I took Scott to the vets again this morning. For a dog with a vet phobia he can't seem to keep away from the place at the moment.
He started taking a bit more interest than normal in his back end a couple of weeks or so ago but what with kidneys and abscesses on my mind I put it down to itchiness because of the weather/grasses etc. The last couple of days though he's really started licking and then this morning after he'd toileted there was a whitish discharge type stuff (sorry gross I know) I came to the conclusion anal glands which had been at the back of my mind the whole time. Can you imagine a dog with a vet phobia getting an anal gland examination ?!?! I was lucky and got the last morning appointment with Mr head vet. The receptionist joked if he couldn't manage it he'll never live it down. Once again I parked on my friends drive, it's so handy but she's selling, very inconsiderate of her. She happens to be good friends with Mr head vet and his wife but for some reason hasn't introduced me. Mr vet came over, Scott barked but stopped quickly, and decided to do the exam outside on the drive. I don't know what I'll do when I go in wet weather. The vet will get wet I suppose. I'm very pleased to report it went a lot better than I expected. Scott muzzled did a continuous low growl, his nose pressed in just above my stomach, front legs off the ground but he didn't struggle. In the end Mr vet decided it wasn't his anal gland but his skin, so I was sort of right to begin with, and gave me Isaderm to apply twice a day. Nice I mentioned Scott's waterwork issues and he went in and looked at his notes, thought for a bit because of the urine sample being dilute then told me to put half a teaspoon of salt on his food twice a day for a week then take him in a sample !!! It just seems so wrong giving a dog salt and so much but if it helps absorb the water more rather than it flowing nearly straight through maybe the 4.30am starts will stop. Not sure what will happen if it does work surely I won't be giving him salt the rest of his life ? Guess we wait and see.
He started taking a bit more interest than normal in his back end a couple of weeks or so ago but what with kidneys and abscesses on my mind I put it down to itchiness because of the weather/grasses etc. The last couple of days though he's really started licking and then this morning after he'd toileted there was a whitish discharge type stuff (sorry gross I know) I came to the conclusion anal glands which had been at the back of my mind the whole time. Can you imagine a dog with a vet phobia getting an anal gland examination ?!?! I was lucky and got the last morning appointment with Mr head vet. The receptionist joked if he couldn't manage it he'll never live it down. Once again I parked on my friends drive, it's so handy but she's selling, very inconsiderate of her. She happens to be good friends with Mr head vet and his wife but for some reason hasn't introduced me. Mr vet came over, Scott barked but stopped quickly, and decided to do the exam outside on the drive. I don't know what I'll do when I go in wet weather. The vet will get wet I suppose. I'm very pleased to report it went a lot better than I expected. Scott muzzled did a continuous low growl, his nose pressed in just above my stomach, front legs off the ground but he didn't struggle. In the end Mr vet decided it wasn't his anal gland but his skin, so I was sort of right to begin with, and gave me Isaderm to apply twice a day. Nice I mentioned Scott's waterwork issues and he went in and looked at his notes, thought for a bit because of the urine sample being dilute then told me to put half a teaspoon of salt on his food twice a day for a week then take him in a sample !!! It just seems so wrong giving a dog salt and so much but if it helps absorb the water more rather than it flowing nearly straight through maybe the 4.30am starts will stop. Not sure what will happen if it does work surely I won't be giving him salt the rest of his life ? Guess we wait and see.
