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Old December 31st, 2011, 02:11 PM
janedearc janedearc is offline
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lameness and swollen anus - vets dumbfounded

is there any connection between lameness and swollen anus oozing brown mix of smelly liquid and blood? No enlarged prostate found, no anal gland problem..condition is chronic 6 months already. Xray shows mild arthritis. Rhodesian ridgeback, 6 years. mild weight loss. I thought it could be malabsorption problem that lead to Arthritis due to lack of nutrients, and dog is always hungry and has large soft (but noy diarhea) stool. not blood in stool not urine.
Bleeding stops for about the week after treatment with flagyl. today i noticed that the dog was runnin and then start limping. i saw immediate discharchge of mix from his anus.
Besides the ocassional pain dog looks happy
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Old December 31st, 2011, 03:16 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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I wonder if the two problems are unrelated?

Flagyl has antiinflammatory properties as well as antibiotic properties. If your dog has some malabsorption going on due to inflammation of the intestine, the flagyl could well make it better.

The lameness could be something else entirely. Are you in an area with ticks? If so, a screening for tick-borne disease might be in order.

Have you considered going to a veterinary teaching hospital for the bowel problem? Many Universities that have vet schools also have teaching hospitals. They see a lot of things regular vets don't, and they have good diagnostic equipment there that many regular vets can't afford. We had a young setter with similar digestive symptoms and finally got referred to the U of MN VTH. The diagnosis was inflammatory bowel disease. Our regular vet just didn't have the equipment to make the definitive diagnosis.
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Old December 31st, 2011, 06:52 PM
MaxaLisa MaxaLisa is offline
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It sounds like what happens in a Perianal Fistula, when the tunnels haven't opened up on the outside yet.

Many of these are a mix of infection and autoimmune issues, and the flagyl is probably helping with gut infection AND inflammation.

The limping may be from pain or discomfort from the internal tracts of the fistula, IF that is what is going on here. I only know this because this is what happened with my boy.

Sometimes these fistulas are related to tick diseases, sometimes general infection, sometimes purely autoimmune, sometimes a combination. If it's genetic, then it behaves a lot like Crohn's disease.

First treatment is usually with an antibiotic like cipro (or baytril) and pred, longer than usual, and slowly wean. If that doesn't work, then bigger guns are necessary.

As HRP mentioned above, the limp may be unrelated too.
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Old December 31st, 2011, 06:57 PM
MaxaLisa MaxaLisa is offline
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Forgot to add - many vets won't recognize a fistula at this stage, having not dealt with many (or any!). My boy's was misdiagnosed initially, and I've seen others misdiagnosed too.

While predominantly in German Shepherd Dogs, they do occur in other breeds.
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Old December 31st, 2011, 07:39 PM
janedearc janedearc is offline
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He got tested for tick disease right away..negative and the lameness must be related with bleeding...because it started at the same time 6 months ago..as of the fistula I will look in to that thank you both for your time. I will keep you posted.
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Old January 1st, 2012, 05:21 PM
MaxaLisa MaxaLisa is offline
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Good luck!
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