I can't answer the personal experience part, but can back you up on finding someone who has had experience doing it, since there are a few fairly common (and potentially long-lasting) problems with the procedure.

http://www.thepetcenter.com/sur/as.html
http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/petcolumns/showarticle.cfm?id=86

I think what I would do is have a tech or vet teach me how to do the expressing properly (and it's actually easy, once someone knowledgeable walks you through it) so I could search for an appropriate surgeon, since you are not comfortable with the vet you've seen.

I am assuming that there is no infection or tumor involved.

I hope others here have experience.

Thanks for the reply

Hehe, those are among the top articles I was looking at for this. The "pet center" one was one that I found to be quite interesting though, with all the steps involved.

I had a vet show me on 2 occasions but I still haven't done anything for mastering it yet. I always find it so darn hard to actually find with my finger. Feeling in there for a pea-sized sac has just been difficult for me. I have no problems doing it, but I just have a hard time finding them. I'm sure I just need more practice. :P

I supposed I could ask 2 of the vets there. I have generally talked with the techs instead, which quoted me but they just didn't make it sound like it was something they did quite often. I'll research my vet a bit more and try to find others who might have had it done. But yeah, finding people who have done it has been difficult so far. Most people don't seem to have issues with the sacs so they normally just look at me puzzled.

No infections or tumors at all. The vets check it out when we go and they always give her a clean bill of health, and the fluid always looks clear which is great.

The vet also showed me one time and while I was watching she squirted it on my clothes on accident. Lucky I moved my face or I would have got it right there. Ugh! (Yeah, she had paper towels but was trying to get me a better view)

She warned me to keep my mouth closed while watching or doing it because she showed a guy in the past and when he started doing it, he was there with his jaw gaping open and ... well ... you can guess the rest. <shivers>

Yeah, there's a commonly-held theory that the anal sacs used to be used the way skunks use their own weapon.

Expressing the anal sacs is one activity I think is best done outdoors.

PMing you about that $2,000 quote.

It isn't a common procedure, but it is virtually the same operation as de-scenting a ferret or skunk. Two grand does sound unbelievably ridiculous. Do you have any board certified surgeons or a veterinary teaching hospital near you? I have known one dog that had the procedure done. A Great Pyrenees that belonged to a vet I worked for had the same problem. They could express her glands every couple of days and she would still blow when she barked! I think the time she blew out all over in thier brand new Altima was the last straw that inspired the gland removal!

Hi Brian,

I had 1 anal gland removed in my cat years ago, so I'll share my experience with that and you can take it for what it's worth.

She had a ruptured or severely impacted bleeding gland which required a trip to the emergency vet at night and surgery to remove it. I was living in France at the time so, truthfully, I had difficulty understanding what she was telling me was wrong and I had no way to judge how good a surgeon she was. It was an emergency and I told her to do whatever was needed.

The aftermath of this surgery was a NIGHTMARE. I believe the nerves were damaged during surgery so that my poor cat couldn't move her bowels properly for months. I had to take her to the vet almost weekly to be sedated and, basically, vaccumed out. They had me adding some kind of oil to her food to try and ease the stool out of her body. She was on stool softeners...we tried everything. It eventually corrected itself but it took months and was just horrible for my cat.

It CAN be a very effective surgery for anal gland problems but it needs to be done by someone who has done a lot of them. It is delicate surgery and if the surgeon screws up then you could find yourself facing the problems I did. $2000 seems a little high for this surgery.

 Quote: Sarah_Morris

... It CAN be a very effective surgery for anal gland problems but it needs to be done by someone who has done a lot of them. It is delicate surgery and if the surgeon screws up then you could find yourself facing the problems I did. $2000 seems a little high for this surgery.

Another vote for finding a surgeon who's had plenty of experience:
QUOTE:
This procedure is complicated by many local nerves controlling fecal continence, the fact that any change in the local musculature of the anal sphincter area can affect fecal continence, and the fact that with chronic anal sac problems anatomy is distorted. Draining tracts can develop after surgery if the gland is not completely removed. Still, despite these pitfalls anal sac removal is considered a relatievely simple surgery by most board certified surgery specialists. If this procedure is to be done we generally recommend that a specialist (or a veterinarian with extensive experience with anal sacculectomy) perform it. END from Maristavet.com

I had my GSD's anal glands removed as they kept impacting and abscessing.

I would recommend anyone thinking about doing this to first, increase the fiber in the diet for a harder BM, and second, to learn how to do it yourself so you can do it more often. It sounds like you tried both of these.

It is true that there is the potential for disaster with damaging the nerves and ending up with incontinence. My dog had absolutely no problems and the problem was permanently fixed.

I don't remember exactly how much it cost, except it was in the $200-400 range.

Thanks for the comments everyone

I have a surgeon friend that does intricate surgeries on dogs and asked him to see if he knew of anyone around that specializes in that sort of thing.

Seeing as he's probably going to know more people in the business than I am.

I appreciate the helpful experiences and comments everyone. Hopefully I'll find a little more information on this from a pro that does plenty of these for a living.

We just got them drained today at the vet so I can keep my sanity for awhile now :P