Yuck, not the most pleasant of topics! So im pretty sure Penny has an impacted anal gland. She was walking around just now and i noticed her bum looked quite red, on closer inspection she has a fairly sizable lump just to the bottom right of her anus. Seems fairly likely its an impacted anal gland. Luckily my vet does routine appointments on saturdays so i will be calling them first thing in the morning. Just wondering if anyone has any experience of this? Should i have been able to notice a problem before it got to this stage? I feel terrible thinking she might have had this for a while and ive not realised. She hasnt been scooting or anything like that, a little fussing at her back end but thats not unusual as she gets hip pain and is prone to limber tail so fussing at her back end isnt out of character for her. Anyone know what the course of treatment may be (so i can prepare the bank balance lol), it doesnt appear to have absessed or burst so a small blessing there i suppose.
It may burst before you get to the vet. My Odie had this happened to him a couple years ago. I always knew when it was time to get his anal glands done because he would scoot his bum a lot, but this time there was no warning that I noticed. I noticed the little lump one day and planned to take him to the vet in a couple days if it didn’t go away (I had no idea what it was) next morning he was in so much pain, crying and wouldn’t sit or lie down so I rushed him to the vet, well it burst on the way there. I would go to the vet today and have them drain it properly. Odie was on meds for a few days and had to wear a cone. I wish I had taken him in sooner.
Its 10pm on a friday, i cant get her there tonight. My vet opens at 8:30am so ill call them first thing.
Shes good. The vet emptied both glands, she said they were very full and definitely an issue with the right one. She got out as much as she could and said its probably infected so weve been given a high dose of antibiotics. Due back in a week but she didnt seem confident that the issue would have resolved and mentioned theres a chance of abcess and that it might burst in the meantime which is why shes given a high dose of AB's. She also said that dogs can get tumours in their anal glands and to keep an eye on how much Penny is drinking (normal at the moment). If theres still an issue at our recheck then she might have to go in for sedation so the vet can have a poke around and possible needle aspiration.
Monty has ongoing issues with his anal glands. We're on the ball now and make sure they are checked or emptied every 3to 4 months, in an attempt to stopping them emptying somewhere unfortunate, i.e. The bedspread at 2am. But before we figured that, he did end up at the vets having a procedure under anaesthetic where they packed antibiotics inside him and did a thorough check. (Possibly as you mentioned above ) I don't want to get to that point again, unfortunately we don't really get any scooting signs, maybe a little licking, or his breath smelling like them so I just get them emptied regularly. He does hate this, but not a lot we can do about it. We have discussed having them removed, but understand this procedure can cause all sorts of complications and often does more harm than good. If poos look a little soft I add a few bran flakes in, and if he has the runs I know they may not be emptying well so get them emptied soon.
Similar to Monty Harley also has ongoing issues with her anal glands. Same signs/lack of signs. Licking, breath and leaking if we leave it too long or if her diet is off. We also have then cleaned regularly and she also hates it but our vet said the same thing, the removal can possibly cause many issues so every 3 or 4 months is a better option. Poor Harls, she hates having them cleaned, it doesn't matter how many treats they give her.
