DK
Søndag syntes jeg, at Vixen virkede lidt træt og indadvendt. Jeg lagde ikke så meget i det. Vi havde jo været afsted til udstilling det meste af lørdagen, og måske var hun bare træt af de mange indtryk. Desuden passede vi Martins to pølsepantere hele søndagen, så hun trængte nok bare til lidt alenetid.
Mandag var det dog blevet værre. Hun hang virkelig med hovedet. Ind i mellem kvikkede hun op, men hun virkede lidt “depressiv”. Hun gik fra aftensmaden, og det er ikke normalt for hende. Vi tog derfor hendes temperatur, som var 39,3. Det er ikke alarmerende højt, men dog alligevel højt nok til, at man bør være lidt bekymret.
Tirsdag morgen ringede jeg til dyrlægen. Temperaturen var faldet til 39,1. Vi kunne få en tid efter frokost. Hun fik ingen morgenmad, da jeg jo ikke var klar over, om det ville ende med en tur i narkose. Jeg tænkte lidt over, hvad der kunne være galt med hende. Hun virkede primært øm i bagparten. Jeg tænkte, at det kunne være livmoderbetændelse, men det var ikke helt det rigtige tidspunkt. Jeg overvejede også watertail, men selv om hun hang med halen, så hang den ikke som ved watertail. Jeg tænkte også, om det kunne være analkirtlerne, der trængte til at blive tømt. Men….. hun var mere dårlig end fyldte analkirtler kunne retfærdiggøre, syntes jeg. Og hun har aldrig tidligere haft problemer med analkirtlerne.
Dyrlæge Stella fik en hurtig opdatering på mine observationer og tanker. Det tog hende ikke mange minutter at konkludere, at der var tale om fyldte analkirtler. Og de var ikke bare fyldte; der havde faktisk dannet sig en meget stor byld i den ene, og den var så øm, at hun overhovedet ikke kunne få lov til at røre den. Den anden var også fyldt, men her kunnen hun få lov til at tømme den. Det, der kom ud, var af samme konsistens som kit. Ikke så sært, at Vixen havde været utilpas.
Jeg efterlod Vixen hos dyrlægen, som lagde hende i narkose og fik tømt bylden, skyllet analkirtlerne og sprøjtet antibiotika ind. Jeg fik penicillin og smertestillende med hjem til en uges tid.
Resten af dagen var Vixen virkelig utilpas, og det var ikke blevet bedre om onsdagen. Hun kunne ikke finde ro, og var helt hysterisk med at slikke sig bagi. For det første så syntes jeg ikke, at det var OK, at hun var så utilpas. For det andet så var jeg ikke så glad for denne konstante slikken sig bagi, da en hundetunge jo ikke er det mest sterile. Og hun kunne hurtigt gøre tingene værre, hvis der kom bakterier ind i analkirtlen. Jeg talte med Stella Dyrlæge, og vi blev enige om, at jeg skulle give hende binyrebarkhormon i stedet for smertestillende. Binyrebarkhormon er både smertestillende og kløe-/sviestillende. Der gik vel omkring en halv time efter de første 3 x 4 mg Medrol, så faldt roen over Vixen. Det var så dejligt at se hende være mere tilpas.
På tirsdag skal vi forbi dyrlægen til et tjek. Vixen får stadig både penicillin og binyrebarkhormon. Sidstnævnte trappes ned, så hun er nede på 1 x 4 mg, når vi kommer til tirsdag.
Man kan måske synes, at det er en overreaktion at være så bekymret over fyldte analkirtler. Men inden jeg vidste, hvad der var galt med hende, frygtede jeg det værste. Vi har lige oplevet Cookie være meget syg. I november sidste år mistede vi Daisy, og i marts sidste år måtte vi aflive Chili pga. livmoderbetændelse. Så ja, jeg var rigtig bange for, at dette kunne være rigtig slemt. Det viste sig dog heldigvis, at det ikke var slemt – og det er jeg taknemmelig for.
UK
On Sunday, I noticed that Vixen seemed tired and introverted. I didn’t think much about it. We had been at the show most of Saturday, so I thought she was marked by the many expressions. Also, we were “babysitting” Martin’s two Labs all Sunday so I was guessing she just needed some time alone.
However, on Monday she was worse. She was really not feeling well. Sometimes she cheered up, but mostly she seemed a bit “depressed”. She didn’t want her dinner and this is not normal for her. Her temperature was 39.3 which is somewhat elevated but not enough for us to be very worried.
On Tuesday morning I called the vet. Vixen’s temperature had fallen to 39.1. We got an appointment after lunch. I didn’t feed her breakfast as I thought she might have to have general anaesthesia. I was wondering what could be wrong with her. It seemed to be a problem in her hind part so I thought of pyometra but it really wasn’t the right time in her cycle. I also considered water tail, but even if her tail was just hanging it didn’t look as water tail. Then I considered that it could be her anal glands that were the problem. But then again – she seemed worse than what could be justified by filled anal glands.
I gave Stella the Vet a quick update on my observations and thoughts. She quickly concluded that the problem was the anal glands. They were not just filled; a huge abscess had formed in one of them and it was so sore that she wasn’t allowed to touch it. The other one also needed to be emptied. What came out of it had the same consistency as putty. Not all all strange that Vixen didn’t feel well.
I left Vixen at the vet’s who put her in general anaesthesia to empty the abscess, rinse the glands and put antibiotic into them. I got some pain killers and penicillin for further treatment during the next week.
The rest of the day, Vixen was really uncomfortable and she hadn’t improved by Wednesday. She wasn’t able to settle down and was hystrically licking her behind. I wasn’t comfortable with the fact that she felt this bad and I didn’t like the constant licking her behind. A dog’s tongue is not the most hygienic. And things could easily turn to the worse if bacteria found their way to her anal glands. So I talked to Stella the Vet and we agreed that I should try adrenocortical hormone instead of the pain killers. Half an hour later after the first 3 x 4 mg adrenocortical hormone she calmed down. It was so nice to see.
On Tuesday next week she will be checked by the vet. I still give her both penicillin and Cortison. I am phasing out the adrenocortical hormone so that she will only have 1 x 4 mg when I see the vet on Tuesday.
You might think that it is an overreaction to be this worried about problems with the anal glands. But before I knew what the problem was, I feared the worse. We have just seen Cookie become very ill. I November last year we lost Daisy, and i March last year we lost Chili. So yes, I was really scared that it could be something really bad. Fortunately, it turned out to be pretty harmless – and I am grateful for that.
