The rear end rescue blog - an anal gland surgery diary

It went well!
After a quiet night where the hardest thing was to resist their begging after breakfast, we were at the vet at 8.10 a.m. They love going there, so they headed straight for the door, when we were there. No matter how many pains they go through there, they have always loved to go the vet, no matter who it is.
He listened to their hearts and gave them methadone for relaxing. Before the surgery they had blood tests done, a normal procedure at that hospital. You can choose not to, but I prefer to know that everything else is fine, and later on I was glad I accepted it.

Yesterday at their groomer they were cut very much down, so they will not look so bad after their shaving for the operation today. Besides it will be easier during their recovery, if they have diarrhoea or incontinence. The vet said that it could happen for the first weeks, and they will need some cleaning. I also have to watch them, if they want to go out; it will be like having two puppies again.

The vet told me that he had the night shift and would watch over them tonight, and I handed over their food and left. He told me that I was allowed to come see them in the afternoon, but we decided not to. It keeps them calmer not to see me walking away twice, and I can pick them up when they are ready in the morning.
At work I managed to stay busy, but I kept my mobile close at heart. I had a meeting at 1 p.m., and the vet had said that he would call me at noon. Finally he rang. Luckily his first sentence was “They’re going to be fine!” before going into details. While I spoke to him my husband rang, he was anxious to her news, too.

Éowyn was well, her blood test as fine as the last time (where they told me to frame it and use it as a model for other dogs), and there was nothing else to report.

Molly, however, also had her teeth cleaned, and that was not so good. She had four loose teeth, that had to be removed; one in the upper mouth, three in the lover. Some of her teeth were affected by “wry” biting. That is primarily because she has a scissor bite. We knew that when we got her, and it has not been a problem before now.
Another thing which worried more was her blood test. She has too few red blood cells, and the vet was a bit concerned about that. We will have to add some iron tablets to her food, and that might do it. Tomorrow we can discuss it further, but I am glad that they ran the blood test in order to catch other diseases.

The schedule for tomorrow is to call them at 10 a.m. and they will report how the night went. The vet said that they will make sure the dogs have pooped properly, and then they will get another overall health check, before they are allowed back home.

I will be home with them until the stitches are removed, after 8-10 days. The vet recommended so, and if that hadn’t been possible I would never consider getting them both operated on at the same time. If they get agitated or the doorbell rings while we are at work, they might have difficulties calming down.
Another thing I have to consider is taking them out. They love the snow which is plentiful at the moment, and I can’t let them out and play. They are only allowed very short walks the next 8-10 days, and in a short leash. There’s a challenge – keeping them calm.

Now it is evening, and there is too quiet here. We miss them. But they’re fine, and that is the main issue.

Sunday they played fetch in the snow, it will be some days before we can do that again