Danny's Butt

[SunDance]

Some of you may have read in the Galliprant thread that Dan developed an impacted/infected anal gland....I'm thinking the soft stools from the ursodiol he'd been put on at least exacerbated things. No doubt the return to nice stools put normal pressure on his glands and sped things along.

So….

He was minimally expressed yesterday and goes back Monday for a check and evaluation for further physical intervention or to just let his Galliprant and Clavamox continue on their week's long prescription.

His poops have been normal with no evident discomfort....but the Drama Queen was still hanging around.

He didn't appreciate Bob picking him up to get into the car for a trek to the park and was obviously really uncomfortable on the way up the driveway. We stopped so that he could take care of any business he'd declined to acknowledge when we first walked out of the house. I encouraged him to jump out himself and promised to catch him on the way out....I swear he knew what I meant because he wouldn't just jump out on his own (he knows he's not supposed to do that).

He had a decent poop....but everything else exploded. Oh. My. Gosh. I knew he'd been minimally expressed (the best the vet could do between the plug...and it had started a second opening...and the histrionics) but I had no idea a gland could contain so much liquid.

I let him jump into the car by himself and we headed off for a short walk in the park. Oh, that back seat throw....definite signs of carnage.

So we get back home....so glad I'd bought that collapsible x-pen and soft e-collar (one that attaches to a collar)….and sequestered the little guy so that the entire house wouldn't look like the car's back seat. We had to go back out.

I don't think he moved the entire time we were gone and there was only one smudge on the throw that I'd taken out of the car and folded so that only clean areas were showing. I took another warm water paper towel to his little butt and it looked like maybe the worst of the explosion was over (maybe only until the next poop).

Still with me?

The main point for my post right now is to share something cool. This dog is the one who normally has a coat that smells like brown sugar. It was more pronounced when he was younger but it's still there.

His anal secretion doesn't smell. Seriously. A faint hint of the blood in there and that's it. We've had dogs with anal gland issues of different types before and I know what that's supposed to smell like.

That's my boy.

[smartrock]

Oh my- what an experience! His hind end probably feel much better with the pressure relieved. I'm glad he still smells acceptable- that could be really nasty! I hope he's not developing a fistula, sometimes they're hard to get healed up. My daughter's dog had one and she was referred to the vet practice's "butt expert".

[SunDance]

Oh my- what an experience! His hind end probably feel much better with the pressure relieved. I'm glad he still smells acceptable- that could be really nasty! I hope he's not developing a fistula, sometimes they're hard to get healed up. My daughter's dog had one and she was referred to the vet practice's "butt expert".

I mentioned fistula yesterday and the vet said no....whew. I'd heard how awful those are. I'm hoping this remains no worse than what's anticipated....i.e., that the meds will be all that's necessary. The vet mentioned sedating him and inserting some antibiotics into the gland if the meds aren't enough.

I don't know if the sedation would be necessary for normal dogs but Dan's definitely one who freaks out with personal things. They did say how well behaved he was....no negative reaction to the humans....despite being so uncomfortable and anxious. Sunnie raised that boy right.

[smartrock]

I guess it would be hard to get a dog to sit in a sitz bath! Sorry, a little nurse humor.

[Snowshoe]

I think you could get some dogs in a sitz bath but would he tolerate frequent warm compresses? No odour, boy, are you lucky. Our Whisper had so many anal gland repeats hers were removed.

[barry581]

All things considered, the no stink is a real bonus!

[SunDance]

I think you could get some dogs in a sitz bath but would he tolerate frequent warm compresses? No odour, boy, are you lucky. Our Whisper had so many anal gland repeats hers were removed.

I've been doing the warm/wet paper towel thing after every poop. He seems to enjoy that and, as of today, isn't uncomfortable with the dry paper blotting afterwards. That must have really been super sore....it sure looked like it was. The swelling is down. I can't wait till I feel like it's OK to actually wash him...not going to rush it but....

Interestingly, I learned that his sister Kenzie (renamed Macy) had been having anal gland issues lately and has just been put on a schedule for regular expressions. A little research tells me that Beagles are one of the breeds prone to this. Guess I should be glad he got to be as old as 10 before it started (assuming this won't be a one-time thing).

All things considered, the no stink is a real bonus!

Boy, you aren't kidding. I remember the one time Baffle decided to pull a case of dog food off the top of a stack downstairs (that cardboard box top was just too alluring to leave alone, apparently) and when it fell, it scared him into releasing his glands. OMG. And then he had that seepage thing going on as a reaction to the irritation from beef flavoring in the Springtime supplements I was giving him (I was so relieved to figure out what the problem food was).