A few weeks ago our 12 yo, neutered labx was diagnosed with an infected anal gland. We did the 2-week course of antibiotics, went back in for his recheck and got the all-clear. The Dr. Did caution us to keep an eye on him and if we noticed the same warning signs again to bring him back in as we would need to discuss the next level of treatment which would be packing the glands with antibiotic packing, which would require sedation and if that didn't take care of it we would have to remove the anal glands, again, requiring sedation.
The all-clear was given just about 2 weeks ago. Now, this weekend I am noticing he is trying to lick himself again, sniffing his rear and last night when I went to love on him on his bed, I noticed discharge on the bed. It looked dark and a bit bloody.
The issue I am currently working through, before I take him back in, is next steps. The last time Charlie had a surgery, 2 years ago, he did not respond well to the anasthesia. It took him a full 24 hours to come out from under the sedation, to the point we thought we were going to lose him. Now I am very worried about putting him under again, it is a high risk.
Which brings me to the question, based on his history, if he is infected again, I would like to try another course of antibiotics, maybe the first round just wasn't enough, before jumping to a procedure requiring sedation. But, I don't want to put Charlie through another course of antibiotics if it isn't going to help. So, if he is infected and the Dr recommends packing over another round of antibiotics, would it make sense, with his history of poor recovery, to just go ahead and remove them? That sounds very drastic to me but potentially putting him under twice seems like I would be tempting fate.
I am honestly struggling with this. Could the last vet that did his surgery just not have sedated him correctly, leading to his poor recovery and everything would be fine this time around?
I'm really torn and don't want to walk into this appointment without being prepared. I'm researching the packing and surgery to figure out side effects, etc but real life experience would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance.
The all-clear was given just about 2 weeks ago. Now, this weekend I am noticing he is trying to lick himself again, sniffing his rear and last night when I went to love on him on his bed, I noticed discharge on the bed. It looked dark and a bit bloody.
The issue I am currently working through, before I take him back in, is next steps. The last time Charlie had a surgery, 2 years ago, he did not respond well to the anasthesia. It took him a full 24 hours to come out from under the sedation, to the point we thought we were going to lose him. Now I am very worried about putting him under again, it is a high risk.
Which brings me to the question, based on his history, if he is infected again, I would like to try another course of antibiotics, maybe the first round just wasn't enough, before jumping to a procedure requiring sedation. But, I don't want to put Charlie through another course of antibiotics if it isn't going to help. So, if he is infected and the Dr recommends packing over another round of antibiotics, would it make sense, with his history of poor recovery, to just go ahead and remove them? That sounds very drastic to me but potentially putting him under twice seems like I would be tempting fate.
I am honestly struggling with this. Could the last vet that did his surgery just not have sedated him correctly, leading to his poor recovery and everything would be fine this time around?
I'm really torn and don't want to walk into this appointment without being prepared. I'm researching the packing and surgery to figure out side effects, etc but real life experience would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance.