Hi Benjis Mum ,im afraid you must disclose any previous and ongoing illness to an insurance company, to do otherwise will invalidate the insurance. Your vet fills in the insurance claim so the insurance company will know what date the illness first occurred.

Thanks, yes you are right about the insurance, I have been doing a bit of research.

Benji seems much better in himself, he is still licking his stomach but mostly in the morning. He occasionally licks unders his tail but in a half-hearted way. He is still bleeding slightly but I am hopeful. Of course, if these tablets don't work he will be having the op

I can't remember the price off hand now but it was nothing like what you said I think it was a hundred and something.
My dogs were already insured before thier problems which is why the insurance company paid out for all thier treatments leading up to and including the op.
Got to say I would never be without the insurance as my last cavalier got a really rare illness and cost over £4000 before we sadly lost her age just 7yrs. Had we not had it we would never have been able to try all the treatments or gone to the vet so often to try and find a way to get her into remission.
I have learn't you never know whats round the corner and its lovely to feel secure that whatever you can do and try whatever you can and is necessary to help your best friends.

As someone mentioned earlier, the anal glands exist to scent the droppings, and give other animals a clue as to sex and health and probably lots of other things we don't even know about!
The anal gland problem seems to be a common thing these days, and frankly i am shocked and a little disgusted that vets are happy to take our money for this and not give us more information.

I have two dogs that come to stay during the day while their owners are at work, and both are older (9 and 10) and they both go for 3 weekly or monthly trips to get their anal sacs squeezed. I saw their toilets, and they were runny all the time, and since this was the 'norm' both owners didn't think any different.
The fact is a dog's toilet is NOT supposed to be runny, and just cos it is over a long period still doesn't make it right!

A normal toilet, of even a dog not fed naturally should be firm, and this hardness pushes out the anal gland content, clearing it twice a day. You can imagine if this doesn't get cleared out how it can amount to becoming very sore and then infected... leading to scooting to relive the pressure, or bleeding from the inside.

Obviously all dogs are different, and some will be pre-disposed to have anal gland problems, however in my humble opinion there is something that can help.
The two dogs that I have I recommended to be fed dry bonemeal, just a heaped teaspoon added to their food daily. This helped immediately. We had lovely firm stools, and no scooting and no un-neccesary and uncomfortable trips to the vets!

Bonemeal is available in pets at home, in a yellow tub, in the supplements section. It is also useful for growing puppies as it contains the right ratio of calcium/phosphorus for growing bones, teeth and cartilage on. Super for people who might not want to feed whole bones but still want the benefits*.

Jesse.


*you can pm me for me info on dry bonemeal versus real bones if you want to know a bit more in depth.

Unfortunatly in my case and many others thier stools were already very firm and as I have taken a course and passed final exams in cat and dog nutrition I knew it was not diet related.
Some breeds are just predisposed to it and there are lots of other factors that can lead to the problem.
I definatly agree though that if your dogs stools are loose, which they shouldn't be then I would definatly look at diet first as see if a better diet and firmer stools helped the problem, because as you say loose stools will not empty anal glands naturally.
Have to also say the first thing my vets asked was the firmness of stools and I hope others do the same. Very naughty if they don't.

Benji has no problems in the toileting department now. For a long time he was runny but now it's the best it has ever been, without changing his food. The vet did ask about this last week.

Thanks for the tip about Bonemeal. Benji is "leaking" a bit more today than yesterday but he's still happy and has not even licked under his tail today

Our last dog also had her anal glands removed, which cost just over £100 at the time, and she was perfectly fine afterwards. It is just the risk of incontinence which is a worry but sometimes there is no other option.

That sounds very resonable Heidi
Benjies Mum you could try finding out what other vets in the area charge and ask around who is the best but it is always advisable to go with a vet you know and trust.

Thanks for the continued advice, it is all taken on board

The vet we saw last time has a bad lisp so maybe I misheard him about the cost, I will ask again if we decide to go ahead with it.

Benji's still doing well on these tablets, it's his last one tomorrow, then he's going back to the vets for a check-up. Let's hope he gets the all clear

Hi, just want to give an update on Benji and his troubles. I'm very glad to say the anal glands stopped leaking after taking the tablets and hasn't had any problem at all since September. I'd like to thank everyone for their advice and hope he stays this way for a long time to come

Merry Christmas everyone!