5 best high-fiber dog food for anal gland problems [2023]

Anal glands are small pouches located at the four and 8 o’clock positions relative to the anus. They are connected to the anus via tube. Whenever fecal material passes from the anus, they express and release their secretion.  The best high-fiber dog food for anal gland problems helps to regulate secretion.

I have had a dog for the first time, and I was curious why he is used to peeing in all the places in the house. My dog, Franky, has not left any corner of my house why was free of his pee. After observing his consistent habit, I started to research it. As you know dogs have the instinct to mark their territory, and they do so by peeing or pooping in their areas. This instinct made them develop structures like anal glands, which produce a specific scent to tell other dogs nearby that this area does not belong to them.

5 Best High-Fiber Dog Food Brands

In this article, we’ll look at high-fiber dog foods. What are the essential ingredients? And how do you know which high-fiber dog foods are the most beneficial? Dig into the reviews or click the links here to go directly to the best items:

1. Hill’s Science Diet Dry Dog Food
2. Earthborn Holistic Great Plains Feast Dry Dog Food
3. Purina Pro Plan Adult Dry Dog Food
4. Rachel Ray Nutrish Natural Dry Dog Food
5. Blue Buffalo Wilderness Grain Free Adult Dry Dog Food

Top 5 High-Fiber Dog Food for Anal Gland Problems

1. Top Choice Hill’s Science Diet Dry Dog Food

If your dog food is upsetting your furry friend’s stomach, it is time to change the food. It is one of the best dog foods to tailor for small breeds for their anal gland problems.

When it’s time to switch your pooch’s food without upsetting her stomach, Hill’s Science Diet Dry Dog Food is our overall best choice for you.

Key Ingredients

• Salmon Protein
• Lamb
• Real Chicken
• Flaxseed
• Whole Grain Sorghum
• Corn Gluten Meal
• Whole Grain Wheat

This is a high-fiber food that is tailored for small dog breeds that suffer from anal gland problems to help maintain a healthy weight.

Salmon protein is rich in minerals, omega 3, and essential amino acids, which support strong bones, joint health, muscle growth, and tissue repair.

Flaxseed contains a significantly high amount of fiber, which improves digestion to avert anal gland problems. Flaxseed is also rich in omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.

Whole grain sorghum is rich in dietary fiber, B2, B1, zinc, and iron. The dietary fiber improves digestion and helps regulate bowels.

Natural fibers and high-quality protein help satisfy your dog’s hunger in between meals, improve digestion and support intestinal health.

This is the perfect nutrition for a picky pooch with a sensitive stomach. Transition to this food is also smooth without digestive or bowel problems.

What We Like

• High-fiber dog food recommended by veterinarians
• Great nutrition that promotes healthy stool, coat, and skin
• Contains clinically proven antioxidants that boost overall dog’s health
• Features great tasting, natural ingredients
• Not artificially preserved, flavored, or colored
• Suitable for sensitive stomach and skin

What We Don’t Like

• May not be suitable for larger dogs

 

2. Earthborn Holistic Great Plains Feast Dry Dog Food

Earthborn Holistic Great Plains Feast is one of the best high-fiber dog food for anal gland problems. It contains wholesome, nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables with high fiber contents. It contains antioxidants that improve the dog’s immune system.

Earthborn Holistic Great Plains Feast Dry Dog Food contains wholesome nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables that are rich in fiber. It is the ideal nutrition for anal gland problems.

Key Ingredients

• Bison Meal
• Pea Protein
• Peas
• Canola Oil
• Beef Meal
• Cranberries
• Blueberries
• Chickpeas
• Carrots

Fibers from fruits and vegetables, such as cranberries, blueberries, and peas support excellent nutrition absorption, digestibility, and stool.

Peas are an outstanding source of dietary fiber, minerals, and essential vitamins. This high-fiber dog food lowers cholesterol and maintains a healthy weight.

This food contains beef and bison as the first ingredients, which are lean muscle mass that contains balanced amino acids for a healthy body.

It features guaranteed amounts of antioxidants, such as vitamin C and E mixed with nutrient-rich spinach, apples, cranberries, blueberries, and peas that support a healthy immune system.

If your pooch’s stomach is sensitive to grain and gluten, you have nothing to worry about because this formula is free of them.

This food is pet-approved thanks to its digestible proteins and high fiber content. It is formulated to promote a healthy long life.

What We Like

• Fast and smooth transition to this nutrition
• High fiber maintains healthy digestion and stool
• Lean muscle mass is a great source of amino acids
• Antioxidants in the food support the immune system
• Poop is less stinky and firm enough for easy cleanup

What We Don’t Like

• Velcro on the bags don’t seal properly

 

3. Purina Pro Plan Adult Dry Dog Food

It provides high content proteins and fibers and ensures the health of probiotics for the normal functioning of the gut. It contains vitamin E components that have anti-inflammatory properties.

Introducing the Purina Pro Plan Adult Dry Dog Food. Nutrition that contains guaranteed live probiotics and lots of fiber for supporting digestive health and stool.

Key Ingredients

• Lamb meal
• Corn Gluten Meal
• Rice Flour
• Whole Grain Wheat
• Dried Beet Pulp
• Soybean Meal
• Chicken By-Product

Real lamb is the first ingredient, which contains top-quality protein that supplies your pooch with essential nutrients for supporting lean muscle mass and healthy organs.

Dried beet pulp is a health-giving fiber source that is rich in prebiotics, which helps improve nutrient absorption, digestion, and alleviates anal gland problems.

Vitamin E supplements supply your pup with anti-inflammatory properties, which help to restore your dog’s skin health and support a healthy coat.

It is a shredded blend, containing crunchy kibble and delicious meaty pieces that supply your canine friend with remarkable texture and taste.

Omega 6 fatty acid, linoleic acid, and vitamin A promote healthy skin and a good, shiny coat. Omega 6 also fights infection and eases arthritis pain.

What We Like

• Lamb provides high-quality protein for overall health
• Contains prebiotic fiber that helps digestion and anal gland problems
• Hard kibble and shredded meaty pieces have a good texture and taste
• Omega 6, linoleic acid, and vitamin A boost skin health and shiny coat
• Nutritious and healthy food for big dogs

What We Don’t Like

• May receive a bag with pantry months

 

4. Rachel Ray Nutrish Natural Dry Dog Food

It contains simple but nutritious ingredients that are rich in fibers. It does not contain any added preservatives or flavors. Its added prebiotics provide better immune supports to your furry friend.

Rachel Ray Nutrish Natural Dry Dog Food contains a simple, but very nutritious recipe. This is the ideal nutrition if your pooch has anal gland problems.

Key Ingredients

• Real Chicken
• Soybean Meal
• Dried Peas
• Whole Ground Corn
• Ground Brown Rice
• Plain Beet Pulp

This nutrition contains real chicken as the first ingredient, which supplies your pooch with healthy proteins for lean muscle mass.

This is good nourishment for a dog with a sensitive stomach because it doesn’t contain preservatives, artificial flavors, or poultry by-products.

Brown rice contains lots of premium quality fiber, minerals, vitamins, and carbohydrates. Natural fiber supports healthy digestion and stool.

Carrots and peas are great sources of minerals and essential vitamins. Peas have high fiber for healthy digestion and high protein for strength.

Nothing beats beet pulp for its nourishing fiber content that naturally supplies prebiotics to boost healthy digestion and alleviate anal gland problems.

Chicken fat is a great source of premium quality omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, which ensure your pooch has healthy skin and a gleaming coat.

What We Like

• No artificial preservatives or flavors in this high-fiber dog food
• Natural prebiotics boost healthy digestion
• Doesn’t contain wheat gluten, fillers, or by-product meal
• Transition is easy, fast, and smooth for most dog breeds
• Omega 3 and 6 boost skin and coat health

What We Don’t Like

• May not be suitable for sensitive or allergic dogs

 

5. Blue Buffalo Wilderness Grain Free Adult Dry Dog Food

Introducing nature’s evolutionary diet, Blue Buffalo Wilderness Grain Free Adult Dry Dog Food. Reliable nourishment for a pooch with anal gland problems.

Key Ingredients

• Deboned Salmon
• Pea Protein
• Chicken Meal
• Peas
• Chicken fat
• Flaxseed

It is a grain free diet that is rich in fiber and protein. It provides your pooch with a blend of healthy complex carbs, fat, and protein.

The enhanced bits of this grain free dog food are a great blend of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants that support healthy oxidative balance, life stage requirements, and immune system health.

Real deboned salmon, fish meal, and chicken meal boost healthy muscle development. This combination ensures your dog is always strong.

Carbohydrates and essential proteins boost energy for an active and playful life. Essential vitamins, phosphorous, and calcium support strong teeth and bones.

Flaxseed is an excellent source of fiber, protein, and omega 3 fatty acids, which supports healthy digestion, stool, and healthy skin/coat.

Peas are rich in soluble and insoluble fibers, antioxidants, and resistant starch. The soluble and insoluble fiber alleviate constipation and control diarrhea. With Blue Buffalo weight management dog food healthy weight is easier to maintain.

What We Like

• High-fiber dog food for alleviating constipation and promoting healthy stool
• Natural protein sources support healthy muscle development
• Essential vitamins and antioxidants boost immune system health
• Omega fatty acids, omega 3 and 6 support healthy skin and a shiny coat
• Doesn’t contain preservatives, additives, and fillers

What We Don’t Like

• Possible to receive a defective bag

 

Some other foods mentioned by pet parents are Purina Pro Plan large breed dog food options as well as Chewy Purina Pro Plan puppy food. Purina puppy food might help with added fiber.

Buying Guide

There’re a number of ways you can help alleviate your pooch’s anal gland problems, including supplements, adding fiber to her diet, or buy her the best high-fiber dog food.

We prefer a healthy diet that’s rich in fiber. High fiber dog diet will help your pooch with anal gland expression, and still, provide her plenty of nutrients for a healthy lifestyle and longevity.

Here’re the various things you should consider during your search:

Premium vs. Holistic Dog Food

These are the terms you will come across when shopping for high-quality, fiber-rich food for your pup.

Premium Dog Food

Premium dog food is exactly what the label says. This is a good, nutritious, and sometimes high fiber diet that is considered safe to give your pooch.

Premium diets are formulated with your hound’s health in mind. They’re nutritionally balanced and they contain high-quality ingredients.

According to our findings, genuine premium diets are formulated after proper research has been carried out and extensive product testing is done.

Dog food manufacturers know just how much you love your dog. As such, some unscrupulous brands do deliberately add the word “Premium” to their label to entice you.

More often than not there’s no real difference between premium products and non-premium products, other than the higher price tag.

Holistic Dog Food

Another popular term you will see on dog food labels is “Holistic”. In this diet, each and every ingredient targets a particular part of your pooch’s health.

Apart from providing specific nutrient requirements, ingredients in holistic food work together to improve the overall health of your dog.

This diet type addresses existing and future health issues, including anal gland problems. The only problem is that most holistic foods tend to be more vegan than protein-based.

Food Labels

The law requires dog food labels to state the maximum amount of moisture and fiber and the minimum amount of protein, fat, and other essential nutrients.

There’re many terms on dog food labels that you should be familiar with, such as meat meal and by-products. The most important labels are:

Ingredients List

The ingredients list tells you of all the ingredients used in the food. This allows you to know how many fiber-rich foods are in the diet.

Usually, the ingredients are listed by weight, started with the highest (first ingredient which is normally meat) to the lowest.

Be aware; however, that dog food companies often change the composition of their diets. So, the ingredient list of your current bag may not be the same next month when you go for another bag.

You want to ensure that the food you buy has a good amount of fiber-rich ingredients.

Guaranteed Analysis

This label is going to tell you the minimum amount by weight of crude protein, crude fat, linoleic acid, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, manganese, and omega 3 & 6 to mention a few. It also tells you the maximum amounts of crude fiber and moisture in the food.

Feeding Suggestions

This label guides you on how to feed your pooch on a daily basis without altering her feeding schedule or upsetting her stomach.

Transition Chart

This is a very important label when switching food for your dog. You can’t just switch from an old food type to a new one at once.

You have to gradually introduce your dog to the new food. This gives her digestive system enough time to get used to the food. Most successful transitions require at least ten days.

The relation of food with anal gland expression

Anal gland expression is related to the food dogs eat. If food is more or less digestible, fecal material will be harder or softer than usual. It will not let the anal gland express. Therefore, dog food must contain high fiber contents for the anal glands to express themselves. You should provide your dog with the best high-fiber dog food for anal gland problems.

How can I improve my dog’s anal glands?

The anal gland is a structure whose functions are related to some factors like food. Yes! You can improve your dog’s anal gland by improving the dog food. Dog food affects the normal expression of the anal gland. The feces will be soft and easily come out if the food contains high protein and other digestible food contents.

This type of feces will not let the anal gland express and release its secretion. However, if dog food contains a balanced amount of digestible and undigestible contents like high fiber, the fecal material will be normal enough to trigger the anal gland for expression.

How can I add more fiber to my dog diet?

Dogs are carnivores, and their diet mainly constitutes protein content. No doubt, their basic dietary need is protein. Still, they also need undigestible fiber contents to improve bowel movements and express the anal gland normally. You can add high fiber content to their diet. If you are using dog food, you should select the best high-fiber dog food for anal gland problems that are effective for anal gland issues.

However, you can also add natural food containing high fiber to your dog’s diet. Such foods are broccoli, sprouts, cabbage, and other vegetables that contain high fiber contents. While if you prefer purchasing dog food, you should select one which guarantees high fiber contents. You can find the best high-fiber dog food for anal gland problems at chewy.com.

What is the best food for A dog with anal gland problems?

Only those foods which contain high fiber contents are best for your dog’s anal gland problems. Here I will mention some of the best high-fiber dog food for anal gland problems that you can buy for your pup.

FAQs

What about Limited Ingredient Diets?

A variety of limited and novel protein diets are now being manufactured by several dog food companies. They’re very attractive because they’re nutritionally complete and convenient.

The only problem is that there may be contamination with other food allergens not listed on the ingredients label.

Can I Add Fiber to My Dog’s Food?

You add canned pumpkin to your dog’s food in small amounts to increase the fiber content to relieve diarrhea. But it’s recommended you buy healthy, fiber-rich food, instead.

Are there Any Differences between Premium and Holistic Diets?

Both premium and holistic diets contain healthy ingredients, but manufacturers of premium pet food claim that their products have additional nutrients with specific health benefits.

How Much Fiber Should Be In My Pooch’s Food?

According to guaranteed analysis panels of most dog foods, the fiber content ranges from 1 to 10 percent, but moderate levels are 2 to 4 percent.

When shopping for dog food for anal gland problems, you should stick with a fiber content that is less than 10%, preferably in the high range of 6 to 10%.

High dietary fiber intake is associated with decreased inflammation and all-cause mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (humans). – Kidney Int 2012; 81: 300–306

Can I directly Introduce My Dog to a High-Fiber Content Diet?

It’s advisable to introduce your dog to a new food gradually. This is why the transition chart is important. Slow transition ensures your dog’s digestion system accepts the new food.

Can I Feed My Dog Supplements for Anal Gland Problems?

You can introduce anal gland supplements to your dog’s diet, but only the ones that are recommended by your vet.

Does dog food cause anal gland issues?

Yes! Dog foods are the cause of anal gland issues. You should understand the concept of poop to understand the relation between food and anal gland problems. Digestible foods are digested and absorbed in the body, and very little of them are excreted.

However, undigestible foods don’t digest but are instead excreted from the body. Hard-to-digest fibers improve intestinal motility and are responsible for the normal texture of feces. And the usual texture of feces expresses the anal gland secretion.

What happens if you don’t express your dog’s glands?

If a dog’s anal gland does not express, its secretions will impact the pouch. Veterinarians, in this case, manually express the anal glands. Mostly, the impaction develops an infection, and anal glands are inflamed.

If left untreated, inflamed anal glands develop pus, and the condition is known as anal gland abscess. If you are regularly taking your pet to a veterinarian, he/she will express its anal glands manually. But if not, you should take care of them.

What causes dog glands to fill?

There can be multiple reasons for the anal glands to fill. Most of the time, the cause is not enough pressure. Dogs who don’t eat food having fiber contents most likely have soft feces, and dogs suffering will diarrhea will have the same problem.

Soft feces don’t exert enough pressure on the anal gland to release its secretion. Therefore, anal glands fill. To avoid anal gland problems, you should provide your pup best high-fiber dog food for anal gland problems.

How do you know if your dog’s glands are full?

Your dog’s behavior will tell you that your anal glands are full. Mostly your pup scoot on the carpet or frequently lick the anal area to express the irritation of the anal gland. You may also observe brownish color secretion where your pup sits.

Most of the time anal area smells pungent and stinky. Your dog’s behaviors make you realize that its anal glands are full they need to be expressed. If you eat the best high-fiber dog food for anal gland problems, you will not face this issue.

What happens when a dog’s glands are full?

When your dog’s glands are full, your will be upset. Your dog will feel irritation on the area around the anus and will frequently bite on it. Moreover, he will try to slide back on the ground due to irritation. If left untreated, the filled anal gland can develop an infection, and pus can accumulate. So, you should take proper care of your dog’s anal gland by providing the best high-fiber dog food for anal gland problems.

How can I express my dog’s glands naturally?

Veterinarians and some pet groomers offer their services to express a dog’s anal glands. However, some brave pet parents also learn the technique. But you should take the advice of your vet before expressing anal glands. You need to press/put pressure on the area around the anus, and anal glands will express. However, you can improve the diet and provide the best high-fiber dog food for anal gland problems.

Give your dog the best high-fiber dog food

Owing to the complications of anal glands, you should take the risk and provide your dog best high-fiber dog food for anal gland problems. It’s the best dog food to prevent scooting and will be better for you to prevent anal issues rather than treating.

Our overall best choice for anal gland problems is Hill’s Science Diet Dry Dog Food. It supplies your pooch with enough fiber and prebiotics for a healthy digestion system.

This food will not only help with anal gland problems but will also contribute largely to the life span and quality of life of your canine friend.

Remember providing the maximum nutritional base for a pooch that is going through a difficult stretch is very important. If you want to slow down your dog while eating use the slow feeder dog bowl.

Apart from our recommendations, it is important to consult your vet to help you determine the most appropriate food for your canine pal.