anal glands infection

[PitbullLover*]

so my GSD has her anal glands infected, she will be at the (high end) clinic this wednesday to get it checked out, we have to make a special appmt because my dog is very fearful and in pain (which causes fear biting) and has to be sedated if the vet wants to take a look at it. I've been at battle with my GSD Dana for almost a year now, another vet told me that most likely part of her anus is paralysed so that's why she can't poop anymore and she gets ''ispaghula'' which is a supplement. This now made the problem worse because she has her anal glands infected... before i used this supplement she used her tail to ''chop'' the poop sorta speak, sorry for the gross explanation, anyway that resulted in little cuts above her tail...i don't know what to do anymore. this dog also suffered from allergy's and she was on a special diet which resulted in no poop and good skin, now she has normal ''royal canin'' and she can poop but huge allergy problems too I tried fresh meat but she refuses to eat it, and she threw up constantly. I now have to wash my dog's butt twice a day because she stinks so bad. I see the sadness in her eyes Her organs got checked out that's all good. Does anyone know what i can do with her? should i let her poop be checked out? what should i ask the vet to do? does anyone know what this could be? One woman who had het pet at the vet thought it might be Giardia or something, but shouldn't my other dog be infected or sick? Also the reason for switching vets is because my first and regular vet wanted to do another exam using hands in my dogs ...butt that was such a trauma i don't want that anymore, which she then suggested to open my dog up and look if she could find ''something'' i thought that was strange so i declined, now i go to a expensive clinic. I would do anything for her, like alot of overwork

Any suggestions or help would be so appreciated

[Misskiwi67]

I meant to edit and quoted myself instead - see the second post.

[Misskiwi67]

A veterinarians best tool is their hands. A rectal exam is ESSENTIAL to a proper examination of a dog with any sort of rectal problem. I would be dissappointed to see a veterinarian skip this portion of the exam, its a sign of a good doctor. If your dog requires sedation, so be it.

Unless you want to take your dog to a university hospital for a $2500 CT scan, your dog needs a rectal exam.


Your dog should also have a fecal flotation, a giardia test, and a thorough neurologic exam. It would be silly to miss something that could be fixed, so its better to be thorough. The neurologic exam will involve testing reflexes etc, and may be extremely difficult due to your dogs temperament. It cannot be done under sedation.

Allergies are complicated and frustrating, and 90% of them are NOT diet related. Talk to your vet about long-term options for controlling allergies, or better yet, getting your dog tested so you know what she is allergic to. Your dog may need to be on low-dose steroids and some heavy duty antibiotics for a long time if the problem is as bad as it sounds, but your veterinarian will not know until they get a better look at your dog.

Opening the dog up to get biopsies is the only way to definitively diagnose some diseases, like cancer and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Both of these could be the reason your dog is having so many problems defecating. From your story, this could very well become necessary in the future.

In all honesty, it sounds like you had a good veterinarian. I hope your visit with a new veterinarian gives you some answers. Do not be surprised if you hear the same recommendations again. Sometimes it helps to hear things from more than one doctor so you know you are doing the right thing.

Lasly, if your dog is sad and miserable all the time and you are unable to find a solution, it may also be time to consider euthanasia. Dogs know when they are a burden to their families...

[PitbullLover*]

A veterinarians best tool is their hands. A rectal exam is ESSENTIAL to a proper examination of a dog with any sort of rectal problem. I would be dissappointed to see a veterinarian skip this portion of the exam, its a sign of a good doctor. If your dog requires sedation, so be it.

After having those exams over and over again with the same result, saying its all good. while the dog is screaming in pain is not something i would consider letting that to again not without sedation...

Unless you want to take your dog to a university hospital for a $2500 CT scan, your dog needs a rectal exam.

at this point i am even considering this, and a good specialist, but that would mean i have to cross the border to germany.

Your dog should also have a fecal flotation, a giardia test, and a thorough neurologic exam. It would be silly to miss something that could be fixed, so its better to be thorough. The neurologic exam will involve testing reflexes etc, and may be extremely difficult due to your dogs temperament. It cannot be done under sedation.

I will certaintly go for a fecal exam, that did not happen yet, only intensive blood work which showed that all the organs are working great, which was a suprise i would have thought something like that could have been the problem. I've heard giardia multiple times, and the symptoms look like it, but for now it looks just one problem caused multiple problems. It won't be a problem to do neurologic exams just not exams that come close with her butt because that makes her panic instantly, she's been abused.

Allergies are complicated and frustrating, and 90% of them are NOT diet related. Talk to your vet about long-term options for controlling allergies, or better yet, getting your dog tested so you know what she is allergic to. Your dog may need to be on low-dose steroids and some heavy duty antibiotics for a long time if the problem is as bad as it sounds, but your veterinarian will not know until they get a better look at your dog.

They are very complicated, i suffer from them myself. I will talk about long-term options, i did not know it was possible to test for allergies when it comes to dogs. She did have antibiotics for 7 days and she could poop again and her happiness returned, but the vet refused to give her antibiotics for a longer period of time because he said that it couldn't help.

Opening the dog up to get biopsies is the only way to definitively diagnose some diseases, like cancer and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Both of these could be the reason your dog is having so many problems defecating. From your story, this could very well become necessary in the future.

I read about a special kind of inflammatory bowel disease in german shepards and for a while i thought that she has this, but no diagnose yet.

I just contacted the clinic and made a apptmt for tomorrow afternoon and they made special time for me and the dog so they have all the time to do a exam, if need be under sedation. I truly hope that this will clear things up whats going on with my baby. I have not had the strength yet to think about putting her to sleep, first i want to try anything and it won't matter how much money its going to cost. Well she isn't always sad, but at times when she cannot poop and tried so hard during a walk then she's really sad, and tired. I just don't get what's wrong with her, and it kills me.

[PitbullLover*]

excuse my spelling errors i'm really upset

[PitbullLover*]

I forgot to add that this problem started 1 year ago when my dog was having diarrhea and she got medication against it from the vet two times a day two tablets off ''diarstop LD'' and after that she never pooped again.

[dogs4jen]

Have you thought about having her anal sacs surgically removed, if that's what is causing the problems?

[Misskiwi67]

has your dog had x-rays yet? If noy, I would add this to the list of things to do.

The special german shepherd digestive disease you heard about is called Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency. A blood test called a TLI is the test to do to diagnose or rule out this disease. This generally causes severe gas and soft stools, so I don't know if its the problem, but its never wrong in a german shepherd to test for it because its very common in that breed.

[PitbullLover*]

Her symptoms are,
constantly trying to poop (when doing so she's in pain), which results in nothing being ''produced''
she can go days without pooping and some days she poops so much from all the days she didn't poop
gasses lots of gasses
loose type of poop which comes out in small proportions
she loses ''water'' like poop from her butt constantly which causes me to wash her rear twice a day.
her poop sometimes contains blood and mucous
The poop really smells...not a smell like normal poop
her stomach constantly makes noises.
frequently she has (high) fevers
her anus looks like its ''swollen''
little cuts where her tail starts (close to her anus)

She did not have x-rays yet, I will do those tomorrow and also will ask for the TLI test to rule that out. I also looked around on the internet and the symptoms are consistant with inflammatory bowel disease. actually its so accurate that it looks unlikely that this is not the cause of the problem

I read here........
http://www.2ndchance.info/inflambowel.htm

Have you thought about having her anal sacs surgically removed, if that's what is causing the problems?

Actually i thought about it and if they are so infected tomorrow i will make a vet apptmt and let them be removed, my parents former two German shepards actually had this and they were also removed I don't think they are the start of the problem though i think its intestinal.

[starrlamia]

have you tried a probiotic suppliment? It wont cure anything but it might help ease her tummy, poor girl, i hope you get it figured out soon!

[IloveBlu]

Wow, I feel so sad for your pup (and you)

I can't say I completely understand, but I can relate to the heartache and frustration of having a chronically unwell pet.

She's lucky to have you. I really, really hope you find some solutions for her.

Also, if antibiotics make her better, and she's otherwise miserable, why can't she have them constantly?? I would be PISSED if my vet wouldn't let me at least temporarily treat with a medication that proved to help a painful and serious condition.

[Misskiwi67]

Her symptoms do sortof match severe IBD, but to be honest I've never seen a dog that uncomfortable from IBD.

Her symptoms much more closely match a rectal tumor... the more I read the more I think your pup may need surgery if you don't find anything on bloodwork or x-rays.

[MarMar]

Is this the same dog you posted about here:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=148486&p=1950119#p1950119
?

Perianal fistulas, from what I understand, are quite different than anal gland infections.
http://www.acvs.org/AnimalOwners/Health ... lasinDogs/

Has she been under treatment for fistulas? I've only seen one dog with this disease, he was a gorgeous boy but it was very very painful that I remember.

[PitbullLover*]

have you tried a probiotic suppliment? It wont cure anything but it might help ease her tummy, poor girl, i hope you get it figured out soon!

I've tried probiotic which my vet gave me, and she said i should try normal yogurt which i did but it only resulted in more watery ''poop'' and still she cannot poop.

Wow, I feel so sad for your pup (and you)

I can't say I completely understand, but I can relate to the heartache and frustration of having a chronically unwell pet.

She's lucky to have you. I really, really hope you find some solutions for her.

Also, if antibiotics make her better, and she's otherwise miserable, why can't she have them constantly?? I would be PISSED if my vet wouldn't let me at least temporarily treat with a medication that proved to help a painful and serious condition.

thank you, its been really hard to she that she is so uncomfortable...and likely in pain. It breaks my heart. Today at the vet i'm not going away with antibiotics and steriods, and some painkillers. I will also switch her food again in totally fresh meat, even though it will cause her to throw up. Or she won't try to eat it at all, i'm sure if a dog is hungry she will eat....

Her symptoms do sortof match severe IBD, but to be honest I've never seen a dog that uncomfortable from IBD.

Her symptoms much more closely match a rectal tumor... the more I read the more I think your pup may need surgery if you don't find anything on bloodwork or x-rays.

I hope that today the x-rays, bloodwork, and they can scan her belly. I truly hope its not a tumor.... but i've prepared myself for the worse because i know it doesn't sound good at all. I will look up the symptoms of a rectal tumor. My father actually is a sufferer of chronic collitis and he said that his symptoms seem to match my dog's....

Is this the same dog you posted about here:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=148486&p=1950119#p1950119
?

Perianal fistulas, from what I understand, are quite different than anal gland infections.
http://www.acvs.org/AnimalOwners/Health ... lasinDogs/

Has she been under treatment for fistulas? I've only seen one dog with this disease, he was a gorgeous boy but it was very very painful that I remember.

Its the same dog, but (another) vet told me that its not perianal fistulas (?) because her cuts are above her tail close to her anus and not in the ''normal'' place where you would expect it. She has had antibiotics (7 days) for it, and i had to clean her butt twice a day and put cream on it, but it didn't work at all, cuts are still there which is to be expected since she still uses her tail to get rid of her poop.

I'm really nervous for the apptmt later today i haven't slept at all and my heart feels heavy. As soon as i've had the apptmt i will post what my (new) vet said, and what plan we came up with on how to proceed.

[Misskiwi67]

It could very well be perianal fistulas too, that would fit the symptoms as well, and the treatment is steroids so don't turn your nose up at them (you said you wouldn't walk away with that as a treatment, it IS the treatment). It will actually take LOTS of steroids, for life. Sometimes you can control it with other medications long-term (azathioprine and cyclosporine), but the first 2-3 months require high doses of steroids while the other medications take effect. This is another very common disease in German Shepherds.

I hope your vet visit is enlightening and you get some answers.