Shongah’s Dainty Derrière Dilemma

By Scott Lackenby | Dated January 24, 2017

Little Shongah has had problems with her behind for the past few months. It all started with an anal gland abscess, which was surgically drained and treated with antibiotics by her local vet on the other side of Sydney. Anal glands are scent glands that are located under the skin on both sides of the anus. They express onto faeces as dogs defecate. If they become inflamed or infected they can cause redness, irritation which results in scooting or licking and in severe cases a draining wound.

This image shows a healthy anal gland (or sac) on the left and a diseased gland on the right.

Unfortunately, despite multiple surgical drainages and lots of antibiotics at her local vet, the abscess would not heal. When a swab was taken from the abscess and the bacteria cultured, we knew we were facing an uphill battle with little Shongah. Her anal gland was infected with a very nasty bacterium which was resistant to almost every antibiotic. No wonder she was having such a tough time resolving the problem! In fact, the only antibiotic that had a chance of working needed to be injected every day. That’s a huge effort if you live close to the vet! In this case, despite living an hour’s drive away, Shongah’s devoted family drove her to Gordon Vet for her daily antibiotic injection.

Now although she improved with the new antibiotic, the anal gland infection did not completely resolve. It had been over three months of antibiotics and we really needed to sort this problem out for Shongah once and for all. So, 2 weeks ago little Shongah came back to see us to have her anal glands surgically removed. We’re pleased to say that the surgery went very well and today her stitches were removed. The area has fully healed and there is absolutely no sign of any more infection. Well done Shongah and her family!

Shongah recovering from surgery and patiently waiting for some food!