Antibiotics for anal glands?

Dr. Marie replied:

Thanks for your question. I would imagine that living in a foreign country with your pets can be quite a challenge.

Anal gland issues can really vary from dog to dog. Some dogs never need them expressed. Others may need them done every few months. I have some patients who need to have them emptied monthly. At this point, if emptying the glands stopped the licking then it may be that nothing more has to be done at the time.

I would agree with you that a laxative suppository is not something that I would prescribe for an anal glad problem. I'm not sure the reasoning behind this.

I normally would not prescribe antibiotics unless there were obvious signs of infection. You mentioned that there may have been blood when the glands are expressed. That's not normal. If there was definitely blood then I'd be wondering about infection. But, often the type of material that comes out of anal glands can be black or dark brown so it's possible that what you saw was just normal secretions.

If there was a big swollen gland indicative of an abscess then I might be more likely to prescribe antibiotics. Or, sometimes if there is a case where the glands keep filling up every week or two then I might. It's debatable though whether oral antibiotics even do much for anal gland problems. Many vets will infuse antibiotics in to the glands. It's a bit tricky to do so, but often this can be more effective than oral medication.

At this point I'd probably wait and see how things go. It may just be that the glands need to be expressed every few months.

Hope that helps!

Marie

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