Anal Gland Problem

[InspectorRex]

Stitch, has your Vet even mentioned referring you to an Internal Medicine Vet? I ask this as there is Irritable Bowel Syndrome and there is Inflammatory Bowel Disease- this one can be only diagnosed by endoscope.

My late Ch Bitch, Maggie( Rough Collie), had IBD diagnosed by Endoscope performed by an internal medicine specialist. She never got the anal gland issues that your are having. I had to feed her on boiled turkey mince and mashed potato and she was put on a small course of prednisolone. We also tried I/d and the other prescription diets and even tried complimentary medicine. For Maggie her case was severe and nothing was working and we had to give her her winga at age 7.5 years.

I myself have IBD so I know exactly how your furkid feels. With me my food range is very limited.

A lot of it is trial and error. if it were me I would be asking for a referral to an internal medicine specialist to see your furkid.

Please keep us up to date and paws and fingers crossed here .

[Staff'n'Toller]

If I just leave her on the Hills I/D she is a happy camper, apart from the anal gland thing.

And that's fair enough .

Out of curiousity, what is the protein source used in Hills I/D?

It's turkey and egg.

Stitch: You can have them surgically removed, there can be complications but with a Vet who is very confident in doing them, there are generally no problems. All the surgeries I have seen no dogs have had faecal incontinence. Including one of my own who had one gland removed due to a tumour in the anal gland.

Edited November 22, 2009 by Staff'n'Toller

[Stitch]

That's very interesting info. and I will keep it in mind - thank you all very much.

At the moment I am following the principle of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.

I will be guided by how she gets on, if the pumpkin or the psyillum works. I am also quite happy to continue to empty the anal glands myself as long as the IBS (or IBD) stays under control.

If she gets any worse I will go for the endoscope option - I have found an internal medicine specialist not too far away and will go there if necessary but I really don't want to put her through anything intrusive unless it is absolutely necessary.

I am just sorry that it took so long for the vet (and myself) to give her relief.

Thing is for dogs you tend to think that the occasional vomit or diahorrea is just something that they ate in the paddock that they shouldn't have. I now have a totally different slant on things and consider that if a dog doesn't have a settled gut for 99% of the time then there is something that needs to be investigated and/or new food tried.

[InspectorRex]

If you do have the endoscope done at least you will know for sure whether or not you are dealing with IBS or IBD- two totally different conditions.

My girl bounced back well from the endoscope but she was severely affected with the IBD and we could no longer so her suffer. She would eat her food and get weak in the legs and then you could hear her tummy gurgle away and you knew what was going to happen next.

She was my Heart Dog so it was very sad to see her so ill.