what these glands do, why they get blocked, and the steps to express them yourself to avoid vet visits.
Hello, family. Welcome back to the Animal Expert Channel. In case you don't know me, I'm Alba Perez. I'm a veterinarian and I'm the CEO of the Vetropia Group and manager of the Betropia Veterinaria Clinic that we have located in the valley's countryside. Today, I'm here with May because I'd like to talk to you about our dog's anal glands. I'd like to explain a little bit about what these glands consist of, a little bit about the problems they can cause, how we can prevent these problems, and how we should empty these glands at home. The anal glands are two small glands that are located in the perianal area of our dogs. Their previous function was actually to smell, to look for predators and so on. Nowadays, since they're domesticated, all they have to do is empty them normally and regularly when they defecate. However, depending on their diet or the idiosyncrasies of our dog, they may cause us problems. These problems usually occur when the contents of these glands, which should be completely liquid, become too dense due to not being emptied properly on a daily basis. This prevents the liquid from draining, and in the end, the sac becomes so full that it can even burst, creating a fistula that is very painful for our dogs. The way to prevent this is to add adequate fiber to our pet's diet. Once we realize that it has happened the first time, don't worry, because your trusted veterinarian will be able to guide you on what product you can add and how you should do it. Fiber is usually used in powdered or pellet form, which will make the contents of these glands a little more liquid and empty them during defecation. And above all, remember, we must be alert to signs that indicate that our dog has problems in this area. What you will be able to observe from the outside is that your pet is constantly dragging its bottom on the floor and is also constantly licking its bottom area. And above all, since I'm now going to show you where these glands are located, if you feel the area, you may notice pain, redness, and quite obvious inflammation. So if you detect any of these symptoms, don't think twice and go to your trusted veterinarian before things get worse. Okay, now I'm going to show you a little bit about where the glands are and how you should proceed if they need to be emptied at home. If you look at your dog's bottom, it's a difficult area and they may move a little. That's also why it's Important to be positive and manipulate them in all areas of the body. If you look at your dog's bottom and imagine it like a clock, you'll find the anal glands at 5 and 7 o'. Clock. That is, it's a little below the anus and on the sides. In Mei's case, since she eats a natural diet and also eats a lot of fiber, her glands are super empty. But if she has any problems, you will notice a very obvious lump in this area, or in this area, or in both. In the event that you need to empty the glands, what you should do is squeeze firmly and strongly, squeezing from the sides towards the center and upwards. And when emptying through the rectum, which also smells a lot, you should know that the first few times you do it, it can be quite complicated, both for the animal's owner, who does not know very well how to apply or in which area to apply the compression, and for the animal itself, since if it is not used to it, it is an area that, as you can see, is quite uncomfortable and for them is very intimate. Therefore, some advice that I give you. From the time they are puppies, get your furry friend used to being handled in all areas. Even if you do not have to do anything specific to them, get used to touching their ears, their bum, their perineal areas, absolutely everywhere, including their mouth, so that when one day you really need to do something, it won't be such a big problem. Also, remember that if you see that you need to empty their glands and you can't do it at home, you can ask your trusted veterinarian for help the first few times so that they can show you the correct way to do it. And remember that almost 99% of the time you're going to need a second person to help you hold your puppy back a bit so that you can empty these glands. So to sum up, to prevent a bad diet, remember, add fiber if necessary and go to the vet if you find any problems. Because sometimes an infection or severe impaction of the anal glands may require antibiotics, anti inflammatories and some procedures in the office, such as draining the gland itself. Alright folks, I hope you found all these tips super useful. Poor thing. May made a huge sacrifice for this video, but she did great. Remember that if you like this type of content, you can subscribe to the channel so you don't miss anything we upload. Also, if you have any questions, opinions, comments, whatever you want, you can leave them down below. And if you give us your like, it will serve as a guide and give us a little feedback so we know you like this type of content. Well, that's it for now, folks. See you another day for more tips. Bye.
