Doggy to the vet today

FORUM

What are we about? Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules.

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 7sd replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 11 months ago by sibley.

Viewing 7 reply threads

Author

Messages
- 05/20/2009 at 4:51 PM
  KytKattin
  Participant
  1195 posts
  So my dear little dog Daisy, a long coat chihuahua, had been having what I thought was one of her normal bad days. She had a little trouble going to the bathroom because she ate something she wasn’t supposed to (though what at this point I didn’t know because she has access to almost nothing). Well this morning I took my boyfriend to school and came home, bopped around on here and then let her out for the second time today to go to the bathroom. I had the babywipe ready to clean her up and everything but when I lifted up her tail there was blood. At this point I’m freaking out, come inside and tell my mom that we are going to the e-vet. I normally keep a level head, but I was finding it really hard not to cry because I’m thinking of all the horrible things it could be and I really don’t want my dog to die! So we get there and fill out the paperwork and such. Weigh her, check her gums, and then they want to take her temperature. We tried to help, but Daisy isn’t doing so well at that point because i’m kind of freaking out so they take her into the back and the vet comes in a few minutes later. He says that he thinks it is a ruptered anal gland. Thank goodness that is all it turned out to be! I was thinking she was poisoned or she had an internal blockage or something even worse. So now she is home, not very happy, but she will get better. She has a cone and a shaved butt so she does look rediculous (she’s a long coat). She is on antibiotics and I had some metacam at home that I gave her because of the pain.
  
  The emergancy fee was $110, even during the day when no one was there… Plus $81 for everything else.
  
  Now I am going to try expressing my two other Chihuahuas’ glands so it can’t happen to them either! It seems that there are two ways to do it; from the outside and from the inside. I’m going to do it from the outside just because they are chihuahuas and probably won’t appreciate a finger up there and my hands aren’t exactly small.
- 05/20/2009 at 4:56 PM
  jerseygirl
  Moderator
  22356 posts
  Glad to hear it wasn’t as serious as you had thought. (((Daisy))) Hope her dignity recovers shortly.
  As to the other 2 and your maintenance chores………..yeah, goodluck with that….eewww!
- 05/20/2009 at 6:08 PM
  KytKattin
  Participant
  1195 posts
  It actually went okay! My dry old Chihuahua didn’t have anything and the other was a good girl and let me do it.
- 05/20/2009 at 6:22 PM
  KatnipCrzy
  Participant
  2981 posts
  There are some different theories about anal glands and if they should be expressed regularly or not. Usually when dogs are groomed the groomer will usually do this in the bathtub because it smells horrible and the mess can be rinsed away. I would recommend talking to your vet about how often they recommend expressing the glands at home and if they recommend it if there is no problem. The glands SHOULD empty normally on their own when the dog defecates. And some people believe that expressing the glands manually often will interefere with the dogs regular ability to do so. There are some things that you can do to help prevent issues though- if your pet is overweight- that contributes a lot to the glands not emptying normally. And adding fiber- Metamucil- to the food also helps the make the stool firmer and express the glands normally when the dog defecates. My foster dog needs a Tablespoon of Metamucil on his kibble twice a day otherwise his glands become too full and do not express. And if the dog does not show any discomfort when they glands are full and not expressing they can become infected. (a higher fiber food can be used instead of adding Metamucil).
  
  But there are some dogs no matter what they weigh and what they eat they still need the glands expressed. The owner can usually tell when the dog starts having issues and after this happens a few times the owner and vet then know that every 4-8 weeks (depending on the pet) the dog needs to come in for a “tune-up”.
- 05/20/2009 at 9:16 PM
  KytKattin
  Participant
  1195 posts
  I do not actually have a ‘regular’ vet for my dog. I have places that I go regularly vet wise, but I do any and every bit of home care that I can including shots. Except for rabies of course, but even then I typically find a clinic. I did find a vet on youtube though with a series on home preventative care and it shows how to do it. I figure that it is no more dangerous than cleaning out the rabbits area as recommended on here. Daisy may stand to loose a little weight but she is not fat by any means and is on a very high quality dog food so the food at least is not the problem. Plus small dogs seem to be more prone to these problems and she in particular is a problem child because of shoddy genetics. The vet today did say that she would need them expressed regularly, but I am not going in to spend $20 every month on something that I can do safely at home, especially when I’m looking at major surgery for my rabbit. As I also regularly groom my dogs so I can easily do it then, just add it to the list of things; bath, trim fur, nails, teeth. I will also try the metamucil! Thank you for recommending that.
- 05/21/2009 at 5:18 AM
  lilmizzsnickerz
  Participant
  318 posts
  pictures??
- 05/21/2009 at 9:37 AM
  KytKattin
  Participant
  1195 posts
  I can’t upload newer ones right now, but this is her as a puppy.
  
  She is still a puppy here, but a little older. She is 3 now. I don’t know if anyone wants pictures of her behind right now. It’s not pretty.
- 05/21/2009 at 10:20 AM
  sibley
  Participant
  305 posts
  Something kind of similar happened to my dog… she was pooping blood and nothing else and just laying in her bed. I walked her to the vet and she got excited to walk there so that was good… had to stay overnight and get fluids =( But she was back to her regular self the next day!
  
  My nana fed her too much junk food… we have to watch them together now.
Author

Messages

Viewing 7 reply threads

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.