I know Faith is not a husky but this more a dog health related question not breed specific. I'm completely freaking out right now.

Faith started scooting a bit yesterday out of the blue but I didn't think much of it. Today she's scooting constantly and walking around in a crouched way and is obviously very uncomfortable. I checked her rear end and to one side of her anus it is extremely red, swollen and puffed out. I called the vet immediately and described it and asked if it could be her anal glands. They told me if it were the anal glands that I would not see it all puffed up and red. The earliest they can see her is 2:30 pm today which is 2 hours from now. Faith is very uncomfortable and I am a mess worrying about her and what is going on. Two hours until the vet sees her feels like a lifetime.

Any ideas what this could be or what I can do in the meantime? I am so upset right now I can hardly type.

It could be an anal gland abcess or infection, I've seen them look that way before, how old is your little Faith?

I'm thinking it is an abscessed anal gland also, based on the feedback I've received on a chihuahua forum. Seems to be fairly common and hopefully a simple fix, lance, drain and antibiotics...possibly pain meds. Faith is 5 years old, we adopted her just before she turned three. She's not had her anal glands expressed since we got her but it looks like I may need to have it done on a regular basis if that's what is going on here, which is most likely.

I'm leaving now to take her in and will update afterward when I get a chance.

If it's such a frequent problem I would get them removed and maybe have a dental cleaning done too so you can have one anesthesia for 2 procedures:) I think it would be something to consider if it happens again. Good luck!

Thanks, I hope we don't have to deal with this again but who knows.

Anyway, Faith is home now and recovering. It was an abscessed anal gland that was infected. They put her under with anesthesia then did a lance and flush. After she came back around from the anesthesia she was given pain medication along with antibiotics. The procedure only took 5 minutes but they kept her for an hour to watch her and make sure she was okay to go home. They sent her home with antibiotics which she is to get twice a day for 7 days.

She's pretty tired and is bleeding a little bit but she ate her dinner and is drinking water normally which is good. She checks her bum every so often but isn't bothering it. I called the vet back about the bleeding and he said it was normal and said to expect minor bleeding for about 12-24 hours.

All in all she's doing very well considering what's she's been through today. I expect that she'll be sore after her pain meds wear off and hopefully she'll be good as new soon enough. The vet said to limit her activity for the next few days.

I'm just so happy she's home and feeling better than she was earlier.

That's great! I'm glad it wasn't anything too serious... And I really hope it doesn't happen again.

Me too!

Well, she's doing well this morning. Eating and drinking normally, she had a BM this morning with no trouble (yeah I was worried how that would go!). She is not bleeding anymore either however when I let her loose in the house she starts scooting so I have her confined to her crate so she doesn't bother the area by scooting. I have her in my husky's large crate so she has plenty of room to walk around and stretch out but it keeps her from scooting. She seems to be doing very well but she dislikes being stuck in the crate, poor girl.

I'm sorry I missed this Val, but glad that everything is okay with little Faith! How scary Good information for the future though!

Thanks Britt for the reassurances

I just saw this, Val...and I'm glad to hear that little Faith is doing well!

Glad they figured it out. Had a problem with our Mika's anal glands when we first brought her home from the Humane Society. It can be a scary thing!
Hoping for a continued recovery.....!

Yeah I don't ever want to have to go through this again but it has been a learning experience that I will certainly not forget. I cleaned Faith up about midday yesterday, she had a lot of dried up blood and discharge around her back end and once that was all cleaned up she stopped scooting so I think that was why she had been scooting in the morning. She's been running around like her normal self since I cleaned her up yesterday. You'd never know anything was out of the ordinary by looking at her now...well, aside from the big patch of fur they shaved off her bum. lol Her back end looks ridiculous now so I hope her fur grows back in quickly.

I've been updating this thread on other forums but have neglected to do so here. Recovery did not go according to plan and Faith actually continued to get worse as the week progressed.

I have just come home from a follow up vet visit this morning due to my concern over Faith's lack of recovery. The gland appeared to have filled back up last week and would not go down with cleaning and warm compresses.

My suspicions were confirmed by the vet this morning and it turns out the infection did not go away. The vet emptied the gland this morning which was filled with blood and afterward inserted an antibiotic gel inside.

I was given a lot more meds to take home this time. First, she is now on a stronger antibiotic than before and will be on that for 14 days. Second, she now has pain meds that she will be on for 7 days. Third, she is also getting another antibiotic for her intestinal tract since the vet suspects that she might be getting reinfected from the bacteria in her colon and/or fecal matter. She'll get that for 7 days also.

The vet also advised me to continue doing the warm compresses at least once a day if I can. She said that from here on out Faith should only continue to get better, so if anything gets worse such as more swelling or more discharge to give them a call as that would not be a good sign.

Faith is such a trooper really. She had a very unpleasant visit to the vet this morning and is now home sleeping, she's all tuckered out poor dear. With all these new meds she's going to hate me even more but as long as it makes her better I'm fine with that. I will be keeping an eye on her eating and drinking as well as her back end. I'm so glad I took her in, hopefully she will finally start getting better!

The vet also said that it should take about 2 weeks for Faith to return to normal (assuming all goes well). Here's hoping.

As said elsewhere, Faith is lucky to have you, Val!

I'm sorry little Faith is in such pain and discomfort. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery this time around! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Thanks Tori. She got a heavy dose of pain meds at the vet so she is set for the rest of the day. She's already whining for her dinner and very much alert so at least she has her appetite.

just read this too...well im glad faith is a trooper! my pug has a problem with her anal glands as well! We have to have them expressed very often! so...and they were infected back in october and im suppose to go in for a follow-up and make an apt to have them removed. well they was only going to remove one and i said NO if you are going to be in there go ahead and take both!! so we will see how that goes...but good luck to faith!!