ANAL FURUNCULOSIS - Page 2

In 27 years of owning GSDs we had never personally had AF in any of our dogs until this year.  Our 7 year old bitch who was diagnosed with Pancreatic Insufficiency at 14 months developed this distressing disease in May this year.  It took our rather old long in the tooth months to diagnosis her PI and it was only after going to a younger partner and insisting on the PI tests when she was young that it was discovered she had PI.  She and her mother were both spayed as it is a genetic disease carried by both parents. 

When her AF was diagnosed in May this year she was put on Cyclosporin which costs £181.00 for 30 tabs, which is a ludicrous price, however she would never be denied treatment to help her in any way.  She made fantastic progress and in early August started to go into remission.

However, unfortunately for our girl the combination of her PI and AF and the treatment of these very strong drugs encouraged the growth of a large tumour, which was probably already growing in her pancreas (in the dead part of the organ) and I am afraid she deteriorated quickly over 8 days and had to be given sleep in mid-August.

Had she not had 2 diseases she may have survived and lived a bit longer, but this was not to be.

I hope we never again have to encounter either of these 2 diseases as they are both horrible for the dogs - however a happier girl you could never meet - not a bad bone in her body.

Anyway, I hope you dog gets the treatment it needs and lives a long and happy life - give her a chance.

Aileen

I'm on my second one with this horrible disease, but, with cyclosporin they have both had happy quality lives.Both were elderly when diagnosed, one a male and the other a female, fortunately neither had problems with the skin just the anal passage. The dosage of cyclosporin was gradually reduced in both cases reducing the cost considerably, I am now paying £158.00 for 60tablets, still expensive but the dog is as happy as larry and looks in really lovely condition, she is 11 ......Trawl the internet the price varies dramatically !!! 

My son's GSD mix had this awful problem, but he lived until he was 11 years old. He started having problems around the age of 3. We treated him relatively conservatively, & kept the area very clean, & between episodes he was a very happy boy. The periods of active disease were bad, he would lose control of his bowels, & his stools were very bloody & foul smelling, but then he would quickly clear up with aggressive treatment. Towards the end he went down quickly, & my son had to have him PTS, but he had a long & happy life before that. And the cost was not overwhelming. And it gives you a new perspective on life, cleaning your dogs butt twice a day. There's a lot of other stuff that could be wrong with your life, that can't be fixed with a cleaning. Like a really skewed sense of ethics. Are you sure it's the dog's butt that has the big Furunculosis? jackie harris