Fishy Anal Odor

[hurley]

Not a fun topic but any ideas or opinions are welcomes.
My nine month old male boston terrier off and on gets a strong fishy smell that seems to be coming from his anus. He has got off and on as long as I can remeber and only seems to last for a few hours to a day.
Any ideas what this could be or what it could be from?
Thanks

 

[Zoom]

It's quite possible that his anal sacs are full and aren't being expressed sufficiently when he goes poop, which how they are normally expressed. There could also be something going on with the sacs themselves and they are leaking? I've met one dog who had that problem; it's not a common one.

Take him to a groomer or your vet and have them express his sacs and see if that helps any. Your vet can also check to make sure nothing else is going on with that area.

 

[AnimalLoverCatRescuer]

It's quite possible that his anal sacs are full and aren't being expressed sufficiently when he goes poop, which how they are normally expressed. There could also be something going on with the sacs themselves and they are leaking? I've met one dog who had that problem; it's not a common one.

Take him to a groomer or your vet and have them express his sacs and see if that helps any. Your vet can also check to make sure nothing else is going on with that area.

You pretty much covered what I was going to say, I agree completely. Anal sacs need to be expressed.

 

[squirtsmom]

Icky. Good posts.

 

[hurley]

Thanks so much for your help. I will make him an appointment soon to have that done.
He does seem to lick alot so I would assume there is also a discharge to go with the odor.

 

[bubbatd]

Echo all above . If they are packed at this early age , you may want the vet to show you how to express. It's easy ( though not pleasant ) . If he has soft stools , you may want to change his diet . The vet is your first stop though .

 

[GlassOnion]

Yah there's definately a discharge that comes out.

Very unpleasant. Have some spray on hand if you do it yourself.

 

[matisse09]

Thank you for bringing up this topic. My rottweiler also has this unpleasant odor once in a while, and I was also curious about it.

 

[~Jessie~]

It sounds like anal glands to me. They probably need to be expressed.

 

[hurley]

I took my Dog Hurley in today and the vet said you were all right on. She said they were quite full and fixed him right up.
Thanx again!

 

[Zoom]

Glad to know it was easy to fix!

 

[showpug]

Sometimes adding a teaspoon of pure canned pumpkin to his diet once a day will help prevent them from getting that full again by the extra fiber which causes firmer larger stools.

 

[dr2little]

That's a good idea showpug and dogs LOVE pumpkin too. I also find that feeding my dogs fish treats (just whitefish or salmon with bones) really keep their poops firm. Dogs who do well with fresh bones also increase the firmness of their stools...Sophie's used to get almost chalkey from all of the bone in her diet but her poops were perfect and her glands expressed properly.

 

[moonchild1970]

If you express them yourself be sure and wear gloves!!

 

[howangcturtle]

Wait so aren't they called anal gland, which is secreted when they get nervous right? There shouldn't be any problems with it from what i herd......

 

[MelissaCato]

I've had a patient in our vet office once, Lab/Husky mix and when I lifted him to the table for his exam he sprayed all over me, owner, office room and boy does it stink and linger. So, it's good to get anal glands "expressed" on a routine basis. I do my dogs in the bath water once a week, keeping the glands empty help's with bad breath also. Some dogs lick to "express". Good Luck.

 

[bubbatd]

I was squirted once grooming my dog's " panties " ....pulled too hard .... poor baby ! My bad !

 

[noludoru]

Showpug and dr2, thanks for posting advice about feeding them pumpkin or fish! Emma has had anal gland issues for a while now, and all our vet could tell us was to find her a diet high in fiber, but I looked on every single pet food label I could find, and none of them really had a high fiber content. Em's still having trouble with her anal glands, so I tried giving her as many veggies as she could eat (she loves cucumber, celery, carrots, and radishes) but it still hasn't helped. I'm certainly going to try both of those methods now. Good luck with it, Hurley.

 

[Pomp]

Bumping up an old thread.

I expressed my female beagle's anal glands tonight. She was scooting. It was the first time I did it on my own. A ton of stuff came out, and it actually sprayed out, which I was not ready for.

My question is how do I know when to stop? She seemed to fine with it when I first started the expression. Then, after a while, she started squirming so I stopped. Any advice?

 

[Oski]

Where are the glands at that you squeeze??