[MrsJohnnyG]

Last night, our Dixon started walking a bit awkwardly, as though she had a lingering piece of poo stuck to her rear or something. My hubby checked and didn't see anything unusual.

Overnight, I woke up to her crying... she never cries just for no reason (in fact never cries at all)... I checked under her tail and there was a gigantic welt to the right of her rectum, about where a gland would be. It was swollen, red, kind of bumpy (raspberry-ish), and almost all the fur was gone at this point (she was licking it and probably had been while we were asleep).

Of course, I took her straight to the vet. Vet confirmed that she had an infected anal gland. They drained it, started a course of antibiotics and pain medication, and sent her home with me.

Since then, there has been quite a bit of bloody seepage from the spot where they drained... they said this was normal, but it's almost like having a dog in heat, it's so bad. She also seems like she's in quite a bit of pain still, in spite of being on a pain medication.

AND, she hasn't peed or pooped ALL day today (I forgot to ask the vet if she did anything while there)!! We couldn't get her to eat until late tonight when she finally nibbled on some Honest Kitchen I mixed up for her.

She's sleeping now and I will call the vet again in the morning (she doesn't seem to be any worse than earlier today or I'd consider taking her into the E.R.), but does anyone have any experience with this condition? It's breaking my heart to see how lethargic and pained she seems to be. The leakage, lack of eating, and total lack of elimination obviously have me worried... I only slept 3 hours last night and fear this will be a very sleepless night because I'm worried about my baby girl.

Not asking for medical advice or anything, of course... I trust my vet and will be making yet another call in the morning... just wondered if any of your pups had experienced this and if this sounds like a typical infected gland situation or not.

 

[ShadowSky]

Oh no, poor Dixon! None of our dogs have every had an infected anal gland so I don't know anything about it, but I hope Dixon gets better very soon and that it's nothing out of the usual for this condition.

 

[MrsJohnnyG]

Thank you... she is sleeping soundly now so I should stop worrying for tonight and get some sleep myself... *sigh* the trials of being the parent of a sick pup!! Thanks for the well wishes for Dixon!

 

[MrsJohnnyG]

Just an update... the vet confirmed that "oozing" will happen for several days following treatment and that that's how the remainder of the infection is able to escape... she's actually pretty well cleared up, the swelling has gone down, she's eating and drinking and generally acting like her old self again. Whew!

No need for anyone to reply to this, but I wanted to post in case anyone else someday has this problem and is freaking out at 3am that their pup looks like he or she has a tumor on their rear end... it could well be an infected/impacted/abscessed gland. Obviously important enough to get to a vet ASAP, but not so horrible that you should be worried your pup will die from it!

 

[Westhighlander]

Yeah! Bet your feeling relieved.

 

[BigBlackDogGal]

Glad to hear your pup is feeling better Did the vet say how the gland got infected, or is it just a freak occurrence? Is there a way to prevent it?

 

[Thracian]

Glad to hear she's improving. Poor thing! Sounds like it was pretty painful for a while.

 

[FourIsCompany]

I just saw this or I would have replied earlier. I always worry too much.

Cara had the same thing and reacted much the same way your dog is. She got all better within a few days and we haven't had the problem again.

 

[tgrove]

Glad to hear your pup is feeling better Did the vet say how the gland got infected, or is it just a freak occurrence? Is there a way to prevent it?

happens more often due to a poor diet. not start a flame war or blame the OP. but a raw diet would help prevent this.

 

[Thracian]

happens more often due to a poor diet. not start a flame war or blame the OP. but a raw diet would help prevent this.

Considering the number of dog owners who feed kibble rather than raw, I'd expect to see many, many, many more infected anal glands for dogs everywere if this was the main contributor.

 

[MrsJohnnyG]

Did the vet say how the gland got infected, or is it just a freak occurrence? Is there a way to prevent it?

Usually it happens when their glands aren't evacuated properly (either naturally or with "assistance"), but she just had her glands expressed about a month before this happened... the vet also said that fiber in the diet such as pureed pumpkin can help the glands eliminate properly and thereby prevent infections. I do give her a few tablespoons of pureed pumpkin a day so I'm not sure why this happened!

happens more often due to a poor diet. not start a flame war or blame the OP. but a raw diet would help prevent this.

Thank you for your input. I'm a big believer in appropriate raw foods for both pets and humans and had in fact started transitioning her to a part raw diet. She had never had this problem before when she was on only Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul but I'm sure transitioning to raw didn't contribute to this happening.

Carla, I'm glad your pup recovered fairly quickly too! The vet has us giving her antibiotics for several WEEKS, which I think is an unusual amount of time for a pet to be on antibiotics, but I'll do whatever it takes for my baby to get completely over this! (She's doing better every day, but she still has trouble sitting down... you can tell the area irritates her a lot... poor thing!)