Top 10 Best High Fiber Dog Foods for Anal Gland Problems

Top 10 Best High Fiber Dog Foods for Anal Gland Problems

If you’re looking for the best high fiber dog foods for anal gland problems in 2022, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we will discuss some of the top options on the market and why they are a great choice for your pet. Fiber is an important nutrient for dogs, and it can help keep their digestive system healthy and functioning properly.

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We’ll also provide you with a few tips on how to add more fiber to your dog’s diet. So without further ado, let’s get started.

• Pupper Chicken Topper
• Wellness Core Natural Grain-Free Dry Dog Food
• Rachael Ray Nutrish Zero Grain Natural Dry Dog Food
• Nulo Puppy & Adult Small Breed Limited Ingredient Diet
• Hill’s Science Diet Light for Weight Management
• Blue Buffalo Wilderness Healthy Weight Chicken Recipe Dog Food
• Royal Canin Canine Gastrointestinal Fiber Response Dry
• Fromm Gold Coast Grain Free Weight Management
• Dr. Tim’s Grain-Free Kinesis Formula
• Whole Earth Farms Grain-Free Chicken Recipe Dog Food
• Taste of the Wild High Prairie Grain-Free Dog Food
• ORIJEN High-Protein, Grain-Free, Premium Quality Meat
• Nutro Limited Ingredient Diet, Small Bites
• ‘’I and Love and You’’ Naked Essentials Grain-Free Dry Dog Food
• Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Boost Healthy Weight Grain-Free Chicken Recipe
• Castor & Pollux Organix Organic Healthy Weight Recipe Dry Food
• Wellness Simple Limited Ingredient Diet Healthy Weight Formula
• Earthborn Holistic Coastal Catch Grain-Free Dog Food
• Whole Life Pet Living Pumpkin Treats for Dogs
• Hill’s Prescription Diet W/D Multi-Benefit Canned Food
• Purina Beyond Mixers+ Digestive Support
• Blue Buffalo Wilderness High Protein Grain Free, Natural Adult Dry Dog Food
• Solid Gold – Fit & Fabulous Grain-Free
• Natural Balance L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets Wet Dog Food
• Weruva Grain-Free Natural Canned Wet Dog Food

What are anal glands?

• Anal glands are your dog’s pride and are the star of many smelly incidents during my veterinary career.
• The anal glands are two glands found close to the opening of your dog’s anus. They are found at the 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock marks when facing your dog’s anus.
• The role of the anal glands in dogs can sound trivial to us humans. Their contents and therefore the smell of their contents is unique to every dog and they are used to communicate identity and serve as a stinky deterrent when under threat.
• Their contents when emptied can make the most seasoned veterinarian’s stomach clench, however to other dogs the smell can mean “Rover was here”.

How do dogs empty their anal glands?

While the skunk and cats are able to empty their anal glands, most domestic dogs have lost their ability to empty their anal glands by natural methods. When your dog poops that helps put some pressure on their anal glands so that the walls open and empty the glands.

Why do dogs have anal glands?

• These glands will help your dog and other dogs learn who each dog is. This is almost like an identification card, if you were to give it a human term. And no, humans don’t have anal glands.
• These glands are used by dogs to mark their territory as they produce a smelly thick liquid that’s oily in texture. This is the reason for dogs sniffing each other’s butts when they meet each other. They are trying to identify the other dog and learn more about them.

How can anal glands become impacted?

• One of the reasons anal glands can fill and not release is that there hasn’t been enough natural pressure put on the anal glands. This could be due to poor diet causing your dog to have more days with soft poop or diarrhea versus regular stools.
• Whenever your dog’s anal glands haven’t had a chance to empty naturally, they can become blocked. This creates swollen anal glands, creating more health issues in the future, if left untreated.
• Some anal gland backup can build up and cause pain, swelling, abscesses, and fever because it builds up bacteria. This is why we wanted to feature the best high fiber dog foods for anal gland problems today. We wanted to find a more natural way to ensure your dog is regular with their potty breaks.
• You’ll find that dogs who have blocked anal glands will scoot across the floor often. This is their way to try to relieve comfort and help force their anal glands to empty. A high fiber diet will allow more pressure to be placed on the anal glands.

How do high fiber dog foods help my dog?

High fiber dog foods help your dog by preventing constipation, diarrhea, and other digestive issues. Fiber also helps to keep your dog’s coat healthy and can even help with weight loss.

High fiber dog foods can also help your dog with his daily life by providing energy and keeping him feeling full. This can help to prevent him from begging for food constantly or overeating.

10 Best High Fiber Dog Foods For Anal Gland Problems Reviewed

Here is our list of which dog foods we think are the best for anal gland issues.

Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Satiety Support Dry Dog Food

• First 5 ingredients: Powdered Cellulose, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn, Wheat Gluten, Wheat
• Life stage: Adult
• Type of product: Veterinary Diet
• Best for: Long term weight management

If your dog suffers from frequent anal gland problems, this dog food by Royal Canin is one of the best high fiber dog foods on the market.

Anal gland problems are sometimes associated with obesity, and this fiber rich diet will not only bulk up your dog’s stools for some anal gland expressing action, but will also keep your dog’s waistline in check.

The powdered cellulose in the diet will help your dog feel fuller quicker and also provide the right kind of fiber to bulk up your dog’s stool without retaining too much moisture. This will make your dog’s stools firmer.

The diet also contains other fiber sources with psyllium seed husk being one of them. Psyllium seed husks trap water content to form a gel and increase the size and frequency of stools.

The Satiety Support range has a product specifically formulated for small breed dogs that is better suited to their nutritional exigencies.

Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Gastrointestinal High Fiber Dry Dog Food

• First 5 ingredients: Chicken By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Chicken Fat, Powdered Cellulose, Corn
• Life stage: Adult
• Type of product: Veterinary Diet
• Best for: Management of gastro-intestinal issues

The anal glands may be at the very end of the digestive system but this does not mean that they are any less important than the rest.

Like the above diet, this dog food contains powdered cellulose, dried plain beet pulp and psyllium seed husk that all help optimize stool formation.

This diet also promotes a healthy digestive tract which acts as a further preventative of anal gland issues.

Hill’s Prescription Diet r/d Weight Reduction Dry Dog Food

• First 5 ingredients: Whole Grain Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Powdered Cellulose, Soybean Meal
• Life stage: Adult
• Type of product: Veterinary Diet
• Best for: Steady weight loss

This high fiber dog food intended to promote weight loss can be a good diet to bulk up your dog’s stools.

The powdered cellulose and dried beet pulp form firm, sizeable stools able to express your dog’s anal glands naturally.

Hill’s, like Royal Canin, produce high quality dog foods and it should come as no surprise that this diet is one of the best high fiber dog foods on the market.

Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets OM Select Blend Overweight Management Formula Dry Dog Food

• First 5 ingredients: Ground Yellow Corn, Soybean Meal, Soybean Germ Meal, Soybean Hulls, Soy Flour
• Life stage: Adult
• Type of product: Veterinary Diet
• Best for: Long term weight management

Purina’s take on a high fiber diet uses soybean hulls as their major fiber-contributing ingredient.

They bolster the hulls’ stool bulking effect by including pea fiber and powdered cellulose later in the ingredient list.

This high fiber dog food makes a high quality weight management and stool bulking dog food that can help your dog with keeping a trim waist while preventing future anal gland problems.

• First 5 ingredients: Chicken Meal, Whole Grain Wheat, Whole Grain Corn, Soybean Mill Run, Corn Gluten Meal
• Life stage: Adult
• Type of product: Veterinary Diet
• Best for: Long term weight management

Soybean mill run is this diet’s biggest fiber contributor. Soybean mill run is the by-product of the soy dehulling process and is made up of soybean hulls and any remaining soy bean meat.

It is therefore more protein rich than other fiber sources and can add to the nutritional value of the dog food.

This diet also contains pea fiber, dried beet pulp and dried tomato pomace as other significant sources of fiber.

The fiber content of this diet can reach 15%, making it more than adequate to help express your dog’s anal glands while doing their business.

• First 5 ingredients: Chicken, Cracked Pearled Barley, Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Whole Grain Corn
• Life stage: Adult
• Type of product: Veterinary Diet
• Best for: Management of Gastro-intestinal issues

This Hill’s diet only has a maximum of 9% fiber content.

However, we feel that this diet still deserves a place on our list as it promotes the health of the gut’s microbial population and that of the general digestive system.

This is very important because research shows that most episodes of anal gland problems follow bouts of loose stools and intestinal upset.

Blue Buffalo True Solutions Fit & Healthy Dry Dog Food

• First 5 ingredients: Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Oatmeal, Barley, Brown Rice
• Life stage: Adult
• Type of product: Commercial diet
• Best for: Long term weight management

This Blue buffalo high fiber dog food can pack a fibrous punch (14% crude fiber) and does not need a veterinary prescription.

Oatmeal, barley and brown rice somewhat contribute to the fiber content of the diet.

Ingredients such as powdered cellulose, dried tomato pomace, and dried plain beet pulp also help the diet bolster its satiating and stool bulking effect.

As with the other Blue Buffalo dog food making it on this list this diet contains dried chicory root that helps promote beneficial colonic bacterial fermentation.

As said before, the benefits of the addition of bacterial extracts in Blue Buffalo diets are debatable but this diet can be a good option for long term prevention of anal gland problems.

Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Weight Dry Dog Food

• First 5 ingredients: Chicken, Cracked Pearled Barley, Brown Rice, Pea Fiber, Corn Gluten Meal
• Life stage: Adult
• Type of product: Commercial diet
• Best for: Long term weight management

Hill’s also provides a high fiber dog food that requires no veterinary prescription to buy.

The diet uses fiber rich carbohydrate sources such as brown rice along with the usual fiber bulking agents. Pea fiber provides the majority of the diet’s fiber content.

Other fiber sources in the diet include dried tomato pomace, oat fiber, and dried beet pulp.

The fiber content of the diet can vary between 5 to 13% of the diet. While this can mean a great variability in the final product, this diet is still richer in fiber than most commercial products and will be a better fit for dogs prone to anal gland problems.

Royal Canin Medium Weight Care Dry Dog Food

• First 5 ingredients: Chicken By-Product Meal, Pea Fiber, Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat
• Life stage: Adult
• Type of product: Commercial diet
• Best for: Long term weight management

This diet forms part of Royal Canin’s care range which requires no veterinary prescription to buy. It has similar ingredients to their anal gland benefiting veterinary diets but at different proportions.

At a maximum of 12.5% crude fiber content, this diet bulks up your dog’s stools through the inclusion of pea fiber, dried plain beet pulp, powdered cellulose and psyllium seed husk in your dog’s diet.

The inclusion of fructooligosaccharides which act as prebiotics help establish and maintain a healthy intestinal bacterial population that can help prevent future gastro intestinal upsets and associated anal gland problems.

The Weight Care range of products has formulations that target different breed sizes and caters to their needs.

 

Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Healthy Weight Dry Dog Food

• First 5 ingredients: Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Barley, Pea Fiber
• Type of product: Commercial diet
• Life stage: Adult
• Best for: Long term weight management

This dog food can have a maximum fiber content of 10%. It can however be bought from a petshop and does not need a veterinary prescription.

The diet uses pea fiber and powdered cellulose to bulk up your dog’s stools. Like other Blue Buffalo diets, it also contains dried chicory root; a good source of soluble fiber that helps colonic bacterial fermentation and promotes gut health.

As in other dog foods made by this brand, the diet contains a number of bacterial extracts whose efficacy in promoting gut health is debatable.

However, as far as non veterinary dog food goes, the diet’s formulation shows promise in helping prevent anal gland problems while keeping your canine friend’s figure trim.

How To Recognize Anal Gland Problems?

Common symptoms shown by dogs having anal gland problems are:

• Scooting their behind on the floor, carpets, or grass.
• Biting and excessive licking around the anal area.
• Straining and difficulty while defecating.
• Bad smell coming from your dog.

While these symptoms can be a sign of anal gland problems, there are other conditions and diseases that can show similar symptoms.

It is always important to ask for your trusted veterinarian’s opinion when you see your dog showing some or all of these symptoms.

Do Anal Glands Need to be Expressed or Cleaned?

Anal glands do not need to be expressed or cleaned in healthy dogs. However, dogs suffering from anal gland issues do need a helping hand (or in this case finger) to relieve the pressure in their anal glands and dislodge the impaction.

Veterinarians are trained in the correct procedure- please do not try this at home!

You risk injuring your dog (and/or getting a faceful of anal gland secretion) if done incorrectly. It is not rare that dogs suffer from anal gland issues throughout their life.