Client Asks to Participate in Procedure and Lives to Regret it
A few days ago a very nice woman brought her Miniature Schnauzer to my office. The dog had been acting agitated for several days. He seemed reluctant to sit down, but when he finally was seated the dog had a tendency to rub his hind end on the floor.
A thorough general physical examination was unremarkable (unremarkable is how veterinarians say normal–we can’t actually say normal because the word normal, according to some malpractice insurance providers, implies things that can be very dangerous if we have missed something subtle).
The symptoms were consistent with an anal gland problem. If you never have heard of anal glands, consider yourself lucky. You may want to stop reading now in order to preserve your innocence.
The anal glands are bulbs located adjacent to the anus. The bulbs are connected to the anus by ducts. The glands produce a fluid with a unique odor. It smells like a combination of rotting fish, feces, and tear gas.
Cats and dogs have anal glands. Skunks do too–the glands are modified in skunks and are responsible for skunks’ unique smell.
The anal glands normally empty when a cat or dog defecates. In some instances, however, this does not happen as it should. The result is anal glands that are impacted and distended. Animals with impacted anal glands often drag their rear ends along the ground.
Impacted anal glands are treated by manual expression. The most effective means of manually expressing anal glands involves inserting a finger into the animal’s rectum and massaging the accumulated fluid out of the glands.
This is what I proposed for my patient whose hind end was so uncomfortable.
The owner accepted my proposal. However, she declined to accept my recommendation that the procedure be performed in a section of the hospital where only employees were present. She asked to be present while her dog’s anal glands were expressed.
Palpation of the glands revealed that they were both markedly distended. Both glands were expressed with ease. A large amount of fluid was released.
As the smell of the fluid filled the room, the owner of the Miniature Schnauzer soon was ill at ease. She complained of light headedness and dizziness. She asked to sit down. She retched and nearly vomited.
The nurse and I escorted her to some fresh air. She rapidly recovered. I blame myself for not warning her vehemently enough that anal gland fluid smells really bad.
After enough time one becomes inured to the smell of anal glands. To the uninitiated, however, it can be overpowering.
You have questions. 
So glad to know this – I’ll remember not to volunteer if asked!
I learned a long time ago that is $5 WELL SPENT for your vet to perform this service instead of you! ;o) Sometimes, dogs and cats expel those glands when you’re examining around there and they’re not happy about you doing that! If he’s ever unlucky enough to have an abscess that needs drained, she’ll believe you and won’t stick around for that procedure – our vet lets you stay because he’s used to that stuff and doesn’t realize other people are not! Makes for some interesting visits!
OMIGOODNESS! I’m sitting here having a great chuckle over this. Until you’ve experienced it yourself, there is no way to really explain the horrible aroma that comes from expressing an dog’s anal gland! Major kudos to all the vets and vet techs who are so kind and ease those doggie butts (sometimes while wearing gas masks!) and live to tell the tale (tail?).
I cannot imagine expressing my cat’s anal glands. OMG, I didn’t know cats could have that problem also.
My first dog needed hers expressed twice but I had the vet do it. LOL!
As the daughter of a groomer & breeder & the fiance of a vet, I’ve seen plenty of anal glands expressed. Not exactly an aroma I love!
My daughter 15 years old at the time accompanied me to the vet with one of our dogs. She was very curious about becoming a Vet and wanted a first hand look at what they do. Our dog was having itchy skin problems and started to have what I assume to me itchy butt problems due to the draging of his behind on the floor.
Well, he gets allergy shots a few times a year and my daughter was planning on holding his paw while he received his injection all the while investigating this line of work. That went well until I asked about the itchy butt. He checked and sure enough he needed his anal glands expressed. We both stayed and needless to say she was nauseated at the smell and just plain grossed out because the poor guy ended up with it all over himself. She no longer thinks that being a Vet is something she wants to pursue. I should have left her home.
“Rotting fish, feces and tear gas.” – Perfect description!
Our former vet used to expel our dog’s anal glands while we were in the room. When done on a routine basis, it wasn’t that bad. Our current vet takes the animal away to do it…it doesn’t really matter to me if I’m in the room or not. The only problem is that time or two, they’ve forgotten to do their glands, particularly when they were doing other things (blood draw, shots, etc.) so the dog comes out, is all happy to be back with me then has to be taken away again. So for me, I like to see the procedure being done so I know it’s done.
Unfortunately, one of my dogs has problem expressing these herself when she should and quite often expresses them unexpectedly (to her and to me) our our furniture – and my lap! There is nothing that will more quickly ruin a sweet moment with your dog than that. From “Daisy, you’re such a sweet girl and Momma loves you.” to *sniff* “What’s that sme– oh dear lord!!!!” in less than a second. Yuck!!