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OK we've had "Piper", a lab/shepard mix for about 4.5 years. We got her when she was around 6 months old, which makes her around 5 now.
For the first couple years we had zero problems with her. We fed her Beneful food. Every now and then she would "fart" and we thought it was just her letting go. No big issues, just once every few weeks or months.
About 2 months ago, she started doing it more often. It got to the point where she was leaving spots on the floor. We went to the vet who expressed her anal glands, and we learned that her "farting" was in fact her anal glands expressing. We also switched over to a Nutro brand food, thinking it was better than the Beneful stuff.
About 1 week later she contracted Pankcreatitus (sp?) from a thanksgiving meal. Thankfully she recovered nicely. We switched to an all-natural low fat diet to prevent it from reoccuring, from the makers of Blue Buffalo food. It is rated highly.
However we brought her back to the vet two weeks later because her anal glands were "leaking" again (this is beginning of January) and they discovered her anal glands were in fact infected, gave her antibiotics, and sent us home. This is around 1/10/09.
Now 2 weeks later she is having the same problems. Brought her in again on 1/26/09, prescribed more anti-biotics due to some blood in the anal glands when they were expressed again. Also given Prednizone (sp?) to help with the allergy. The vet thinks it might be an allergy so we are currently using a Hill's/Science Diet ZD Ultra hypoallergenic food. At $65/18lbs it's quite pricey, but hey if it works.
After $2000 in medical bills over the past 2 months we are exactly where we started, she's still on antibiotics and prednizone but her glands are starting to leak again. She's on super-expensive hypo-allergenic food. Nothing seems to be helping. Her stools have been mostly hard. We are lost, and so is the vet. Surgery is an option I am told but quite frankly we have other things to spend that money on besides fixing our dog, as much as we love her.
Any thoughts before we give up, and have to put her down?
That's a possibility too. I guess I didn't think anyone would want a dog that potentially needed expensive surgery that could leave the dog incontinent.
Dogs don't fart due to their anal glands. She probably needs to have her expressed every few weeks. My dog used to need it every month. It's very easy. You can do it yourself at home.
What type of allergy is she having? Skin allergy? I would probably switch to an all natural homemade diet and skip the yearly vaccinations as well.
I would not put a dog on prednisone. It's a powerful drug with a lot of bad side effects.
But other than that, it sounds like what you really want is a low-maintenance dog and this one is more than you've bargained for.
Dogs don't fart due to their anal glands. She probably needs to have her expressed every few weeks. My dog used to need it every month. It's very easy. You can do it yourself at home.
What type of allergy is she having? Skin allergy? I would probably switch to an all natural homemade diet and skip the yearly vaccinations as well.
I would not put a dog on prednisone. It's a powerful drug with a lot of bad side effects.
But other than that, it sounds like what you really want is a low-maintenance dog and this one is more than you've bargained for.
I think rehoming might be the best idea.
I don't think you completely read my whole post. But thanks for the info. We've spent $2,000 and the dog is still having problems and irritated. We want to fix this but be able to pay our mortgage at the same time.
I don't think you completely read my whole post. But thanks for the info. We've spent $2,000 and the dog is still having problems and irritated. We want to fix this but be able to pay our mortgage at the same time.
Okay, the vet thinks the anal gland issue is linked to a food allergy? I've never heard of that.
Diarrhea and passing gas could be colitis or IBS or intestinal worms. Anyway, there's a whole series of steps you go through to rule all these things out first. Prednisone is a LAST RESORT.
Has your dog been tested for worms? Have you given the dog Panacur to treat worms? Flagyl to treat Giardia? Have you tried Tylan powder, an antibiotic for treating diarrhea? And what tests have been done to diagnose pancreatitis?
Have you considered trying another vet? Someone who specializes in internal medicine? I'm a little bit concerned that your vet is telling you that the farting sound is coming out the anal glands.
I'm also confused about the link between an anal gland infection, pancreatitis, and food allergies. These seem to be very separate things. Also, pancreatitis is usually something you see in older dogs. So you have two separate things going on here: 1) an infection of some sort with the anal glands, and 2) some sort of bowel upset.
I like the idea of infusing the glands with panalog. It's cheap and easy to do. I don't like the idea of giving the dog prednisone. It suppresses the immune system.
Another thing I want to mention is that with GSD breeds, there is a tendency toward anal fissures, and you want to watch out for this.
W.
Last edited by Woof Woof Woof!; 02-02-2009 at 05:28 PM..
What we thought was farting was the anal glads expressing. We know that our dog isn't farting anymore after the 1st visit to the vet. They did a gamut of tests when she was diagnosed with pancreatis, I believe what confirmed it was a blood test. Since then she's had 2 more and they were negative, so we know that is over and done with. She was hospitalized for 2 days and kept on IV's.
No diarrhea or gas, just anal glands that continue to leak even while on medicine. The vet did mention infusing the anal glands originally with antibiotics however she said the dog would have to be asleep for the procedure (does this sound right?). They've done several anal exams and so far have just seen infected anal glands, no sign of anything else or cancer.
I was wondering if others have had the same issue and if they found a supplement that prevented the problem. Otherwise we are off to UNC's vet clinic. I love our dog but also want to be able to eat too, ya know?
To add: there was no connection between anal glands and pancreatitus that we know of. They both just cropped up at the same time. The pancreatitus is non-issue, it's been treated and is over and done with. So we are now dealing with the anal glands, however I wanted to stay on a lower-fat diet because of the chances of pancreatitus reoccuring with higher fat foods. Apparently allergies can make the anal glands over-reactive making them produce more "stuff", causing them to fill up quickly. That is their thought any way.
I was wondering if others have had the same issue and if they found a supplement that prevented the problem. Otherwise we are off to UNC's vet clinic. I love our dog but also want to be able to eat too, ya know?
I don't think anyone on this message board can really help you. We are not vets. And even if we were, we can't see your dog, and we don't have the tests to review. You haven't even mentioned what tests were done.
You seem reluctant to take any information here as the basis for any further research or attempts at fixing your dogs problem. Shroom mentioned infusing the glands, and you don't want to do that either.
It appears you've made your mind up already. It sounds like you just came here so you could say, "I even tried posting on a message board but that didn't work" as a way of justifying having to put your dog down.
You say you love your dog, but your actions speak otherwise. You owe it to your dog to at least make a few phone calls to try and rehome her or put an ad on craigslist.
If you decide to take cheap route and put her down, I really hope you don't run out and get another dog.
W.
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