Ruptured Gland :(

So just this morning I woke up to my poor little Albie leaving a trail of blood. Here he had an abcessed gland that ruptured! I feel horrible for not even noticing! He hadn't been scooting or acting anything out of normal.

We took him to the vet right away and they cleaned him up and shaved his rear. I saw it when I got home and the wound was about the size of a nickel. They sent us off with antibiotics and some type of medicine that is supposed to soften him up so they can fully express both gland since both were pretty fully with thick puss.

Weird thing is that he didnt seem to be in a lot of pain. No whimpering or crying and the vet said he seemed pretty unaware of what was going on. He didnt enjoy it when we tried to go back there and clean things up when we got home but he wasnt too bad. The posts on here say that there is a lot of pain associated with this and I am surprised they didnt give me any pain medication or anything. They didnt seem to make too big of a deal about it, just to keep him on the meds, keep him clean, and bring him back in a week to see how he is doing and hopefully fully express the glands.

What do you all think? How long before the wound will be healed and he wont be leaking everywhere? Did your dogs have a delayed pain reaction?

Please help! I was so scared for him today but he was so brave!

Poor Albie!! I hear so often that this happens and owners aren't even aware of it until it's already ruptured. Sounds like you've gotten Albie all taken care of it and he's on his way to feeling much better. Poor little guy.

Thanks for the support! I just felt horrible that I didnt realize that something was wrong. He was acting normal even today when it ruptured!

Do you think there is anything i can put on the wound to protect it or keep it clean?

So sorry to hear your poor pet has this, it is pretty nasty. It can be very uncomfortable for them but give him a few days (to give the antibiotics time to kick in) and he should be in much better form, and his bum should be looking better.

The best thing I can say is to keep it clean (with salty water, or a solution of a mild disinfectant, and a clean cloth) and lots of tlc, he deserves it! Covering it up will prevent it from breathing and will draw his attention to it - as long as it's clean it should be fine to leave open to the air. Keep a close eye on his bum and it should be looking better each day. If it gets very hot, red, swollen or has puss in/around it another trip to the vet is needed. Try to not let him at it, he doesn't seem to be at the mo but in a few days it might get sore and itchy. It usually takes at least another week after the glands are drained, with another dose of antibiotics, to clear, but could take two - it depends on the dog.

Hope he is feeling better soon

Don't beat yourself up, it happens like this sometimes. Like us some have a higher pain threshhold, once burst the pain is less anyway so hopefully all should heal nicely if you follow the Vets instructions.
Putting a teaspoon of bran on his dinner should help to keep motions firm which in turn helps empty the anal glands naturally.Start off with just a pinch of bran and increase when you know it does not upset him Most dogs take it well
Good Luck

Thanks everyone! I will definately be watching it closer now to see that it heals.

The crazy thing is that this poor guy is also dealing with a case of the itchies. The docs had him on a Limited ingredient diet high in fish oils and limited grains which may have caused this. We havent seen much progress but we will have to alter his diet again. I wish my sweet boy could catch a break with all that he had gone through.

I'm sorry this happened, poor Albie! I have a question though - what would someone look for in a gland that is at risk for rupturing? I've only had their glands expressed once at the vet's when they were a few months old, but I haven't done it again...they're 1 1/2 and 2 years old...they do get pumpkin and grains so hopefully that helps them express them on their own, but are there signs you would look for to do something to prevent them from rupturing?

We are dealing with this at our home now. Yesterday morning, I noticed Holly licking her bottom excessively. I looked at the area and saw a large red "boil" like looking thing near her bottom. I called the vet and took her in immediately.

It was an absessed anal gland -- the vet gave a pain injection, then put her under to perform an absess surgery. She opened the area, then packed it to prevent a puss pocket. Holly came home with anitibiotics and pain meds.

I'm sorry Alfie had to go through this! Holly was a very miserable girl yesterday, but today she is doing great. Her absessed area looks good. I'm using a warm compress a couple times a day and will go back to the vets tomorrow for a check up.

Like your situation, Holly wasn't scooting or licking the area before the absess appeared. It seemed to happen almost immediately.

cy1266 said:

I'm sorry this happened, poor Albie! I have a question though - what would someone look for in a gland that is at risk for rupturing? I've only had their glands expressed once at the vet's when they were a few months old, but I haven't done it again...they're 1 1/2 and 2 years old...they do get pumpkin and grains so hopefully that helps them express them on their own, but are there signs you would look for to do something to prevent them from rupturing?

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It is not unusual for an anal gland abscess to come up & burst without the owner realising. It has happened a few times to me over 30+ years.

Sometimes you will see the dog licking, and find there is a red & slightly swollen area.
I don't know anything that will stop the abscess once it has started, but
I have found they it will swell & burst quite quickly. A warm damp cloth may help bring it to a head.

Checking to see if the glands are full & hard, and emptying them if necessary, and adding bran to the diet is probably the best method of prevention.

It is possible to express the glands yourself. I do when necessary because I have nine dogs, so cost is an issue.
Most owners find the whole idea distasteful and have it done by the vet or the groomer

Poor Albie...don't feel guilty, Pippin had this about two years ago and like you I never noticed a thing until I picked him up and it was all over me.

Poor little thing never complained either and I felt so bad, when I lifted him up and then seen I was covered in blood and pus and looked at his rear end only to discover a big hole with pus leaking out of it. My vet said that like people some dogs have a higher pain threashold than others.

Here is an update! Albie's wound looks much better today. Not very weepy and the swelling is almost gone. He is definately very docile today and doesnt want to get off the couch. He also seems to be in some pain. He went to have me pick him up and begain to welp and cry. The vet didnt give us any pain meds but he seems fine if he can just relax on the couch.

Just to be safe we are taking our other cavalier Kip in to the vet today to see if his glands need to be expressed. I NEVER want to deal with this again. It was so scary! Although in a lot of my readings it sounds like an abscess can come up quickly and rupture quickly also.

Thanks for all your support!

Carrie- You can check your dogs' glands by lifting their tail with one hand, and with your other hand- take your thumb and middle finger and press down right around the bum hole at 4 & 8 o'clock. You have to press pretty hard. If you feel two hard "peas" under the skin, their glands are full and could use some relief. If you don't feel any peas, they're good to go. I have never been successful at emptying them myself (I can't use enough force to get the job done!) but I haven't had to do this at all since I started feeding grain-free.

I hope ALBIE feels better! Don't be so hard on yourself! It is totally common to miss something- it's not like we're checking out their butts on a daily basis!

If he was trailing blood when you got up it would already have ruptured and that would have been the point of sudden pain -- when this happened to Leo he just ran around madly as if playing so would have been very easy to misinterpet and once it had ruptured, that is often a relief to a buildup of pain just like lancing a boil. Leo never showed signs of pain that were obvious but was scooting a bit -- but my vet said he was clearly very uncomfortable and just tolerating the pain and of a sweet nature to allow handling -- even tolerating her handling him in some unpleasant ways. He wasn't thrilled either with having to be cleaned up a few times a day but he healed very quickly; the antibiotics are important to prevent infection.

It can be almost impossible to see these problems in advance so don't feel bad; the important thing is he is healing now.

PS if you try feeling the glands yourself best to have a tissue over the gland as if they express easily you could have an unpleasant surprise!

Karlin said:

PS if you try feeling the glands yourself best to have a tissue over the gland as if they express easily you could have an unpleasant surprise!

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Now there's a thought to go to bed with.:yuk:

ANOTHER UPDATE! Albie is doing much better. His wound looks great and the swelling is almost all gone. He has a few more days on anti-inflamatories and a week or so on antibiotics. We go in Thursday for a recheckup where they will hopefully be able to empty his glands completely. This past Saturday I took Kipling in to get this glands expressed and the vet was nice enough to show me how to check if they were full and how to express tehm if I wanted to do it myself. She was quite leary and said that I might not want to watch and that it wasnt the prettiest smelling thing but I was too curious. Turns out it went well. No mess and the vet was SHOCKED at how it didnt smell at all. Guess I lucked out! Atleast now I will be able to check to see when they will need to go in. Kips was also very pasty so she said that he might need to get his expressed every month to every 3 months. Any which way, things seem to be looking up! Albie is still a little couch potato but eating well and drinking and still getting up to play once and awhile.

Glad all is much better. I had the same thing with Bella, no warning and lots and lots of pain. I wouldn't want to go through that again. Bella is off to vets this week to have them emptied.

Poor Albie! I have taken Molly and Dougall a few times to have
their anal glands checked, the vet said they should be done every six weeks, I had no idea this could happen. Does every six weeks sound right?

Tania said:

Poor Albie! I have taken Molly and Dougall a few times to have
their anal glands checked, the vet said they should be done every six weeks, I had no idea this could happen. Does every six weeks sound right?

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I would question whether this is really necessary, as I have owned some dogs that never ever had problems with full anal glands.
For those that do have that problem, I add bran to their food to bulk out their faeces.

Getting your vet to check the glands, & empty them if full, could prevent an abscess arising, but you will pay for what may be an unnecessary visit every time you go.

These things can happen quickly and despite regular checks, it could be possible for the gland to block & an abscess occur in the interval between visits.

Cheaper to check for full glands yourself when grooming. You will soon get to know what feels right for your particular dog, and chloe92us has given some good clear instructions.

You can still take your two to the vet when things don't feel right, and get him to do whatever is needed, but checking for yourself will save you a bit in vet fees

Thank you for this, I thought it seemed excessive. I will follow your advice.