# Fiber recommendations for anal gland issue with trouble keeping up weight.



## Annamarie (Oct 14, 2007)

I seem to be in a bit of a pickle.... I had to take our min pin to the vet to have his anal glands expressed again (which is getting to be a monthly pain in the butt, no pun intended....) and the vet suggested he needs more fiber in his diet. Right now he's eating about 1 can of EVO wet food (95% meat, usually chicken or beef) with 1/2 a cup of brown rice (before cooking) mixed in with it, and it usually takes him 2 days to finish this mix, given in small portions throughout the day. The vet suggested adding 2 tablespoons of canned pumpkin but I've tried it in the past and not only does he hate the taste but it didn't seem to make a difference.

On one hand, he appears to be needing more fiber. On the other, I don't want to add so much that his food just goes right through him, since he needs as much help as possible to keep weight on. The brown rice that he's getting should be providing enough fiber I would think?

If he truly does need more I'm thinking of adding some psyllium or bran cereal to his food for the fiber... I don't think he'd eat more rice. Thoughts?


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## kelliope (Apr 4, 2008)

Obviously I am not a vet, but I believe more fiber leads to softer stools which INCREASES the likelihood of anal gland problems.

From this site http://www.dr-dan.com/analsac.htm:



> Why so many problems?
> You will notice in the above description that the anal sphincter must squeeze the sac against hard feces to express the contents. My idea of why modern pets have so many problems is that the feces are just not hard enough. In ancient times, dogs and cats ate large quantities of meat and bone making their feces the consistency of concrete. Now, we feed diets with vegetable protein as the main ingredient. This produces a much softer stool so there is nothing for the glands to be squeezed against. The secretions build up and the pet has problems.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 22, 2008)

Annamarie said:


> I seem to be in a bit of a pickle.... I had to take our min pin to the vet to have his anal glands expressed again (which is getting to be a monthly pain in the butt, no pun intended....) and the vet suggested he needs more fiber in his diet.


With a prey model raw diet, you add more bone to firm up a stool if that is needed. It is a very very rare for a dog on a prey model diet to have anal gland problems. The problem went away with my Golden the week I put her on the diet. She had had to have them expressed every couple of months for 8 years or so until I switched her.


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

If your dog needs more fiber (fiber is used to bulk up as well as pass it through faster, so it can be used for either runny stools to bulk up or constipation as more bulk helps the intestines push the bolus through faster)...you might ask the vet if you can use soemthing like Benefiber or similar products. I swear that they have no taste. A member of my family has problems with alternating diarrhea and constipation. So I have put Benefiber in anything I can for the last 6 months and the gi problems have toatlly gone away. You can actually mix it into water or juice and you would never know. 

I know dogs (especially yours! take no offense, he's a cutie!) can be picky. And I have to admit, plain pumpkin wouldn't be high on my list either. But this powdered fiber stuff might just work. But I would ask the vet first because you would need to know how much, how often to use it.


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## CinnamintStick (Jul 25, 2008)

Insoluable fiber speeds digestion and aids constipation problems.

Most but not all soluable fiber forms a jell adding moisture and slows digestion. Slow digestion help stabolize blood sugar. It also acts as a prebiotic and cleans the lower intestins. Beet pulp, ground flax seed are examples.

Some fiber like Benifiber do neither.

Inulin increases calcium absorption and possibly magnesium absorption, while promoting the growth of intestinal bacteria. Nutritionally, it is considered a form of soluble fiber and is sometimes seen as a prebiotic.



excuse my spelling I suck.


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