help with chihuahua anal glands?
my 3 yr. old male chihuahua always has leaky anal glands. he does not scoot on the ground, but is constantly licking himself. I can drain them myself with a paper towel, but it seems he is always "filling back up" within 3 wks. sometimes when I hold him, he gets a drop or so on my shirt, and then I have to change. It is really disgusting. I have heard that the vet can remove the glands, but I have also heard that this can cause incontinence. Does anyone have any experience with this, or, better yet, have a dog whose glands have been removed? Serious answers only, please. Thanks
his poop is very solid and hard and i feed him science diet
i’m reading from a lot of you that science diet is bad? i feel terrible because I thought I was feeding him a high quality food!! please mention when you answer what a high quality food would be. 
The magic words here from you are "I feed Science Diet" Lets start with getting your dog on a much better "diet". As his fecal matter is hard and dry should be a "indicator" that something is wrong with your beloved Chihuahuas’ diet. Being constipated will indeed cause these anal glands to leak. Before removing these very useful glands try to feed your dog a diet rich in vegetables and some hearty cooked meats to begin a change in diet. There are so many diets out there you will have fun learning about them. The best diet will be from your kitchen and teach him to eat some raw veggies along with the other new foods a little at a time. This can really improve your dogs digestion as I would bet he is ready for a change!
I have many Chihuahuas and they all love to line up for their home cooked meals and I have never had the anal glands removed from any dog ever. Some of them will dance around for the treats of raw apple or slivered carrots etc. Try out some of these foods and see if your little Chi gets better with the anal problem on his own.
You can talk to the vet about having it removed.
I really have no other ideas.
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Do you have them professionally expressed? I would take him to the vet to have your vet express them, rather than doing it yourself. You may not be getting all of it.
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If it were me, I would just express his glands every week or two. You are correct, the surgery does have serious risk. I personally am not willing to take that risk with my dog if I don’t have to.
You definately could try feeding him a raw diet, which will give him harder stool and will likely help the glands to express on their own better.
That garbage food he’s on now is a whole different story.
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I have Chihuahua’s and I have never seen this happen to either of them. Go to your vet and see what can be done to help your dog.
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When your vet expresses anal glands- they glove up and place a finger in the rectum to fully express glands- you get much more out this way
I only rcmd. having anal glands removed when a cancer tumor is present- otherwise the risk of incontinence is too high
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vet tecg, married to a vet
The magic words here from you are "I feed Science Diet" Lets start with getting your dog on a much better "diet". As his fecal matter is hard and dry should be a "indicator" that something is wrong with your beloved Chihuahuas’ diet. Being constipated will indeed cause these anal glands to leak. Before removing these very useful glands try to feed your dog a diet rich in vegetables and some hearty cooked meats to begin a change in diet. There are so many diets out there you will have fun learning about them. The best diet will be from your kitchen and teach him to eat some raw veggies along with the other new foods a little at a time. This can really improve your dogs digestion as I would bet he is ready for a change!
I have many Chihuahuas and they all love to line up for their home cooked meals and I have never had the anal glands removed from any dog ever. Some of them will dance around for the treats of raw apple or slivered carrots etc. Try out some of these foods and see if your little Chi gets better with the anal problem on his own.
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well i don’t quit know what to tell ya…
you have two options
1.you can take the chance and get it removed
2.you can just live with it
your dog, your choice hope this helps!!!
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experince
As a groomer for many years I have seen dogs with glands removed. No problem. Anal glands were used similar to skunk sacks. Since dogs have been domesticated they really have no use for them. I have a chih/ lhasa mix that I have to express weekly. Smaller dogs just have more problems with this issue. Hope I was of some help.
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removing the anal glands is a fairly straight forward operation.. i would talk to your vet about the operation..
what they do is empty the anal gland from the sectrions then, they fill it back up with a gel so they are hard and easy to recognise, then they cut them out.. it can be a messy operation due to the location of the surgical site.. lol
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no you can ask a vet science diet is good for them.
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