Q: My two-year-old female Border Collie Lilly regularly needs to have her
anal glands emptied.
One condition that causes some animals to rub their bottoms on the floor is because of a problem with their
anal glands, which are 'scent glands'.
Answer:
Anal glands, or sacs, are small glands found near the anus in many mammals, including dogs and cats.
Her
anal glands haven't been impacted or infected yet but I have to express her glands about once a month as indicated by her scooting.
In most cases, a cat's
anal glands cause little problem, Dr.
Cytokeratin subset immunostaining in rectal adenocarcionoma and normal
anal glands. Arch Pathol Lab Med 2001;125:1074-7.
However, it is worth mentioning that colorectal type adenocarcinoma of this site (as is also true for the distal rectum) may have unexpected CK7 expression, although it is usually accompanied by coexpression of CK20 (as opposed to
anal gland carcinomas that usually do not have CK20 positivity, see below).
The most noticeable symptom of impacted
anal glands is the "scooting" behavior where the dog drags his rear-end along the ground in an attempt to facilitate relief.
This species lacks
anal glands, which are present in J.
Parallel to the hypobranchial gland in the same position can be found a black pigmented structure, presumably the
anal gland.
Most of these growths are
anal gland adenocarcinomas, which can readily spread to the surrounding tissue and lymph glands.
Dogs are more prone to
anal gland issues than cats.