Gross question (I’m sorry) about my dog’s rear end

[AbcdeDooDah]

The past few weeks our dog started having poop around that area, like she’s not cleaning it or leaked or something. We keep telling her she needs to wipe better. My though was anal glands? No food changes or anything else different. What other reasons fort this could there be? We are taking her to the vet but the appointment is a few weeks out. Wondering if there’s anything we can try in the meantime.

ETA: She’s like a cloud of poop smell.

Edited February 24, 2022 by AbcdeDooDah

[Jean in Newcastle]

Some groomers will do an anal gland expressing.  Actually, our vet will do it without an actual vet appointment (ie. its something that the vet techs do.)  For my dog with issues, I started to add about 3 tbs. of pumpkin puree to her food (she's an almost 80 pound dog) for extra fiber.  It helps a lot. 

[Pawz4me]

A little more fiber might help and isn't likely to hurt. Pumpkin is great. You can also sprinkle a little psyllium over the food (plain psyllium husks, nothing with any added flavoring or sugar). With either, but especially with psyllium, I'd start with a small amount and increase gradually.

You can express anal glands yourself. It's not hard, and I'm sure there are videos on YouTube. But it's one of those things I've always preferred to pay the vet to do. I've seen too many of them squirt way across the room and splat on walls. If you attempt it I recommend either doing it outside or in a shower/bathtub. But -- they can get infected, and dogs can also develop cancer of their anal glands. Probably best to get a vet to check things out, so I wouldn't cancel the appointment. Most dogs will show some level of discomfort if their anal glands are impacted. They'll scoot their butt or lick a lot.

FWIW -- Anal gland smell is different than poop smell. Or at least once you've smelled it you'll know the difference. If she's just having "cling ons" and that's causing a smell then some more fiber will probably help. Also more exercise if you think lack of that could be a factor.

Edited February 24, 2022 by Pawz4me

[AbcdeDooDah]

4 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

A little more fiber might help and isn't likely to hurt. Pumpkin is great. You can also sprinkle a little psyllium over the food (plain psyllium husks, nothing with any added flavoring or sugar). With either, but especially with psyllium, I'd start with a small amount and increase gradually.

You can express anal glands yourself. It's not hard, and I'm sure there are videos on YouTube. But it's one of those things I've always preferred to pay the vet to do. I've seen too many of them squirt way across the room and splat on walls. If you attempt it I recommend either doing it outside or in a shower/bathtub. But -- they can get infected, and dogs can also develop cancer of their anal glands. Probably best to get a vet to check things out, so I wouldn't cancel the appointment. Most dogs will show some level of discomfort if their anal glands are impacted. They'll scoot their butt or lick a lot.

FWIW -- Anal gland smell is different than poop smell. Or at least once you've smelled it you'll know the difference. If she's just having "cling ons" and that's causing a smell then some more fiber will probably help. Also more exercise if you think lack of that could be a factor.

re smell  My smell is still messed up from Covid but others in the family describe a fishy smell and something else that is like poop but worse. 

I have no interest in expressing the glands by myself but will gladly pay someone to do it if that's what it is.

I'll start with pumpkin and see how she does. Thanks!

[Mrskitty76]

I'm not sure if this is helpful, but when our dog was having an unusual bout of diarrhea, it turned out to be a hairball in her intestines, that she eventually coughed up. YUCK! 🙂

[Pawz4me]

Just now, AbcdeDooDah said:

others in the family describe a fishy smell and something else that is like poop but worse

Yeah, that's a pretty good description of anal fluid (gland) smell.

[Spy Car]

Anal glands should self-express.

What you are seeing is clear evidence something is wrong and the very likely source of the problem is a poor diet. Namely too much plant material in the diet, which leads to large soft stools. Soft stool will not only cling to fur, but soft stool also fails to facilitate the self-expression of the anal glands.

Anal glands can be manually expressed and using supplements like pumpkin can work as temporary "fixes," but they fail to address the likely root cause of the problem. They are like putting bandaids on a serious problem.

Bill