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The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

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So today’s drama was when I woke up this morning, Rosie refused to get out of her crate. I undid her crate, went into the kitchen to turn on the boiling vessel, opened the door for the girls, and noticed there was a Lily, but not a Rosie. Looked everywhere (it never occurred to me she was still in the crate) and finally found her sitting there looking pathetic. I tried to get her out, and she refused to walk and looked like she was in pain. I picked her up and carried her to the front yard, where normally if I let her down she would run like hell, and she just flopped over in the grass. Called the vet, dropped her off on my way out of town, and made arrangements for mom to pick her up later on.

They called me, and apparently she had impacted anal glands. As I said on twitter, anything beyond that, I missed, because I was throwing up in my mouth. So they “expressed” her anal glands, gave her a shot, and now I have pills to give her. I told a neighbor this a bit ago, and she offered to teach me how to do it myself, but I made a command decision that this was something that was worth spending money on. Life is too short for me to spend one minute learning the proper technique for squeezing my dogs ass.

In other news, Steeler football tonight, and I am about to make a home made pizza. You?

Reader Interactions

196Comments

  2. 2.

    Corner Stone

    Some people are saying you love twitter now more than your own blog citizens.
    Not me, but some people.

  7. 7.

    Liberal Sandlapper

    I made chicken enchiladas verde and they are DA BOMB!!!

    They have become my wife and friends’ favorite food on the planet.

  8. 8.

    Spiffy McBang

    What the fuck… is that like… doggie constipation or something?

    I would look it up, but I’d rather take Zyla’s warning with the full-caps seriousness it deserves.

  9. 9.

    The Dangerman

    Life is too short for me to spend one minute learning the proper technique for squeezing my dogs ass.

    We, your devoted readers, would have paid good money for a video of said ass squeezing.

    @Zyla:

    NEVER GOOGLE EXPRESSING ANAL GLANDS.

    Zyla speaks THE TRUTH; don’t be tempted (as I was).

  10. 10.

    Jager

    My ex-wife used to take of the anal gland chores. After the first time she did it, the glow seemed to come off our marriage.

  11. 11.

    greylocks

    Some groomers will do the anal glands, and it’s way cheaper than going to the vet. Shop around.

  12. 12.

    sophist

    Life is too short for me to spend one minute learning the proper technique for squeezing my dogs ass.

    And you call yourself a dog lover…

  13. 13.

    trollhattan

    @John Cole

    Yeah, a chronic problem with our previous Dal, but never to the extent of Rosie. More the ghoulish “self-express” in the house.

    Flee quickly.

    We searched and found groomers who would do a bath-and-express combo. The ultimate pet owner’s win-win.

  14. 14.

    khead

    Steeler football, steak, crab mac and cheese.

    Also, I would work whatever overtime necessary to pay someone else to take care of the dog’s ass. Just sayin.

  15. 15.

    Erin

    So it looks like Elizabeth Warren is definitely running for Senate. I live in MA. Does anyone know how to get involved in her campaign? I’ve never worked on one before (I was too young to vote).

  16. 16.

    gbear

    Over at TBogg, one of the serious commenters is not happy with the quality of work shown by TBogg.

    TBogg fails in this specific post to fulfill any of the values FDL promotes as central to their purpose

    Some hilarity is ensuing (you have to follow his link).

    Other than that, I got nuthin’ but a lawn that needs to be mowed.

  17. 17.

    Yutsano

    Uhh…wow.

    Halfway through Friday. I think I’ll just refuse any levy releases for the rest of the night.

  18. 18.

    Jewish Steel

    but I made a command decision that this was something that was worth spending money on.

    Me too. A lot of groomers will do it. Best $12-15 you’ll ever spend.

  19. 19.

    trollhattan

    @Jager:

    Nothing quite like the dog’s “What the hell are you DOING?” expression during the process.

    But then I remember they harvest horse and bull semen and realize things could be much, much worse.

  20. 20.

    bemused

    OK, I had to laugh. And, of course, it would be Rosie with the impacted anal glands, not the other two. Did they have to sedate her? If she used to nip you when she slept in the bed, I can’t imagine what her reaction would be to you trying to express her anal glands. I’d definitely pass on the DIY idea too even if she was cooperative and consider it well worth the money to have pros do it.

  21. 21.

    KRK

    Good decision.

    I sent you an email, but it probably landed in your spam filter. I believe the name you were trying to recall last night on twitter is: Tanya Acker.

  25. 25.

    bkny

    oh man … years ago i had an irish setter with the same condition and was offered a showmehow. uh, no thanks; fsm bless veterinarians — they put their hands in some of the nastiest places… (sorry for the images that might conjure; but they really are special people).

  28. 28.

    eastriver

    Please lay off the doggie ass stories, JC.

    And also, too, can you stick a post it note on your computer screen tonight, before you start drinking, to remind yourself tomorrow morning not to blog about how much you drank last night and how shitty you feel? Pretty please?

    Everyone knows you drink in excess pretty much every night, and most especially when your team is playing. Your habits might be leaving the younger Juicers with overly-romanticized notions of alcoholism. Not good.

  32. 32.

    Steeplejack

    About to order takeout pizza. Off work today and have been luxuriating in laziness and the mild weather here in NoVa (mid-80s, low humidity).

    Will join you for Steelers-Redskins football as soon as the PGA coverage winds up. The course has been slaughtering everyone today. The leaders are only at –5, and there are 16 players under par. Only four players who have ever won a major are left in the field.

  33. 33.

    Corner Stone

    @kdaug:

    Interesting point. Perhaps we should all “express” our love for Cole, and he’ll come back to us.

    Honestly, you have to give it to the guy. He’s worked this gig pretty well, going through EDK, then ABL and now Freddie.
    He’s at the coasting point with a couple stable churners here, and now where he can chunk up a thread over hours old news he put on twitter this morning and he’ll still get 100+ comments/page clicks. About the stinky pockets of a dog he professed to hate for weeks on end.
    He doesn’t even need to toss up the Jesus Middle Finger picture any longer to generate “stickiness”.
    It’s pretty damned awesome when you consider it.

  35. 35.

    evap

    I highly recommend making pizza on the grill. Quick, delicious, and you don’t have to turn your kitchen into a sauna in order to get the oven hot enough.

  37. 37.

    trollhattan

    @gbear:

    Oh man that’s funny.

    Among bloggers I’d be afeared to take on in their own blogs, Tbogg would have to rank dang high on the list. (The list always has Edroso at the top FWIW.)

  38. 38.

    OzarkHillbilly

    now I have pills to give her. I told a neighbor this a bit ago, and she offered to teach me how to do it myself, but I made a command decision that this was something that was worth spending money on. Life is too short for me to spend one minute learning the proper technique for squeezing my dogs ass.

    I am still laughing….

  39. 39.

    Spiffy McBang

    @eastriver: He also routinely talks about being a fat 40-year-old man who lives with two dogs, a cat, and no mention of any woman-types. I love reading his posts, but those aren’t exactly the kind of specifics that lead to “I wanna be like him” emulation.

  40. 40.

    JGabriel

    I stopped reading this thread about 15-20 comments in, because I was getting too nauseous.

    .

  41. 41.

    gbear

    @trollhattan:

    But then I remember they harvest horse and bull semen and realize things could be much, much worse.

    I watched a friend of mine harvest horse semen (Yes, he did this professionally. There is a team of humans involved. He was the one in charge of the collection bag). It looked like it would be very easy to get hurt very badly if you didn’t know what you were doing – it happens so fast (there are no sweet nothings beforehand, no formal introductions).

  42. 42.

    Jenny

    @Erin:

    So it looks like Elizabeth Warren is definitely running for Senate. I live in MA. Does anyone know how to get involved in her campaign? I’ve never worked on one before (I was too young to vote).

    I liked the idea of Senator Warren. But then Jane Hamsher said Warren would be more useful as a citizen and not in the Senate.

    So based on Jane’s recommendation, I’m going to vote against her and for vote for the himbo.

  43. 43.

    trollhattan

    @Jenny:

    I liked the idea of Senator Warren. But then Jane Hamsher said Warren would be more useful as a citizen and not in the Senate.
    So based on Jane’s recommendation, I’m going to vote against her and for vote for the himbo.

    This snark’s so tasty I want to know what’s for dinner? Also, too, if Perry runs, will Scotty lend him the pink leather shorts?

  44. 44.

    Phyllis

    Family reunioning. I’ve fled to the safety of my hotel room for Braves baseball. But not before grinning and bearing dinner conversation about how great a Perry/Palin ticket would be. I did stir the pot a bit by suggesting it might be time for a woman prez, but they all agreed she needed the’experience’ of being VP first. Egad.

  45. 45.

    eastriver

    @Spiffy McBang:

    He often talks of lady friends, c’mon. JC is gettin’ himself some.

    You know, you’re right. I should lay the fuck off. Who am I to judge? Besides, he lives in West Virginny. If I lived there, I would sure as fuck drink in excess.

    Knock a couple back, JC. Have at it.

  46. 46.

    Anne Laurie

    Stay in that neighbor’s good graces, because dogs with this problem have an uncanny ability to stage “crises” at 11pm Saturday of a three-day weekend, or when your vet’s gone on vacation & the nearest professional assistance is an hour’s drive away.

    Although, if Rosie’s getting antibiotics / painkillers, sounds like her problem went beyond ‘impacted’ to ‘infected’, in which case amateur assistance wouldn’t be much help.

    The one other thing you might want to investigate is changing Rosie’s food. Our dog Flicker, whose gland-crises went from ‘occasional vet-visit nuisance‘ to ‘unpleasant twice-monthly household chore‘, also developed food allergies as she got older. The canine nutritionist who was among the dozen or so specialists treating Flicker in the last few months before her demise insisted that finding the right, non-reactive kibble would “greatly reduce” the impaction problem. Since Rosie’s still young-to-middle-aged, in small dog terms, and otherwise in good health, it would be worth the investment to — for instance — switch to corn-free kibble & treats, at least.

  47. 47.

    joes527

    Could we have a new foodie open thread. All the foodie talk in this particular thread is creeping me out.

  48. 48.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Spent all day on the yard.. teaching the boy how to edge, trim and sweep.

    Prolly gonna bake some chicken breasts and make some broccoli and cheese soup.

  49. 49.

    Constance

    And omigod if you are ever in the small room with your dog and the vet when the anal glands are expressed you will know why you made the correct decision never to learn. It is probably the most awful smell ever released into the atmosphere. Sorry if someone already covered this–I just got off work and haven’t had time to read the whole thread.

  50. 50.

    Brendancalling

    The boy-child and I are watching the final episode of the Key to Time series, while he eats quesadilla number 2 and a salad (how many 7 year old boys ask for more salad?). We’re getting ready for the Rust Riot in Peekskill NY, where the boy-child will join us onstage, his first time, to sing Louis Prima’s “Banana Split for my Baby”

  51. 51.

    Loneoak

    On the pizza front, I’d really recommend finding some 00 flour. I get it at Whole Paycheck, but it’s worth it for that once a month pizza. Also, I use 6″x6″ unglazed ceramic tiles in the bottom rack of the oven instead of a round stone–much easier to hit in a hot oven.

  53. 53.

    And Another Thing...

    @jeffreyw: I clicked your Pork Lo Mein the other day…oh, man just gorgeous food!! And fine photography too. Nice thing you got going on…

  54. 54.

    Worked2Death

    You only squeeze the anal glands of the ones you love.

    Love means never having to say squeeze harder.

  55. 55.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @gbear: In the realm of things you probably never wanted to know, the pros call it “collecting” rather than harvesting. And it’s worth the shipping money to see the look on the Fed Ex guy’s face when he asks what’s in the very cooled cylinder you just signed for and you answer “semen.”

  59. 59.

    Mustang Bobby

    I’m sitting on my folks’ back porch after a fantastic dinner of barbecued pork loin, sauerkraut, and potatoes; it’s a beautiful summer evening, the cicadas tuning up and the Tigers are playing in HD on the teevee (and holding their own against the Orioles), and then I stumble across EXPRESSING ANAL GLANDS.

    Check, please.

  61. 61.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @JGabriel:

    Too bad you didn’t make it to the pizza suggestion. Going from expressing anal glands to discussion about making pizza seems to be one of those timing problems that can make you feel ill.

  62. 62.

    eemom

    Um, Cole, you don’t have to “express” the things yourself, but you do need to stay on top of the problem so the dog doesn’t end up in pain so bad she can’t move, again.

    One of my beloved dear departed doggies had that problem, and IIRC it got to the point where they had to actually remove the anal glands.

    The symptoms should be visible long before it gets to the point that the glands become impacted — the doggie licking its butt all the time and “scooting” along the floor, for example. And yes, the foul odor.

  63. 63.

    Sko Hayes

    Listen, as a vet tech and a former groomer, I can assure you that if you don’t have a strong stomach, you don’t want to learn how to do it, and you don’t want to be around when it is done.
    Not only is it nasty, when you do it wrong it’s painful and can cause even more problems.
    Find a good groomer to do it for you.

  64. 64.

    becca

    Shoo-ey! Unclogging those glands is a stinky, messy job. Our dear departed JR, Albee (for the Keith-Albee theater in Huntington, WV) had the same problem. Not pleasant, but harmless for all but the queasy.

    Now I will roll out some sopapillas to fry up and stuff with chicken barbecue, cheese and coleslaw and a side of potato salad. Then homemade ice cream with buttered pineapple sauce.

  66. 66.

    Ruckus

    @metricpenny:
    Maybe that’s the Republicans’ problem too

    It’s not that their glands are full, it’s that they are just full of shit. In the first instance their shit doesn’t stink as much in the second everything they say and do is wrong.

  67. 67.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @eastriver:

    Who died and made you the moral police of BJ? We are all grown ups here and we will drink as much as we damn well please thank you very much.

  68. 68.

    debit

    I once scooted Luther off my lap by giving him a gentle push in the general vicinity of his butt area and managed to express his glands by accident. I didn’t mind the resultant smelly goo too much because it was hard to find underneath all my vomit.

  69. 69.

    eemom

    also too, if y’all need a nice gentle segue off this particular topic of conversation, we could begin by transitioning to breast milk. That too can be “expressed” –for example, by a drunk woman into the face of a hostile police officer. Dunno why that particular example just popped into my head.

  72. 72.

    eemom

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    thank you. Hate that self-righteous shit, which has been popping up more and more lately — usually from trolls like “eastriver” who never have anything to constructive to say in the first place.

  74. 74.

    bemused

    I have a pretty strong stomach but the alternating comments between yummy sounding food and anal gland odor is starting to mess with my appetite.

  75. 75.

    The Snarxist Formerly Known As Kryptik

    I know all too well the enjoyment of dealing with a dog that needs to have its anal glands expressed. Thankfully, it’s a fairly cheap process when you get the professionals to do it. At least it’s cheap for a toy poodle that’s maybe 6 pounds soaking wet.

  76. 76.

    Jager

    @gbear:

    My baby sis married a rancher…the first Christmas card they sent was a photo of the two of them dressed in scrubs, rubber gloves up to their shoulders wearing knee high rubber boots. They posed at the back of an Angus cow, my bro in law holding a huge syringe and my sis holding a stainless steel vessel containing ‘straws” of semen. The card read:

    Happy Holidays and much love from your AI team.

  77. 77.

    Rihilism

    Faint of heart, people? Stop reading.

    Funny story. My 18 yo cat Alex was having troubles with “passing”. I was unemployed and a vet visit was not in the cards, so I got him him into the bath tub and ran warm water, gently trying to get him to pass things. While I was down there in the vicinity, I felt a lump. Panicked (OH MY GOD A TUMOR!!!), I called a friend to help me out with a vet bill and got him into see someone.

    Get to the vet and the vet messes around down there and says his anal glands are impacted and proceeds to go to work. “And the lump?” I says. “Oh,” says the vet, “that’s the sheath covering his penis.”……

    BTW, Cole, I’ve taken to adding a little bit of canned pumpkin (fiber to bulk things up) to Alex’s soft food. Works pretty well but don’t use too much or it can cause constipation…

  78. 78.

    PsiFighter37

    I wish I didn’t google expression of glands. That’s just wrong, especially when I’ve had a few.

  81. 81.

    Gravenstone

    @debit: Okay, that just caused me to completely lose it to laughter. I imagine it was horrid to experience, but dayum…

  82. 82.

    PsiFighter37

    @Corner Stone: It’s goddamn tasty, and I wouldn’t have it any other way

    What up with all you people. I’m a long-time lurker and former uber-poster at GOS a few years back.

  83. 83.

    2liberal

    patriots and cardinals won last night. Just hoping for a steeler loss with an injury to Harrison to brighten up my evening !

  85. 85.

    Yutsano

    @ OO: Levy them all. Allah will know his own.

    @Bella: I used to work at a FedEx depot in a rural area. We used to have to prepare the horse semen shipments every weekebd. I learned they have stric shipping seasons and they insured the hell out of them. It was kinda interesting.

  86. 86.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Okay here is a weird thing for a Friday night. Every evening when I get home the dogs and the cats get treats. It is a nightly ritual that everyone enjoys, particularly the animals. Anyhoo I had coupons for B1G1 free for Rachel Ray’s Just 6 treats and because my local Food Lion had a B1G1Free sale they were actually paying me 1cent for every bag I took out of the store. Problem was the dogs wouldn’t eat them when I put them in their bowl, they would sort of sniff them and ignore them (not so the begging strips! Ha) Well this evening I grabbed a bag of the Rachael Ray treats and as I sat at my puter I fed them to the boxers one at a time and that appears to be the trick. When they are dumped in the bowl they are “ick” but when they are fed to them one at a time directly from the bag they are “yum”. Not sure what the dynamic is going on there but they love them when fed them one by one. Like I said “weird”.

  87. 87.

    James E. Powell

    I find it therapeutic to have, each day, one special moment to reflect upon something good. Today I was thinking how happy I am that Harold Ford, Jr., is not a senator.

  90. 90.

    JPL

    @gbear: I’m not sure if this comment has been highlighted but this person is ignorant

    My argument is based on the FDL mission statement below where it is pretty clear that TBogg does not have the messaging ability to viably contribute. His pathetically low readership numbers shown from very few commenting responses is a convincing statement to his relative worth in the art of blogging. He is apparently as incompetent at writing as he claims Tebow is at quarterbacking.

    This idiot has no clue that they are friends and when Jane’s cancer returned she spent time with them. What an as.shole.

  91. 91.

    PsiFighter37

    @Joel: You can also just eat a can of beans…at least from what childhood taught me.

    Harhar, I’m immature as hell

  94. 94.

    rikyrah

    I’m driving home. Get to a stoplight, and next to me is one of our Senior Citizens, driving a Chrysler from ‘ Back in the day’. It’s big, huge, convertable, with a trunk the size of a Mini Cooper. Couldn’t tell him anything. I just had to say ‘ go on, my Brotha’, cause nobody could tell him anything in that car of is. He winked at me, smiled and went on his merry way.

    You know how a man and his car just fit?

    the way that man was carrying that car as an extension of him, I just had to smile.

  95. 95.

    Yutsano

    @ Lilbrit: Becuz treaties from Mama ALWAYS taste bettah!

    There’s a whole canine psychology in play here. But that’s the gist of it.

  97. 97.

    PurpleGirl

    I don’t remember my friends’ dogs in Peekskill having a such a problem, but I’ll agree that if you don’t want to do it yourself, then yes, it makes sense to have it done by someone else. We all have limits to what we can do in such matters.

  98. 98.

    PsiFighter37

    @Paddy: I don’t even know who that is. I’m too old for this blogging shit, and I’m only in my mid-20s

    But if he makes cookies or brownies I’m in it to win it, in the words of our Secretary of State

  100. 100.

    JPL

    @Litlebritdifrnt: I just went back and read some of the comments and as shocking as that is on a previous thread someone complained because Doug posted so much. Who are these folks and although I’m excited there are so many new posters, they need to learn some manners.

    Also, too.. John does needs to watch the President greeting the Packers. link

  101. 101.

    Rick Massimo

    John, if you ever put “expressed her anal glands” and “homemade pizza” in the same post again I’m setting Firefox to block you.

  102. 102.

    cckids

    @bemused:

    I have a pretty strong stomach but the alternating comments between yummy sounding food and anal gland odor is starting to mess with my appetite.

    Man up. Do you have no children? Usually by the time they are self-feeding & toilet trained, everything else is meh. Takes more than this to ick us out.

  105. 105.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Yutsano:

    You are probably right, they probably think that they are the Cheetos that I feed them occasionally when I am munching on a bag, directly from Mum = good dumped in the bowl = bad.

  106. 106.

    JPL

    Dogs sometimes have problems with their glands..most of the time they are able to take care of it and other times they get impacted and have to visit the vet. Get over it. It’s not a big deal to anyone except Rosie who apparently picked up an infection. Poor Rosie.
    Since Miss Moxie can’t read, I can say that I had a SharPei that was the sweetest, smartest dog ever who had a problem with his glands. Get over it John, it is what it is…

    Pudge’s tail was up and curled so I could spot certain signs and brought him to the vet before it got bad. I don’t do that expelling stuff.

  107. 107.

    cckids

    Re: Rosie’s “issue”, our Pomeranian has to have this done every 6 weeks or so. First time we knew this, we’d had him less than a year & he had similar symptoms to Rosie, with a huge swollen area on his ass. 7 a.m. on Easter morning. Emergency vets are REALLY pricey on a a major holiday.

    We learned you can’t ignore it; Pixie’s took surgery that time. The vet gave us WAY more info than we needed about why he had to have the expressing done & the consistency of the stuff extracted. I’ve got a really strong stomach, but why go there?

  108. 108.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    When our late Raven got an anal carcinoma (cancer) I learned to do a lot of things that were not all that pleasant.

  112. 112.

    Worked2Death

    Do not search Youtube for anal glands.

    Yes, people will vid anything.

    You were warned.

  114. 114.

    Svensker

    So, what happens to dogs in the wild when no one takes them to the groomer to get their glands expressed? Is this a hazard of uber-civilization for dogs? I ain’t googling so don’t even try to make me.

  115. 115.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @Worked2Death: That’s right they do and it’s a great help so we know what to expect. I had to have a Cystoscopy and I went online to various message boards to get and idea of what it was. Fucking people were freaking out, “most painful thing I’ve ever had”. When I saw a video and knew what to expect I was fine. It wasn’t fun but it wasn’t all that bad.

  116. 116.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Joel:

    If I wanted to hear see anal glands expressed, I would have headed over to read something at RedState.

    Fix’t.

  117. 117.

    JPL

    As I was typing a comment mentioning the Falcons looking good, the Falcons turned the ball over and then didn’t cover the Miami receivers. UGH

  122. 122.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @Constance: It’s different now but 43 years ago where I was it was extremely primitive. They fertilized the paddies with human excrement and about this time of year it was pretty ripe all the time.

  123. 123.

    Cliff in NH

    How about I submit a selection of home made pizzas?

    The simplest one was the fav, videlia onions, Italian sausage and olives – and I didn’t get a pic of it. the others were great as well though.
    Home made Pizzas

    This is the dough, it’s really easy to handle, I recommend it:

    Pizza Dough From Naples

  124. 124.

    Constance

    @Svensker:
    I tried really hard to resist being boring as hell and talking about diet. Just couldn’t stop myself. Dogs in the wild don’t eat grain and corn and whatever else they put in many dog foods. And they might not live long enough to get impacted anal glands.

  126. 126.

    Ian

    @James E. Powell:

    Today I was thinking how happy I am that Harold Ford, Jr., is not a senator

    Even if he had only voted with the Ds 33% of the time it would still be better than Bob Corker.

    And Lieberman wouldn’t of had to be blown on as many important 60-40 votes as we had too do between 08-10

  128. 128.

    PurpleGirl

    @Litlebritdifrnt: When my friends tried to give their greyhounds stuff like pieces of broccoli stalks or carrots, etc., the dogs refused to eat. When I held the veggies and gave them the pieces, the veggies were now a treat and they would eat all the pieces I’d hold for them.

  129. 129.

    Marc

    Here’s a fun one: Sully, no longer content to gripe about universal health care or Social Security, posts an approving link on the “satiety and aimlessness” of the summer vacation.

    Post that from Provincetown, asshole.

  131. 131.

    karen marie

    Because no one else has mentioned it — dogs’ anal glands need to be checked and/or expressed every three months to avoid the kind of sad Rosie had today. My groomer does it as part of the bathing “package” which also includes cleaning the inside of my dog’s ears and cutting her toenails. It’s not that expensive to have it done by the vet but, if they’re full, it can be quite stinky and leave a bit of a mess on the dog’s back end, so it’s nice to have the groomer do it before bathing.

  132. 132.

    debit

    @Svensker: I don’t know about dogs, but for cats there isn’t usually an issue if the poop is hard enough. You see, it’s a scent marking thing; they poop, the poop is hard and expresses the glands from inside, squeezing out a little anal gland goo with every bowel movement. In the wild, their diet would be the very thing their system was designed for; it’s feeding them runny wet food that can cause insufficiently hard fecal matter and so, overfull anal glands. Aren’t you glad you asked?

    ETA: I know all this because our 21 year old cat has bowel issues and is prone to constipation, which means Metamucil (and sometimes enemas: ask me how!) which leads to loose stools and apparently this is how I spend my Friday nights now. :weeps:

  134. 134.

    becca

    @debit: I am the go-to person for nasty clean-ups. I spent one very long ’70’s summer working as a janitor at Cabell County State Hospital. The patients, who ranged from the criminally insane (a surprisingly clean and “safe” ward) to the profoundly impaired (who didn’t understand their own strength and really liked to play in their pee and poo).

    Vomit, hemorrhagic diarrhea, semen, whatever, all in a day’s work at 1.65 an hour.

  136. 136.

    Ash Can

    @PsiFighter37: I used to read DKos every day but fell out of the habit when the purity trolls got to be too much for me. I should check back, though. Bill in Portland ME alwaysnmade me laugh, and Haole in Hawaii’s photo diaries were breathtaking. I do miss those guys.

  138. 138.

    furioso ateo

    Currently taking baby steps towards starting a union at my workplace. First person I talked to about it said they were on board, so at least I’m not alone in this. Any BJers with advice or even just anecdotes about unions?

  139. 139.

    Ash Can

    (Oh, sure. I have to make typos now, when I’m on the I-Pad and don’t get the editing function. Poo.)

  140. 140.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @gbear:
    On one of the earlier threads, someone posted this, which talks about authoritarian thinking, defined as “the willingness to follow and/or enforce the authority of some group or institution.” It was describing how someone like this could hold two contradictory beliefs in their heads, and use them without seeing the contradiction. The article points to Fox news viewers, but I really do see that same behavior at FDL and DailyKos.

  141. 141.

    Woodrowfan

    I read “expressing Anal Glads” and thought “ANOTHER?!? post about the republican debate last night??”

  142. 142.

    CaseyL

    Cats also occasionally need to have their anal glands expressed.

    … so let’s hope His Tunchness never ever has that problem. Because we *so* do not want to have to go there; more to the point, I’m fairly certain Tunch’s doctor never ever wants to have to go there.

    Hope Rosie’s feeling better.

  143. 143.

    MikeJ

    @furioso ateo: Talk to the union that you would join if you had one. They have organizers who can answer questions, tell you how to get started, and give hints on flying under the radar so you don’t get fired for organizing.

  145. 145.

    Elliecat

    @debit:

    I know all this because our 21 year old cat has bowel issues and is prone to constipation, which means Metamucil (and sometimes enemas: ask me how!)

    So sorry to say: I know how! I once agreed to take on a cat who was hit by a car and lost his tail and ability to control of his bowels. Otherwise healthy and was happy outdoors, so I spent a few years feeding him psyllium powder in his food and doing the enema thing when that didn’t work (and once or twice the vet had to clear out the megacolon). Those were the days, my friend.

  146. 146.

    Yutsano

    @furioso: Have you contacted a union, especially one that works with your type of work? I’m in one and I personally love it. It’s just a matter of showing what solidarity can do for them. Ganbatte kudasai!

  149. 149.

    furioso ateo

    @MikeJ, Yutsano: I’d fall under the CWA, currently of Verizon Wireless Strike fame, and I’ve read some literature that they have available. It all seemed like solid advice, I guess I’m more asking for what people’s personal experiences are. I’m in Houston, TX doing this, so not much in the way of organizing around here.

    I might ask this question again if I can get in on the start of an open thread, just to hopefully get more reactions.

  150. 150.

    Elliecat

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): Yeah, too bad this cat didn’t know the meaning of the word! I was the last hope of his owners and the poor bastard tried to bite me when they introduced us, even though at that point it was me or the big litter box in the sky. He was lucky that I’m easy, I was happy to see him get a couple of good extra years of life. Though there were times during those enemas when I wondered why.

  155. 155.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @Elliecat: I’ve had one cat. Itty Bitty Kitty. We were taking him to the vet and my x was going to put him in a box. I said, “ah, no problem”. She took him in for shots and when she was walking out he scratched her and bolted. Never saw it again. Fucker could have done it on the way in so I didn’t have to pay for the shots!

  157. 157.

    JPL

    @Elliecat: I have several Progressive ads which is silly for me. I’ve used the same insurance company for forty years and my sons now use it so changing is unlikely.
    Tortoise could be people though. I’ll have to ask Mitt.

  158. 158.

    wrb

    @CaseyL:

    Cats also occasionally need to have their anal glands expressed.

    Them too?

    Now I see why there are English majors.

  159. 159.

    Steeplejack

    @Cole:

    I don’t know how you are enjoying the Steelers-Redskins game, but no doubt you are not watching it through an auditory fog of Joe Theismann commentary. God, what a tedious blowhard. Occasionally I am forced to switch to the Rays-Yankees game for a bit of relief.

  160. 160.

    MikeInSewickley

    I’m generally a lurker but read other blogs as well.

    BJ is my favorite blog because it mixes reality and great humor, warmth, and compassion with great “no prisoners – fuck you” political coverage.

    Please guys and gals, never change this format. I know this sounds like a complete suck-up but there it is.

  161. 161.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I have a technostupid question unrelated to either anal glands or pizza. It has to do with twitter.

    I am really not interested in establishing a twitter account or posting tweets of my own or anything like that, but it would be kind of fun to follow John Cole’s tweets (just to see what he’s not sharing with us on BJ if for no other reason).

    Is there a way to do this, or must I rely on the kindness of strangers?

  165. 165.

    MikeJ

    @Raven (formerly stuckinred): And if like me, you hate allowing javascript for sites that don’t really need it, you can read the same feed with a “mobile.” prepended to twitter.com and everything works as it should in a sane world.

    I don’t mind sites using javascript, all of mine do, what I mind is not having a sane fall back and completely breaking if people leave it turned off.

  166. 166.

    Raven (formerly stuckinred)

    @JPL: I just got the Big Ten Network and the 89 Illini-USC game with Jeff George and Tod Marinovich at QB. I watched this game in Destin on Labor Day and it was an amazing Illini win.

  167. 167.

    Jay in Oregon

    @gbear:

    That’s comedy gold. I’m trying to remember, is one of the “progressive values” that Hamsher and FDL promotes the one where you ally with Grover fucking Norquist to fight the Democratic agenda?

    You know, Grover fucking Norquist? The guy whose Taxpayer Protection Pledge is partially responsible for the debt ceiling clown show we had to live through? And get a do-over in the form of the Super Congress?

  169. 169.

    Mike in NC

    They called me, and apparently she had impacted anal glands.

    Probably explains a lot about Willard, too.

  175. 175.

    Paddy

    @Elliecat: Good lord, haven’t hear the word megacolon in ages. After the kitten that was born on my wedding day died from a lung tumor (tragic story, he was wonderful), we were paying off the vet bit by bit. Jeff went to the vets to make a payment and a kitten was being returned by adopters for the second time. Jeff fell in love, asked what his problem was (megacolon) and brought him home to me. I read up on it, and bi-weekly enemas became rout until he grew into his digestive system. The Iggster was a treasured friend and companion for 18 years. I still miss him.

  179. 179.

    Alex S.

    @freelancer:

    The movie is good, not quite movie-of-the-year material, but still… Also, check out the earlier works of that director. You’re in for a treat…

  182. 182.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    Rex Grossman for the ‘Skins has a big night against the ‘Stillers? WTF?, even if it is pre-season.

    Also too, I remember watching the James Harriott Yorkshire vet BBC shows — if a dog was trying to deal with impacted glands on its own, they called it “flop bot.”

  184. 184.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Anne Laurie: I liked this one: Dogs spraying a bottle full of sadness onto John Boehner’s grimacing face, snarling, “Like Niobe, all tears.”

  185. 185.

    Steeplejack

    @Catsy:

    Thanks for that link. It enabled me to find this American Airlines TV ad that really hit me last year (but which I couldn’t find on YouTube at the time). A self-congratulatory corporate message, I know, but done exceedingly well, and it nibbles around the edges of issues of class and race in an interesting way.

  186. 186.

    General Stuck

    Americans Still Don’t Blame Obama for Poor Economy. A new McClatchy-Marist Poll finds 68% of American adults believe the worst of the country’s economic conditions are yet to come but 59% still don’t blame President Obama for the nation’s current economic conditions and 61% think he inherited them.

    Fairly amazing. Teflon O

  187. 187.

    General Stuck

    About that disappointing stimulus bill and the long term financing of progressive causes, I keep preaching about. And Obama’s doing shit for the environment.

    I know President Obama is supposed to be an awful disappointment to environmentalists because he doesn’t talk enough about climate change, just like he’s an awful disappointment to progressives because he doesn’t say enough nasty things about bankers. But people who actually care about what Presidents do, as opposed to how they talk, might be interested in Obama’s trip to Michigan on Thursday. He’s visiting a factory that builds batteries for electric vehicles, a factory that exists for three reasons: 1. Because Obama saved the U.S. auto industry. 2. Because Obama has ratcheted up fuel-efficiency standards, boosting demand for green vehicles. 3. Because Obama created a U.S. advanced battery industry from scratch.

    Anyway, the pathetically tiny stimulus included an unprecedented $90 billion for clean-energy investments, including unprecedented investments in wind, solar and geothermal energy, biorefineries, the smart grid, electric vehicles, and factories to manufacture all that green stuff in the U.S. The most radical investment was probably a $2.4 billion grant program that helped finance 30 factories building advanced batteries and components, including $300 million for Johnson Controls, which had to match the government dollars with private dollars.

  188. 188.

    Elie

    @CaseyL:

    Trust me, when stressed, cats will sometimes evacuate their OWN anal glands. Buddy has done that twice at the vet — and believe me, its memorable for all the same reasons that one does not want anything to do with it for dogs. PeeYOU!!!Yikes! talk about clearing out a room…

    Fortunately, this has not been an ongoing problem, but its definitely not something that you can ignore…

  190. 190.

    Lyrebird

    @Erin: In case you read all the way down here, since no one answered that I saw…

    Have you read her posting on Blue Mass Group? A few other folks are leaving comments (often without contact info…) saying they’d like to volunteer. Advice from me: if you can get to the North Shore BBQ thing (in first few comments), go there, meet other politically active folk.

    Could also send a physical-paper (snail mail) to Prof. Warren (faculty are reachable by and large) with your message and your direct contact info.

    I’ve only done a little campaign work (Kerry mostly, helped carry the county but not the state, cry…), but from what I’ve seen, people who come ready to work/fetch/canvass/distribute/whatever get put to work, and people who deliver get asked to do more responsible things. If ya really want to do more, you should like caffeine and chaos more than I do…

    best wishes!

  195. 195.

    CynDee

    The educational value of this blog is enormous: every pet owner should know about the topic being discussed above.

    And.
    The entertainment value of this blog is BEYOND COMPARE.

  196. 196.

    caune

    My Jack has his anal glands expressed by the Vet every 3 months or so. The Vet offered to teach me too and even when I was unemployed I paid the 25 bucks he charges because, one, I love my dog and don’t want to hurt him, and two, I love my dog but I don’t want to touch him there LOL

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