# anal gland infection treatment options



## velcroMom (Jul 12, 2012)

My 3 yr old male has an infection in his right anal gland as evidenced by blood secreting when squeezed by vet. He has had three courses of antibiotics since 5/24/12, and he is to start the forth today. Tomorrow, his vet would like to sedate him, flush the gland with antibiotics and a cortisol cream. If this does not work, he suggests removing it. To complicate things, when I originally took him in for the first time due to butt licking, his ears all of a sudden developed pustules and popped. Then the next day, his right shoulder developed a sore that looked like flesh eating bacteria. Blood secreted through his skin under his chin. All cleared up and hair grew back beautifully. Butt licking continued as it put aside when the odd stuff happened. Odd stuff was guessed to be either a spider bite or exposure to a toxin while swimming. I do not know if there two are related, vet thinks no. Thoughts????


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Hello, velcroMom, and welcome to the forums! I have a 5 year old male, Willie, who also suffered from an anal gland infection this past winter. Although he did not experience involvement with ears, skin, etc., it was still an awful time for him. I had to put him through three separate courses of antibiotics before it finally cleared up. The anal glands are a difficult spot to treat for obvious reasons. I also had to do warm water compresses on his butt area, to increase the blood flow and get the antibiotic into the region. Willie looked at me like I was crazy!

Anyhow, my Vet told me that this problem, oddly, is common in Vizslas... even though it is typically found in smaller breeds. He also explained all about the surgery, called anal gland excision. I must say, if Willie continues to be plagued with this problem, I will not hesitate to get him the surgery. It's important to make sure your Vet is comfortable performing such surgery, so be sure to ask how many of these he has performed... if it comes to that. 

Prevention requires that your dog has to "push" a little harder when he goes poop. To accomplish that, his diet should either (1) make the poops firmer, or (2) make them bigger. A little Metamucil added to his food will help a lot. Another natural dietary addition could be sweet potatoes or any other fibrous vegetable. Good luck with your doggie. I hope it "goes" well, if you'll excuse the pun.  Maybe others can offer more ideas.


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