Anal gland problem?

Hi all,
Daisy has not been in good form for the last two days.She seems a bit stiff on her hind legs and very depressed.Initially I thought it was part of going into heat as she's due any day now.
However she won't let me touch her hindqurters and seemed very distressed when she was being washed yesterday.She's constantly licking the base of her tail forcefully and her right hindquarters obsessively and cries a bit.
Could it be an anal gland problem? She's finished a course of antibiotics about a week ago for a skin infection so I hate the idea of her taking another course.There's no evidence that she's actually gone into heat as yet.
Hubby phoned the vet last night and he didn't seem unduly concerned and gave us an appointment for two o clock this afternoon.
(Rural vets don't seem too put out by a dog being in pain do they?).
And then to top it all I had to take my son to the GP at 9.30 last night with bronchitis so between the pair of them I'll be broke and emotionally worn out.
*Sighs*
Question really could this be a gland problem?.. or a yeast infection after antibiotics? I guess I'll need to keep her crated at vets in case she goes into heat and causes a riot in the waiting room.
Sins

Sins, hope all goes well at the vets. Let us know how you get on :flwr:

Hope everything goes well at the vets, let us know how you get on. I have noticed that also about Rural vets, when I moved to Westmeath I had terrible problems trying to get a vet, they were not interested once they heard it was a dog!

Well the news isn't great. She has impacted/infected anal glands as we suspected. The vet was unable to squeeze out infected fluid so she's on antibiotics until next Wednesday and he'll try again.
If this fails she'll have surgery.
It's disappointing as this came out of nowhere, she was fed a good quality diet but vet says he sees a lot of this with cavaliers and other small dogs.
It will leave some small scars and will probably rule out showing her.
Sins

Oh no Sins!! So sorry to hear this...but hear it much too frequently. My understanding is that some dogs are just prone to problems regardless of what they are fed. Hoping your vet is able to relieve her without surgery. Give her some gentle kisses from me.

:hug::hug::hug: for you & Daisy.
Hopefully she wont need surgury :xfngr:

I am so sorry to hear this, hopefully she will make a full recovery x

So sorry sins i hope that she makes a speedy recovery

Sins, I am so sorry to hear that Daisy isn't well. Hopefully the vet will be able to sort her our next week and she won't need surgery.

Hope it clears up without surgery..I know how distressing it can be Pippin had this problem last year and it burst! Very sore and messy and the poor little thing didn't even complain..He was right as rain in a week or so though..best wishes for a speedy recovery for Daisy and your son.

BTW when it happened to pippin we had to rush him to the vets and while I was there I got a call about my son and had to leave Pippin with my daughter and rush my son to hospital! It's amazing how these things happen together.

Sorry Daisy isn't feeling well. Those darn anal glands seem to bring more grief to these little dogs. Just glad there was a firm diagnosis and hope the antibiotics clear up the infection soon!

I'm so sorry Sins!

I would avoid surgery if he means to remove the glands, if at all possible. In other words it is worth getting a second opinion. I'd suggest talking to Tom Farrington near Cork: 0) 23 48811 or if you are in Dublin, one of my vets.

Leo just had a ruptured gland and it healed up with no problem. I just had my vet express his glands, a few months later, and he had very little fluid built up. You can get other complications with surgery.

angel has to visit the vets for her anal glands emptied every now and then he says he sees it alot in cavaliers too he never mentioned it could end up in surgery hope your girl doesnt need it... hugsss:flwr:

Thanks guys.I wish I'd taken her to the vet myself but my husband was the only one free at the time and I didn't want her in pain until the evening surgery.
I'm optimistic about her avoiding surgery,from what I understand, it was the young vet that Daisy takes great delight in biting who was on duty.It's just tough luck but every time she meets him he has to give her an injection and she won't let him touch her.
The main problem was that she was just too sore to allow the glands to be expressed and she just couldn't tolerate it so he's hoping that after five days of antibiotics he'll do it without any problems next wednesday.
I wouldn't willingly have her undergo a surgery without it being an absolute last resort.Thanks for the numbers Karlin.
Sins

How is she doing today Sins? Another option for a second vet opinion is Gilabbey vet hospital, 021 4962799 in Cork. I sent you on their details before, if you do go there ask for Shane, he seems to know the most about small animnals and was the vet who knew all about SM etc.

When it happened to pippin...my vet wasn't there and the young girl couldn't express the fluid either..as it had ruptured fluid came out of it everyday when I bathed it.He got the glands expressed when they healed twice in a few weeks and then yearly since and has had no further problems..

Fingers crossed for Daisy.

That sounds terrible, hopefully the drugs will work and they will be able to treat the problem without surgery.

As a side, are the symptoms for build up in the anal glands very obvious? I know that they might scoot more, or lick the area a lot etc, but how much scooting would be needed before you would think there might be a problem?

Amie scoots sometimes, might see her doing it maybe once a day.

I got no warning at all with it. Only noticing that she was licking herself a lot and seemed to be stiff and sore around the hindquarters. I suspect it's something that's easy to miss because they're such furry little creatures and very often they don't complain.
I was amazed that they were infected as she's only finished antibiotics a week ago, but she hadn't been scooting at all.It's not something she does.
She was literally eating the tail off herself and had been licking one side of her hindquarters pratically non stop and when I washed her and poured the water over her back end she yelped.
She did seem to have a temperature though the evening before and lay on the couch in a very depressed state, but many bitches going into heat can behave like this.
My friends are helpfully referring to me as Mrs Pumphrey (All creatures great and small) and Daisy as tricki woo (pekinese with Flop bot) that the poor vets used to dread visiting.
I'll make certain she doesn't have surgery unless absolutely necessary, she's doing much better today, she's not in distress and she has her "wriggle" back when she runs to greet me.
Sins

I love that "wriggle"!

I must keep and eye out for the signs in future. Sounds very stressful for all involved!

Daisy

Sorry to hear your dog is sick,hope she will be ok soon and won't need surgery.