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Could be perianal fistulas, did you get a 2nd opinion? Can you try just a rice and gr. chicken, turkey or beef diet, a bland one. My one dog had some anal gland problems that would not go away, I got tired of the vet and finally asked if there was a stronger drug like augmentin which humans sometimes take after surgery, the vet gave me an odd look, can't remember the drug but it cleared up the anal glands, sometimes the vets will take you for a ride $$$$ Predisone, I don't like, can cause problems such as diabetes or cushings disease. Without going back thru all the posts did the vet suggest some of there prescription food for your dog, such as canned WD or similar diets.
If you feel you cannot keep the dog, put an add on Craigslist, you'd be amazed at how many dogs are rescued from that site.
OK to give you an update, Piper was given an anal gland infusion of antibiotics approximately 1.5 weeks ago. She had another check up two days ago and the anal glands are still inflamed but not infected. So the antibiotics worked, it cured the infection.
However because they are still inflamed the infection will come back assuming we can't find out what is making them inflamed.
It has nothing to do with not excreting anal gland liquid, they are not full. Normally dogs anal glands get full which causes them to become impacted, they get inflamed, then infected. This is not the case with our dog.
Normally in our situation it is a food allergy we are told. This is confirmed by her licking her paws, legs, and body. She was on a Hill's Z/D ultra allergic diet food but there has been no change in the last 3 weeks on it. Also we think she might be allergic to chicken (and Hill's uses a chicken base) so we have switched her to Natural Balance Vegetarian food with no animal products, wheat, or gluten. We just did this a few days ago, so hopefully the anal glands will not get infected again. If they do we will do one more infusion to give this new food a chance to set in, if that still does not get rid of the inflamtion we will most likely go ahead with surgery.
I have to say it's nice to have her back to her old self again, that infection really made her hate life, as I'm sure all of us would!
I have a cat - yes, I know this is a dog forum - who has an anal gland issue. Hers get blocked from some secretion in the lining, from an auto-immune disease. She gets a steroid shot about every 6 wks (yes, I know it does bad things) and it keeps it under control. She's going on 13 y/o, so keeping her comfortable is my main goal.
The Hills Z/D hyrdrolizes the protein so that it is broken down into units to small to inflict an allergic response. If the dog has no response on Hills, the allergy may not be food based. I am not sure 3 weeks is long enough.
What I did with a dog [who had a chicken allergy and did fine on Hills by the way] was use it as the basis for an elimination diet so I could find out what he was NOT allergic too by stabilizing him on that then slowly introducing [one at a time] alternate foods. I cringe at the vegetarian dog foods. He wound up doing quite well on a fish based diet.
I am sad for this dog, and in all my years in the veterinary field, no reputable vet I know would euthanize a dog for anal gland problems. It is not a life threatening problem. Your vet should be infusing the anal glands with antibiotics and steroids. If there continues to be problems, anal glands can be removed and you will never have a problem again. This poor dog needs someone who is willing to help it.
I am sad for this dog, and in all my years in the veterinary field, no reputable vet I know would euthanize a dog for anal gland problems. It is not a life threatening problem. Your vet should be infusing the anal glands with antibiotics and steroids. If there continues to be problems, anal glands can be removed and you will never have a problem again. This poor dog needs someone who is willing to help it.
Have you ever seen a dog with serious perianal fistulas? We did rectal pull through surgery on my GSD at age of 8 but we swore if they ever came back, we would put him to sleep rather than put him through any more treatments. They did not come back, but he died of hemangiosarcoma 3 years later.
An update. Back to the vet for an exam, anal glands were nearly empty and normal. No sign of inflammation. We also switched her to Dick Van Patten's salmon and potato food. This is good because it has lower fat (10%) to control the pancreatitus and it has zero grains, gluten, or chicken. So far she is doing great, I think the vegetarian was also good but wondered about the protein content as well.
But IMO that Hill's food was complete crap. Horrendous ingredients and expensive as hell. I understand it supposedly broke down the protein but it still contained chicken. She is doing 10x better off that food than on it. Poop is hard, and no more anal gland issues. Another checkup in a month, hopefully more of the same!!
An update. Back to the vet for an exam, anal glands were nearly empty and normal. No sign of inflammation. We also switched her to Dick Van Patten's salmon and potato food. This is good because it has lower fat (10%) to control the pancreatitus and it has zero grains, gluten, or chicken. So far she is doing great, I think the vegetarian was also good but wondered about the protein content as well.
But IMO that Hill's food was complete crap. Horrendous ingredients and expensive as hell. I understand it supposedly broke down the protein but it still contained chicken. She is doing 10x better off that food than on it. Poop is hard, and no more anal gland issues. Another checkup in a month, hopefully more of the same!!
OH!!! That is Great news!
I wish I could have helped more, but I hope that now yoiu are on the right path for you and for her!!!
THAT POOR DOG HAS BEEN THRU SO MUCH FOR SO LONG. I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU & ESPECIALLY YOUR DOG.
GREAT JOB, DOG MOM, YOU'VE DONE A GREAT JOB WITH YOUR BABY.
I BET YOu HAVE ONE HAPPY DOG, NOW. YEA !!! NOTHING BETTER THAN A HAPPY DOG
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Fantastic !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!
