My Poor Jay.

[ladybirder]

He's got a Ruptured Anal Gland. Very painful. He was walking with his dog walker early yesterday afternoon when she texted me reporting he did a black poo with a few spots of blood. I immediately got a vet appointment and when she got back she took him to the vet for me. Vet gave him a 2-week long antibiotic injection plus liquid Paracetamol for the pain. I blame myself as he has always refused to eat dog food but as he has Pancreatitis, chicken with veg along with the special hard food for Pancreatic mutts is what he gets. BUT he almost always chucks all the veg out.

Any suggestions PLEASE. xx

[Rosetta]

does he need routine and regular anal gland squeezing, some dogs do

[naomi24]

Why are you blaming yourself? You do the very best you can for him. You can't force him to do what he doesn't want to do.

[lankeela]

They can remove the anal glands, which is often done if they have repeated problems with them.

[ladybirder]

I guess if I get him eating the right food then he won't need regular squeezing Rosetta.

N I seem to spend most of my life trying to get him to do what he doesn't want to do. If he won't eat certain veg containing fibre then the problem will continue.

[ladybirder]

OMG, really Lankeela? How do they expel then?

[pastafreak]

Dont blame yourself, LB...you do your best..
I gather some dogs are more prone to anal gland problems than others.
I see there are fibre supplements available. Maybe speak to your vet about that.

[barry1010]

Have you tried feeding him fish oil supplements? You can buy doggy fish oil from vets, pet shops, Amazon which may help. They certainly won’t harm.

Anal glands can be removed but that really is the last resort option, it can cause many problems including incontinence

[Rosetta]

you have my sympathies LB, our golden is a really fussy eater and getting veg down him would be nigh on impossible. He has the opposite problem of periodic loose stools, and we do our best with his diet. Since using probiotic tablets things have improved. Has your vet any suggestions?

[ladybirder]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. Barry I don't know whether he will take fish oil supplements. He ate a bit of tuna once but wouldn't eat the rest. I've had a look at your suggestion and this is what I get. //Some people do claim that fish oil is one way to alleviate constipation. It isn't an officially recommended use for fish oil. To alleviate constipation, try your fluids and fibre intake first.\\
He hasn't even tried to toilet today, except for a couple of wees. He's about to go out with the DW so we'll see what happens while he's out. She watches him like a hawk bless him. Better start trying to put his coat on as it's cold here ...

[wolf63]

My first dog had this problem but I was able to feed him fruit and veg as he had no other medical problems and he was a huge, greedy moron.

[ladybirder]

Sorry had a long phone call. Then another from walker saying Jay has just done a normal poo. Also says he did struggle but only a little bit but she thinks him constantly licking it will not help. Phoned vet who said leave his cone on him from now until his next vet visit, day and night!! He's going to love that.

[calmck]

Amazon do inflatable collars much better than cones

[ladybirder]

I already had a cone thanks calm but I'll take a look at those cos he ain't gonna like the cone. First time I've used it since I rescued him but he may need it for only a couple of days. Oh my word you should see the face of it LOL.

[naomi24]

LB, might one of those little suits be better? My dogs wore those when they had their little ops. Much less irritating for them than collars.

[ladybirder]

Little suits Naomi?

[naomi24]

Sorry, I can’t post a link. Google dog suits after surgery.

[ladybirder]

Sorry N I do know what you mean. I'm being told it's not worth buying him anything that he may not need after Thursday. I'll see what happens Thursday.

[naomi24]

Oh ok.

[ladybirder]

Mwah.

[ladybirder]

In case anyone is interested I have a little update on J. We took his cone off for his walk so he could enjoy it properly. Apparently he was good as gold, did a normal poo without a struggle, no blood, all normal. Walker says his bottom looks much better as well as she can't see any soreness. We've put his cone back on now until he sees the vet tomorrow morning when I hope he can be trusted to leave his backside alone if the vet agrees the cone can be removed. So all good. Thank you all who have supported us. xx