Blocked or inflamed anal glands

Anal glands are a pair of small sacs inside your dog's bottom. They have a strong-smelling liquid for dogs to use for marking territory and why dogs sniff each other’s rear ends when they meet. Healthy anal glands empty naturally when a dog poos but sometimes they can overfill and cause blockage which may cause irritation and pain to your dog. 

Blocked anal glads are mostly common in:

  • overweight dogs
  • dogs who were born with narrow anal glands making it harder to empty
  • dogs who suffer from diarrhoea
  • smaller breeds, such as basset hounds, beagles, cocker spaniels, chihuahuas, miniature poodles and toy poodles, and lhasa apsos

If the anal glands are inflamed, we advise you to go to the vet because our food will not solve this problem.

A preventive measure you can take is a fibre-rich diet. It can keep the anal glands healthy, but that doesn't target the root of the problem.

Possible causes of inflamed anal glands:

  • poor quality food like unsuitable ingredients and chemical additives
  • overfeeding even of high quality food
  • excessive protein and fat intake – both produce more waste than carbohydrate
  • food allergy or intolerance causing inflammation, cell damage, production of toxins

Our recipes are carefully formulated and contain high quality fresh ingredients delivering all the nutrients your dog needs to live long healthy lives.

Does the dog have good stool? The dog might be sensitive to anal gland problems. In that cause feeding a diet slightly higher in fiber is recommended like our adult chicken kibble or plant based kibble which are higher in fiber.


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