Worried about my boy

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Chaos is booked into the vet tomorrow. I'm a bit worried about him.

A few weeks ago I noticed that he was getting worried about getting into the car. He had a problem with it when we first got him but we worked through it and he was fine. A few months ago he started showing concern when in the car, trying to get as far away as possible from the boot as it came down and I'd assumed he'd got a clunk at some point or something. We were working with treats but not making vast progress. Then he started looking worried about even jumping in. Hmmm...

Then, a couple of weeks ago, we had a really strange episode where it looked like he couldn't use his back end properly. George came home from the office and Chaos couldn't get out of his bed on the floor. Rather than rushing to the vet, I popped him on Meloxidyl, prescribed rest for 3 or 4 days, and that seemed to do the trick.

Seemed. Getting in the car has got worse and now he can't really push up to get himself in cleanly, and now we're seeing the same thing with getting on beds.

I took him to the vets yesterday to have his anal glands expressed as a first easy thing to check. There was some matter in there but not much.

Today I took him to the woods for a walk and he was absolutely terrified of getting in the car. I sat on the edge of the boot to reassure him and he ended up climbing up me to get in, then sat there cowering. On the way back I put him on the back seat, which is easier to get upto and doesn't have the associations the boot does, and he was better but still scared. We got home and he ran away from the car, tail between his legs.

So, full vet check tomorrow. I have all sorts of nasties running through my mind, fingers crossed it's nothing too dreadful.

Did I say I was a bit worried? That's a lie. I'm very worried.

So the plan is this. He will go in again next Wednesday for sedation/flush/ABs straight into the glands. Annoyingly there are various things that mean we have to wait but as Chaos is ok in himself when on full strength Loxicom Keith is happy to leave it. Then wait again and see. If that doesn't sort it out he will have to have the glands removed. The likelihood is that it is a design fault, possibly that the openings are small which we know, possibly that they may be sited just in the wrong place with relationship to muscle.

Although it is possible to do both together, Keith recommends doing the separately to maintain one side of normal function with the other side heals.

And, of course, we are on holiday again at the end of September. How about that for poor timing.

Not great, really. Hey ho.

Not great timing but you have to look out for gorgeous Chaos Katy's friend Wednesday has her glands flushed regularly but her late sister had to have hers removed. She was fine without them, I think it runs in the genes. Give Chaos a hug from us

Ahh, poor fella! Fingers crossed all goes well with the flushing. I didn't even know that was a thing

sounds rather intrusive liz long as it gives him some relief poor soul hugs chaos from me and mi

Liz I know the timing is not ideal but it never is really is it, murphys law again. I hope all goes ok, it's a very lengthy process isn't it. I have no advice as no experience with this at all but want you to know I (we) are thinking of you and hope all is sorted soon and your boy back on his feet and you enjoying your holly's ! Keep us posted please x

lovely avatar liz

We've got our paws and fingers crossed that all goes well xx

Change of plan. We've not had the best of weekends, nothing dreadful but very quiet and not eating up his breakfast (unheard of). Provided Keith has time tomorrow, we've decided to have both glands removed. I've just spoken to the receptionist and she thinks Keith's schedule should have time but we won't know until he's in first thing tomorrow. Failing that we'll get it done as soon as.

If we could keep him ticking over on a moderate level of pain relief it would be worth trying another flush but that plan doesn't seem to be working. I was hoping to avoid a full op but it does seem best to bite the bullet.

to be honest, i think you're right. in the long run it'll be less stress for him.

good luck!

Poor Chaos, I do hope the operation goes smoothly and sorts everything out for him.

Bless him. I think you are going the right route and hopefully this will clear everything up. Hope all goes well. Give him a kiss from me x

Fingers & paws crossed for tomorrow

Good luck Chaos, we'll be thinking about you xx

Not happening today.

We had a long chat and I understand why it's best to do the two sides separately so that's the plan now, and the first one will be next Thursday. In the meantime, we have some Tramadol to keep him comfy.

Good luck for next thursday, and I hope the tremedol keeps him comfortable.

I do hope the Tramadol doesn't have the same effect it had on me when I took them It said take 2, I took 1 in 10mins projectile vomit (sorry if your eating )

Oh Liz i am very much thinking of you both! xx

I have a very sleepy boy who is now home from his first op. It took ages, over 2 hours, as the surrounding tissue was all adhered to the gland due to repeated infection and scarring, and had to be worked away mm by mm. I suppose it does at least vindicate the decision to operate.

Now we just have to mortgage the house to pay the bill, and that's only operation 1 of 2!

Bless him. Get well soon Chaos.

When is his next op Liz?

Gosh! I didn't realise infections could create so much scarring. Poor Chaos. Glad everything went well with the op.

Mistys Mum wrote:Bless him. Get well soon Chaos.

When is his next op Liz?

They said 4-6 weeks. I'm seeing Michelle on Tuesday to check him so we can fix a date then, but I would think probably the week of 10th Oct or something like that.

What we've learned about anal glands over the last weeks, eh?

Give Chaos big hugs from us

Thank you, Jen. Will do

Aww bless him, hopefully this is the beginning of the end to his Butt issues Liz

I do hope so, Ian! It was a difficult night for both of us, he was extremely anxious and at one point lay on top of me shaking . He seems better this morning, has eaten a little light breakfast and was quickly retrieved from chasing rats in the log shed - not what they mean by restricted exercise, Chaos!

One good thing though, his new buster collar! Wow, it's SO much better. It clearly wouldn't stop a dog chewing front paws and probably wouldn't be great for a lurcher, etc., but to stop a staffie reaching his bum it's brilliant!

Guess he was still working the anaesthetic off Liz. Yeah chasing rats might seem like light exercise to them but not us eh

I've heard about those collars before, they look so much better than those rigid plastic ones and probably a whole lot more comfy for Chaos too.

Poor fella, I bet the rats were running in a taunting manner and he was just trying to do his best as a staffy.

That collar seems more comfortable, and it looks a lot less easy for other dogs to get ahold of. Gizmo tried to 'help' one of his buddies remove hers once by getting hold of the end and tug of war'ing.

Poor Chaos, I don't know what Gizmo would do with all his free time if he didn't have the ability to lick his bum.

I am so glad the op went well. I hope he makes a good recovery x

speedy recovery chaos

'Speedy' hits the nail on the head. I have got my little nutter back . He's not been bounding round like this for ages.

The 2nd op is booked for 13th October. I was dreading it but now I know that he only has one or two bad days to get this level of relief, it's not so bad really.

That's fantastic news Liz! So happy for you both.must be lovely to have him back to normal.

So pleased to read that he's bouncing back Liz

Yey! Chaos is back on form so pleased he has recovered quickly

Lovely to hear Chaos has got his "bounce" back xx

glad chaos has recovered and living up to his name

so pleased he's shown such an improvement from the first op, he's a gorgeous looking boy, hope he has a speedy recovery after the second op and you get your speedy boy back just as quickly x