As the title implies, this post is going to be a tad graphic. Just a heads up  

Koda's urine smells badly of metal. It always has. She has started licking herself a lot. Today when I got home she rolled over for her tummy rub and I noticed greenish yellow pus on her vagina... I had this issue a few weeks ago and the vet said her anal glands needed to be expressed so he did it and gave me antibiotics to take care of the infection. We started the antibiotics and she had a reaction and didn't hold anything down for two days, so I called and they said stop giving to her so I did. I will also add that her breath is absolutely fowl. I brush her teeth and it doesn't seem to help. It smells of rotting corpses... (It actually smells like fish sometimes, and an unexplainable foul odor other times.

My issue is, if she has an anal gland infection, would puss be coming out of her vagina? I'm a little bit of a hypochondriac, so any advice would be greatly appreciated!

For background, she is eating regularly roughly 2 1/4 cups a day and drinking regularly, and her bathroom habits are regular as well. She is not acting lethargic or anything like that, nor does she smell bad except for the breath.

Don't apologize; we are (mostly) all adults here. You say it smells of metal; is it like a copper smell? Have you seen any blood in the urine? Is Koda spayed?

I found this article: http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/reproductive/c_multi_vaginal_discharge
More specifically this part: "....and certain antibiotics can alter the vaginal cells, leading to excess discharge."

Regarding the bad breath, is it possible that it's from the vomiting? Make sure she's drinking lots of water.

My mind is on other things today - we recently had a thread, part of which began with the comment that there was an odor to the dog.  While the OP in that thread didn't state that it was "bad breath", the final solution to the problem should have indicated bad breath.  Can someone please resurrect that thread and see if we're talking apples and oranges here?
Sorry, as I said, my mind is on other things today and concentration is not very good today ...

Smelling of metal, especially if it's a "coppery" odor is strongly indicative of blood ... again, not a very good sign.

Oh gosh. Do you think the description matches kidney failure? I mean he says she's eating regularly and otherwise smells fine. I'm not at all familiar with this.

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/kidney-problems

What Are Some Signs of Kidney Problems in Dogs?

Change in water consumption
Change in volume of urine produced
Depression and listlessness
Loss or decreased appetite
Chemical odor of breath
Vomiting
Weight loss
Blood in urine
Mouth ulcers
Pale gums
Stumbling, acting drunk

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2114&aid=350

Is she spayed? If not, I have vague, vague recollection of when my Mom was breeding (though it may have been the persian cats?) that one of them had a discharge related to heat cycle and infection...

Also, in human females, antibiotics frequently lead to vaginal yeast infections...

Have you discussed your concerns over breath/urine smell with your vet?

This negates what I have posted here and supports your vet DX

http://www.askavetquestion.com/answer_np.php?id=1887-noticing-metallic-odor

Ouch, Danielle - I said I couldn't remember what the thread was, but you're right that was the one that was running through my mind.

I think my first action would be to confirm with the vet that there is a possible infection in the anal glands; let's take care of the obvious possibilities first.  Since Amy's link also tends to point to anal glands - and for me that was a problem with one of my Huskies - it's a real possibility.

Expressing the anal glands - my vet told me - is a fairly straight forward "operation" albeit a bit unpleasant.  If it is an infection, take care of that first and see if it takes care of the problem.

That's what I get for remembering parts of something and not all of it, I didn't mean to scare you.  Kidney failure is VERY rare in young dogs.

Thank you guys for the replies. She isn't spayed and because of her age I imagine she will come into heat soon.

I saw someones dog passed away recently on here from kidney failure so it definitely is a fear right now. The metallic smell has been there since I got her as a pup at 5 weeks old, so it may be unrelated. Something has to be infected, so it could be her anal glands if it's dripping down, but I imagine I would see it in her fur.

I actually think it might be anal glands because as I'm sitting here she whined loud and sniffed her butt. So maybe the bad breath is from licking the grossness.... It makes sense, all except for the puss in her junk. Is there a test the vet can do for kidney failure? (I obviously will be going to the vet, but this is just so i can sleep tonight.)

Hi, I'm the elephant in the room.
Gaia didn't smell metallic when she smelled. It was more wet dog, dindgy swamp muck smell and dirty gym socks.
Her breath smelled like dog breath... nothing peculiar.

Blood work and looking at the urine will tell them kidney status at the vet.

Tyler, poor girl, she has a lot going on......if her appetite is good, drinking water, and she is pooping and peeing normal no significant worries, imho. I would get her to the vet though, sounds like an infection, green I think equals infection. So kinda long story here, but....Miya had a "bad" spay, in which she can't have puppies, but still goes into heat. With her second heat, she also had tape worm, which I thought was anal sac problem, ugh.....So if she has one problem she may have multiple problems....I would collect her poop to check for tape worms, have her checked for UTI, and ask if she's in heat. Tape worm can resemble anal sac issues. UTI's can resemble being in heat.

Have anal glands expressed, will eventually mean she will need it done on a regular basis. I am not a fan of vets telling pet parents that this needs to be done, in essence they are creating a bigger problem and making money off of you. Anal sac issues has all to do with eating habits and pooping habits. A dog should go once or twice a day, with fairly solid poops. If too soft will encourage anal sac problems. Going quite often the same thing. Foods that include grain, imho, will cause softer stools, and frequent poops. So evaluate how often she goes, and what do you feed her, you can solve that particular problem on your own, once you get antibiotics in her.......I sincerely believe all of her problems are related, antibiotics is, again imho, the first step. Please keep us posted, I understand the worry you feel.

I'm almost sorry I mentioned that; I've had problems with my solar batteries and have been running into town and over to the vendor so, as I said, I've been somewhat preoccupied today.

To answer your question, there are several test that can be used to diagnose kidney failure in dogs see this link for some. Our lack of knowledge and the age of the pup contributed to the death of Gaia ... mea culpa.

I wasn't aware that anal secretions could have a metallic odor - but it's most likely that this is both the problem with the back end (yukky stuff) and as you surmised, her "bad breath".

Dogs, like humans, may have a bad reaction to some medicines - that's nothing to be overly concerned with but it is something you need to remain aware of. If, for example, your dog exhibits a bad reaction of the commonly used penicillin family of drugs you'd be advised to make sure that your vet is aware of it and remind him if he tries to prescribe any of the 'cillin family in the future. There's no sense in throwing away money on an antibiotic that doesn't work or may cause an adverse reaction when there are several families of good antibiotics on the market today.

Has your vet run a urine sample with the latest issue? I think that should be the first thing done, and as Lucy mentioned, blood work. Speculation won't help you, just get those two tests run and go from there.

Just catching up on this and after reading all my thought is the anal sac and the dog licking it for the fowl smell. The discharge could be a reaction to the anal sac infection or to the antibiotics. A discharge could show up there anytime the pH changes. Or it could be a UTI that came about because of the anal sac infection or antibiotics also. The metal could be infection but then again you said she had since a young pup.

First thought is vet to test pee and poop maybe even the blood.

Lucy, I'm very sorry for your loss. I read a little of it and couldn't handle it. I can't imagine how that feels. Her fur doesn't smell at all, she almost has no smell whatsoever.

Renee, I feed Orijen puppy food. Here is the one I use, so you can see the ingredients. Her poops seem regular. They aren't solid, but they aren't too soft either. She only goes probably once a day.

We have to go to the vet soon anyway for more heart guard, so I may just get it all done at once.

Tyler, Orijen is one of the best out there.....but, some dogs, and I think especially husky puppies, tend to have troublesome tummies. Orijen has a high protein ratio, many of us stick to 25-32% protein, Orijen puppy(both types) run at 38%. Too much protein can cause tummy and poop problems, similar to a food with grain in it. In fact the high protein diets are recommended with sled dogs who are working, she is too young, and I, imho, think the Orijen is just too rich for her.

Now I will say I did a vast amount of research and talking to vets on the whole anal sac issue. Since the way you entitled this thread, not for the faint of heart, I will post up what I learned and share my knowledge on this not so fun topic. A healthy dog should eliminate once or twice a day(we are not talking pee here). The stool needs to be firm, but not too firm. The firm-ish stool presses on the anal sacs, as would a vet do, and the dog naturally expresses them his/her self. When stool is too soft, as in one big poop, or pudding or soft serve, the stool is too soft to express the anal sacs on their own and hence, need of a vet or groomer to do this. As a pet parent, knowing to feed your dog proper ratios that fit your dog, this problem should never exist. If a vet or groomer does the expressing, the dog's feeding habits never change and therefore, the dog will always need help by vet or groomer. The flip side of this is too firm of stool, which will create problems as well. You want your dog to go once or twice a day, with firm stool, in order to take care of their own anal sacs. Too often tends to equal soft stool, not good. So you need a happy medium, of once or twice a day, with firm, stools to avoid a trip to the groomers or vet.

Koda sounds like she has a serious infection, and the vet may need to express the anal sac to help the infection, as well as she needs a full course of a different antibiotic, but after her infection is cleared, I would seriously consider switching her food to a less protein and see if that will help her. Other factors play a part in this, if the protein isn't too high, she may have an intolerance to the particular protein, which creates loose stool as well. Much of this is trial and error. And you have to work with your dog to find the right food that works best for her. Miya was 2 years old before I started buying bags larger than 5 pounds to find the "one" that works, I also feed raw meaty bones a few times a week to keep her stool firm. I also kept a supply of canned pure pumpkin, and for her first year/year and a half fed her greek yogurt 3 times a week to keep her good gut flora going.

Being a pet parent to a husky isn't easy, and I really understand what it means to worry all the time if I'm doing all the right things. It can get overwhelming. That is one reason why, beyond the friendships we build, I love this forum, because we all love our babies, and only want the best for them, and sharing helpful things, to help someone, who may be at their wits end. That was a terrible run on sentence, lol.......Please let us know what you find out at the vet.

Very nicely done Renee!

Renee, thank you so much for all the information. I hadn't considered it could be the food. I read somewhere that the high protein helped with shedding, so I grabbed it and ran. She wasn't eating well on Blue Wilderness, so i switched and she liked it so I thought nothing of it. Luckily, the place I get her food from actually will let me buy a 5 pound bag and if she doesn't like it I can switch it out for something else for free. So I may end up trying a few to see what works best.

As far as the vet, I don't think I can get an appointment until this weekend or next weekend. Do you think that's too long to wait? How serious is the situation here? Should I be worried, or is this a relatively common issue?

Btw, Ditto on the loving this forum. I check it more than Facebook and twitter combined! I seriously LOVE this forum!

Tyler, if you can not see the vet until the weekend, I would call and ask for them to prescribe a different family of antibiotics, and make sure she gets it all. Infections are nothing to play with, not as serious as other problems as well, so as not to put you into fear. The vet can do a check up of stool and urine and her overall health on the weekend or next, but again, I would call and ask if you can get the antibiotics going.

As far as food, I would stay away from Blue, they are having legal issues with Purina currently, as in Blue is not sourcing their food USA as they claim. Somethings to consider, be watchful of recalls. Since you are feeding a high end, costly food, I would look at Fromm Gold puppy(grain free), Merrick's puppy grain free. Now I will give my line here, I do not want to be bashed for saying this....Some people on this forum still feed Diamond and Taste of the Wild with success, and a close eye on recalls. There are a few others, so read the packages, ask questions. Last thing about switching foods, buying the 5 pound bags was easier for me, it was cost effective, but also the transitioning was easier on Miya. Some people throw caution to the wind and straight up switch, since the one they are feeding is giving problems anyway. It is not recommended in doing, but with Miya, she couldn't get much worse, so I did the straight up all out switch, and on the first try(with a 5 star, quality food) I did find one that worked.
I continued buying the 5 pound bag, because I wanted to try and at least rotate through the flavors, and that is where I dead end with Miya. She only likes one flavor of the brand she can tolerate. I am happy to help, my fellow husky lover, haha, they can be down right difficult in so many areas. I must have spent Miya's first year and a half puzzled, and tormented on "what is wrong with this dog"....came here to the forum and realized I am not alone.


Btw, to address the high protein and shedding, not sure I have heard of that, but I do wonder if it's because of fat ratios, more so than the protein. In a high protein food, fat ratios tend to be high. Most quality kibble ratios will be somewhere 25-32% protein and fat around 13-18% (this is strictly off the top of my head, but close enough for illustration), imho, fat plays a big role in the coats of our dogs (if I am wrong, please correct me), in the softness, shine, and to some degree I imagine on the shedding aspect. Also, don't be upset, the choice you made with Orijen, was perfect, just not perfect for your dog.

i agree, i would stay away from blue, i was feeding it to my chihuahua Joey when they stopped have good quantity ingredients Joey stooped eating it , started having issues with constipation, be came very lethargic and his eyes looked very grayed over; i thought that was from old age. at one point thought i was going to lose my fur baby of 15 years   (so i was stressed out). we took him to the vet and had his anal glands expressed and got med from the vet to help his constipation. so, stared trying different brands, but just wouldn't eat. i eventually went to home made food mixed with some of Leo's food powdered and to my surprise Joey ate   . I was almost in tears when i saw him eat. within a month he got better, the most interesting thing was the graying of his eyes was greatly reduced.
100% pumpkin should help firm up the stool and make her a bit more comfortable.
hope you find a food that works and she feels better.

So I went to the vet and apparently as you said Renee, her body has started pushing it out naturally. He did the stuff and only got a little bit. It seemed a lot worse earlier when I posted this, but he said it was very minor. Renee, you know a lot about nutrition, could her body change it's reaction to the food? I cut back a bit once I read this and her poop firmed up, so could I just have been feeding too much? I have a two cups measuring cup in there and it isn't leveled so it probably is more like 2 and 1/4 cup. I've cut back to two now and that seems to be helping, but should I still switch foods?

Good to hear Tyler, I am glad she is doing better. I would keep her on the same food. It is really one of the very best available. Switching foods brings up other possible tummy issues. Some things to keep in mind.....huskies tend to eat 20-25% less than the recommendations on the bag. High quality, high protein foods will result in firmer poops and require less to feed. The biggest issue that I see new husky parents doing, is to feed as if they are a large breed or a regular dog. Husky tummies tend to be prone to sensitivity, change does not do many for the good. Huskies in general eat less, most husky parents over feed. So the answers, don't switch, and cutting back is perfectly fine. If she thinks she is hungry, giving a chew or a bone will be far better than adding more food. Keeping her lean is something that is important on her growing bones and joints, and as Al can attest to, some huskies can be prone to over eating and then it is very difficult to get them to lose weight.

happy to hear she is getting better. i would defiantly keep an eye on that sensitive tummy.

I was hoping you would say that! I LOVE Orijen and the way it affects her coat and energy. It really is a great food.