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View Full Version : If it's not one dog it's another - Anal glands!



ChristyA
09-20-2009, 07:26 PM
Hey everyone,
Dexter had a terrible time with his anal glands. He was the first dog I had that had this smelly problem, I've had dogs since I was a young child and never knew of this problem.

Now I have Erik, when I got him I really didn't even think about anal glands being a problem - he's having surgery tomorrow to have them removed. OMG do they cause a huge stink :eek:

Then don't you know it, tonight, the night before Erik's surgery, LuLu is in the living room bent up like a donut licking her behind, smelling like a dead fish.:eek::confused::eek:

I'm going to ask the vet if he offers a discount for 2 surgeries. I'm not worried about him doing the surgery, he's done 3 of his own dogs, 2 of his staff's dogs, my dentist's dog, and many more. The cost is high, so I guess this is Christmas, anniversary, Valentine Day, and birthday all rolled into 2 dogs.

Wish us good smelling luck!:o
Christy

frijole
09-20-2009, 07:44 PM
:eek::eek::eek::eek:
Good luck! My moms dog just had em removed. She was getting sick (vomiting) which I guess is common. I'm sure you will be glad you had it done. Keep us posted on how it goes. Best, Kim

MiniSchnauzerMom
09-20-2009, 08:45 PM
Christy,

Good luck with Eric and Lulu's surgery. Keeping my fingers crossed both furkids will both be smelling "sweet as flowers" real soon. :D

Louise

ChristyA
09-20-2009, 09:46 PM
:eek::eek::eek::eek:
Good luck! My moms dog just had em removed. She was getting sick (vomiting) which I guess is common. I'm sure you will be glad you had it done. Keep us posted on how it goes. Best, Kim

I'm hoping it all turned out fine for your mom's dog, no problems? I did read that a change in diet can help. This one lady had Great Danes she gave them dried pitted prunes and it helped. I'm going to try that with LuLu and hopefully it will help her. She just suddenly had this happen. Erik did get sick and started throwing up recently due to his problem.
Thanks,
Christy

SasAndYunah
09-21-2009, 01:16 AM
Hi Christy,

You've been lucky not having to deal with anal glands untill now :D Most of my former dogs had anal glands "problems". Sogno, Cukie, Pascha...and now Panda, the foster, as well. Since long I've learned to express them manually and it works well. Only Sogno, with his bowel disease (and thus constant soft stools) had them actually infected from time to time. Surgery should be the final option in treating anal gland problems. So I wonder how much problems Eric had in the sense of if he had many infections, had the anal glands flushed, etc. Otherwise I would just ask the vet to teach you how to express the anal glands yourself. (and certainly with Lulu, who just now had this for the first time, I would not resort to surgery right away)

After a period of soft stools, due to a bowelvirus or an antiobiotics course, it's quite normal the dog can't fully express the anal glands. Once the stools improve again, the anal gland problem will go away again. Other things that should be ruled out first (that mimic anal gland problems) are tapeworms. allergy and perianal fistulas.

Good luck with Eric and his surgery today...

Saskia and Yunah :)

frijole
09-21-2009, 07:51 AM
I'm hoping it all turned out fine for your mom's dog, no problems? I did read that a change in diet can help. This one lady had Great Danes she gave them dried pitted prunes and it helped. I'm going to try that with LuLu and hopefully it will help her. She just suddenly had this happen. Erik did get sick and started throwing up recently due to his problem.
Thanks,
Christy

Dog is doing just fine now. Keep us posted and good luck. Kim

labblab
09-21-2009, 08:23 PM
Hi Christy,

I've been thinking of Eric all day and hoping that all has gone well. We'll surely be anxious to read your update...

Big (((pats))) to our patient!
Marianne

frijole
09-21-2009, 08:34 PM
Me too! Kim

ChristyA
09-21-2009, 09:42 PM
Erik is home and resting. The vet said it was a good thing he took them out, very gross details I will spare you. He said Erik will feel so much better now.

The vet said Erik did poop while he was there after the surgery and it was all working the way it should. He can't play with LuLu today, maybe tomorrow they can be in the house together but not outside yet. LuLu walked around crying all day today until Erik got home. Then she was a happy little camper.

Isabelle (the boss of applesauce) and I said a prayer this morning for a good outcome.

Thanks for listening (reading):p. I don't get to reply often because of school, I am so busy with homework. Why didn't I do this when I was 18 like everybody else?

Thanks,
Christy
I'll post some pics soon.

Roxee's Dad
09-21-2009, 09:49 PM
Hi Christy,
Glad Erik is home and doing fine. Nice to see Lulu is very happy to have Erik home too.
:D:):D

Carol G
09-21-2009, 10:15 PM
I'm so happy to hear Erik is doing well. I bet the boss of applesauce is getting big -- I always loved the picture of her with Dexter.

Carol & Atty and always Winnie & McGill

labblab
09-21-2009, 10:17 PM
YAY! I'm so glad Erik is home and all is well. Christy, thanks for taking the time to let us know, and I'll be looking for those pictures! :) ;)

Marianne

ChristyA
09-24-2009, 04:54 PM
Erik is doing well. His stitches bother him but they will be out in another 7 days. He did get razor burn really bad. I don't know what to put on it, the vet said, "don't worry he'll be fine", yeah I know that but I'd like to make him not so miserable. If anyone knows of anything that will help the razor burn please let me know.
Thanks,
Christy

BestBuddy
09-24-2009, 05:52 PM
You will need to be careful but a little smear of aloe vera would probably be very soothing.
Jenny

acushdogsmom
09-24-2009, 06:03 PM
Christy,

Glad to hear that Erik is doing well. :) Please ask your vet if this is okay before you try it, but I'm guessing that it should be. When my boy's skin was rubbed pretty red and raw by the bandaging on his leg after a surgery, our Vet told us that we could apply some "Zincofax" diaper rash ointment/cream to soothe the area ... and it worked really well. The medicinial ingredient in Zincofax is zinc oxide. Zincofax may be a Canadian brand, but I'll bet that there's a diaper rash cream/ointment that you can get at your local pharmacy that would also have zinc oxide as the soothing "medicinal" ingredient in it.

AlisonandMia
09-25-2009, 12:51 AM
Pawpaw or papian ointment is good too - very soothing.

Alison

gpgscott
09-25-2009, 05:13 PM
Christy,

I am sorry I missed this whole issue.

I am glad Erik is doing well and hope the advice given has helped.

I have no advice, but I will be sending my healing thoughts in Erik's way.

Scott

ChristyA
09-26-2009, 07:19 PM
Thanks to everyone here. My regular vet is closed on Fri. & Sat. (time for a new vet) so I ended up taking Erik to a vet in town that mainly does low cost spay/neuter and shots. He retired 10 yrs ago, now he's bored and back in business. He's not in business to make a big profit, believe it or not. He was working with some rescue organizations and realized there are many people that just can't afford to get their animals spayed/neutered and shots, so he un-retired.

Anyway he gave me an antihistamine to help with the itching of the rash and some spray. Erik is much better today already.

Thank you again,
Christy

Roxee's Dad
09-26-2009, 08:50 PM
Very glad that Eric is now doing well. :D:D:D

I hate razor burn! :mad::mad::mad: