Things learned

[ksmith]

I took Gaby in for a wound check-up. It's healing well, and the stitches are scheduled to come out on Friday.



Gaby sometimes goes through spells where she constantly licks her butt. This goes on for a day or two, during which time the distinctive smell of anal glands can be detected. Back in October, when her diet issues began, she was licking. When I took her to the hospital, the vet expressed her glands, which turned out to be pretty full. At the time, we were hoping that this was the answer to her discomfort and dodgy appetite, since full glands can make a dog feel pretty uncomfortable. It turned out that Gaby's problems were more complicated, but the glands were still an issue.

Well, Gaby has been licking again. I mentioned it to the vet during today's visit, and she had a tech boost Gaby up on the table and hold her while she had a look. Glands were full again, and vet wasn't surprised. Turns out that the anal glands of IBD dogs don't express normally. So, every month or two I will be taking Gaby in to have them emptied.

Just another day in a life with dogs.

Comments

[goingferal.livejournal.com]

Although not fun, it's not very hard to learn to express them yourself, if that would be better than taking her in every so often just to have her butt squeezed.

[galeni.livejournal.com]

The joys of pet ownership. Glad she's healing well.

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Interesting what goingferal said about learning to do the job yourself - I have to take my lad Pip to the vet every six weeks to get his anal glands expressed and although it's not expensive, it's a bit of a pain. (Not that Pip cares - he loves the vets. He's the only dog I have ever owned who drags me into the vets).

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Vet squeezed internally as well as externally, which is what has me concerned. If whoever holds her doesn't hold her right, she could get hurt if she twists the wrong way without warning.

I will see how the next few months go. I am hoping, maybe in vain, that her system will settle and the IBD will resolve or lessen significantly. Possibly a misplaced hope, but it can happen.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

You and me both.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

At this point, Gaby doesn't mind the vet's. My only concern is whether she will cease to mind going there if she associates them with fingers stuck in her butt. King didn't mind going until a course of Cephalexin torqued his GI tract so that his anal glands became inflamed. They needed to be expressed for 3, 4 months, and ever since that time he backs into a corner when he sees a white coat.