I have a basset hound who has a constant case of what we call "fish butt." It’s an awful odor that comes from his butt and when we took him to the vet a year ago we found out he has problems releasing the fluid from his anal glands and they were infected. So now we are constantly having to manually express the fluids out of his glands which is painful/uncomfortable for him and leaves the room smelling like there’s a dead skunk. Out vet told us a high fiber diet would be beneficial. What should I give him? Do they make special high fiber dog food that is affordable and if so, what are they called? I have read to give him a spoonful of pumpkin, does that work? We weren’t sure what to do so for a while we were giving him shredded wheat with his food. Please let me know what to give him and if any of you have had experience with this. I asked the vet if they could remove the glands and they said they would only do that in critical cases….
Swithing to a high quality food will help. You want your dog to have nice firm poops!(helps the anal gland express naturally) Stay away from most brands that you know of like pro plan, Iams, Hills, Science Diet, as these have a lot of bad ingredients in them- Fillers, by products, hard to digest ingrediants like corn. Remember also that a lot of vets don’t actually know a lot about dog nutrition.This website does ratings of 1 to 6 on dog foods and is a good place to look for something that would work. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com Look your food up and see how it ranks. Orijen is a great food and I’ve read their six fresh fish gives dogs firm stool. It is a bit pricy though and hard to get at this time. I just started feeding Wellness Core Ocean, and my dog really likes it and has firm stools. I also have to express her anal glands, but since being on a better food(used to feed Pro Plan) have to do it less often and MUCH less comes out. It never really has an odor though and doesn’t seem painful so It sounds to me like you pup may have an infection. They can flush the anal glands out. You will probably spend $40 to $60 for a 30 pound bag of good dog food. Keep in mind though that you will feed less of a good quality dog food, and your dog will look beautiful!!
Try a high quality dog food like Orijen, but change the diet gradually. You may still need to express the anal glands at each bath, but it shouldn’t be painful for the dog at all if you are doing it right! Also, I do it when my dogs are in the bathtub, wearing disposable glove and before bathing. I rinse the area immediately and throw the glove in a plastic bag that is tied up and thrown away- outside.
the odor is there only for a few seconds because nothing is getting on the floor. After I bathe the three, I clean the bathtub out with a cleanser with bleach. They get bathed 1-2 times a month. (on average, about every three weeks in the winter- indoor dogs.)
You might need to see if they are impacted or infected again if it is painful for your dog when you express them and it stinks even after the bath and expressing it.
you can use pumpkin or the some of the fiber tablet products out on the market now. just ask you veterinarian prior to using them. not promoting any food or anything, but i do know that Hill’s Prescription R/D or W/D are fairly high in fiber. on the surgery, i wouldn’t do it unless there is a history of severe impactions and infections. there are risks of fecal incontenance with the surgery as well as high chances of infections/fistulas or tract formations. it isn’t a "nice" surgery to put your animal through, so i would only consider it a last resort.
I think the weight loss food at radiant pet is high fiber. Timberwolf has some canned varieties that might help.