Replied by Deirdre (Earth Clinic) on 01/23/2023
Hi Martha, I have a bit of experience with anal gland issues as my last dog had digestive and anal gland issues that turned into an anal gland tumor when he was quite old. He lived another year after diagnosis, and died at almost 17. I tried many things over the course of a year, as you may read on Earth Clinic in various posts in the pets section, but the most helpful thing, I think, was holding a piece of cotton soaked in warm water on that area when we were outside. My vet in CT taught me to do that when he had an anal abscess and I never stopped doing this for him after that as it was so helpful. You want to do this outside because it will usually cause them to go to the bathroom. However it prevented the anal glands from getting infected again. You can buy large rolls of cotton on Amazon and break off a piece each time.
Also work on making sure whatever your dog eats is easily digested. I used a combination of freeze dried raw food, which I soaked in hot water for a while to rehydrate, with some no grain turkey kibble.
I also gave him a lot of 20 ppm colloidal silver (cs) internally and I think that was very helpful. CS won’t burn when used externally on the anal area, but be careful when you add DMSO as it will burn and cause discomfort, even when diluted with distilled water.
I really think the warm soaked cotton was the most helpful in soothing and keeping him infection-free.
Replied by Martha (Plainfield, IL) on 01/24/2023
Thank you Deirdre. I'm new to this site, how do I check for responses to my original post? I don't want to miss any. The cotton you mentioned, is that first aid cotton or fabric? You mentioned using just warm water, do you think I should also add the calendula extract to that water? At this point I will try anything!Replied by Martha (Plainfield, IL) on 01/24/2023
Deirdre, I found the papers on what the vet called that anal growth- perianal proloiferation. Hoping that helps with any replies.
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