Elderly collie anal gland removal

[RosieB]

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Our 12 year old collie X saluki has recurring anal gland infections. They're not blocked or full, they just produce foul smelling goo and a bit of blood. This is the 3rd time in 6 months he's had an infection and he's on the only antibiotic that will work (the bacteria have been analysed). The vet is keen that we sedate and then flush the glands to clean them out. If that doesn't work and the infection returns she wants to remove them.

I'm worried about putting a 12 year old - otherwise very fit and healthy - dog through the removal op - flushing will be traumatic enough I'm sur. He had to be anaesthetised last year and it took him a week to get back to normal.....and that was for something that's not considered to be painful afterwards - this op is. He's not very good with pain. The vet agrees it is a last resort (to have them removed) but concludes there is no other option because once these antibiotics stop working, as they will eventually (though how long that might be is an unknown), there's nothing else for it. She's not overly concerned, but I am, about the 'high risk of complications' the operation has.....maybe she's never lived with an incontinent dog? I really don't want to!

So, whilst writing this has made it clearer to me that actually we almost certainly have to do it (if the flushing doesn't work), has anyone had their older dog's glands removed? How was it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[gypsysmum2]

Could you not wait until the antibiotics stop working? I know this will then put you into almost an emergency situation but it is worth thinking about. The only downside would be that he would be even older when he had the op so that you would have to consider that euthanasia would be the better option than the anal grand removal.

I suppose you have tried all the dietary advice on anal gland emptying?

 

[RosieB]

Hi Gypsysmum,

Thanks for your reply. Yes we've bumped up the amount of fibre he has (using pro fibre) and put him back on autarky, which is what he was on all his life before we changed him to James wellbeloved - which is when the infections started. But his glands aren't full, just infected (well, one side is) so not even sure lack of fibre was the issue - though more can't do any harm.

We hoped he could just have courses of antibiotics as and when necessary but the vet's not convinced - I think she's worried that the infection could get worse once these ones stop working, quickly and there's no other antibiotic to fall back on.

He's having them flushed next week. Fingers crossed that works. I can't even think about having to put an otherwise healthy, wonderful dog down because removing the glands - if it comes to that - goes wrong....

 

[gypsysmum2]

Fingers crossed for you that it works.

Just a thought - has your vet done a full blood work up on your dog. I had an elderly dog with a non healing wound that went on and on and on. Eventually, after insisting on seeing the most senior vet in the practice, a blood work up showed a thyroid problem. She had no other symptoms whatsoever that her thyroid was not functioning properly. Elderly dogs can have all sorts of underlying minor problems that might affect their ability to deal with infections.

 

[RosieB]

Yes, I've read that an issue with the anal glands is merely a symptom of an issue elsewhere, often the liver... We might as well do bloods, what's another £100!?!

Thanks

 

[gypsysmum2]

I did manage, after she ran up £4,000 worth of bills after a torn ligament, to get her insured at the age of nine. They excluded the affected leg of course. It saved me another £4,000 over her foot wound, and subsequent diagnosis of thyroid problems caused by a tumour on her adrenal gland.

 

[dogmatize]

I had an anal gland tumour removed from an older dog. He was probably about the same age as your dog. We decided to have it operated on because it oozed blood and he would go from bed to bed leaving goop where he had sat. He would then get himself all upset about it and would be constantly trying to clean up himself and the bedding- and then he wouldn't sit on the bedding that was soiled.

The wound broke down at the vets when they took him out to poo after the op and they had to repair it again.

This was about 15 years ago now. He did have heavy duty painkillers but I don't recall him being totally miserable and it worked well in that he no longer stressed about his back end.