tonight i've noticed that my elderly JRT has a large lump on his bum. I'm ringing the vets first thing in the morning and i'm praying to god it's just his anal glands.

Please send him good luck vibes :(

Fingers and paws crossed here.

Good luck vibes on the way, hope all goes well.

Everything crossed for you her ally - positive thoughts & vibes too,
Hugs to the li'l guy x

I'm hoping it will be fine :) Maybe an abscess in the anal glands? That's not unusual, and quite often straightforward :)

Fingers and 16 paws crossed here for a simple solution.

Good vibes coming your way - wishing your old boy better very quickly x

thanks for the well wishes. He's gone almost 13 years with only routine trips to the vets so maybe thats why i'm worrying so much,it's not like him to be ill.

Best of luck.
xxxxx

Hopefully nothing too serious will keep fingers and paws crossed fir good news :-)

well we've just come back from the vets and the lump was due to a nasty anal gland abscess so he's been put on steroids and anti b's. The bad news is that the vet could feel a large mass on the anal tissue. He's also lost 1kg since his booster in jan :(

What are they going to do about the mass ? Wait for the steroids and ab's to see if it is just an infection causing the lump ?

i've got to take him back next week after all the swelling has gone down so they can assess the mass properly. There was talk of opening him up to have a look whats going on but i have been advised to think this over as he's an old boy. The vet said that operations around the anal area can be full of complications at the best of times and the risk is much greater with an elderly dog.

Soooo.... what do i do? Do i go ahead with the operation and run the risks of losing him during surgery or do i leave well alone while he's still happy and active and let him tell me when it's time to say good bye?

We had a dog brought in to work with anal gland problems, and on examination an unusual mass was found. This turned out to be completely benign and treatable with medication - the dog has had no recurrence of the problem. So don't panic yet - all might be well. Fingers crossed. :-)

Hi ally,

sorry your news wasn't as good as hoped for :-(  Remember that not every mass found is malignant and it may not be causing him any real problems that he wont cope with.

I know that the waiting game is anxious and upsetting but try not to focus on the negatives.  Hopefully the treatment for the external problem will work quickly and you will see an improvement in him.  Were you given ant-acid meds to use while on the steroids?  If not I would ask for them now

Hugs, Teri

Teri - i was only given the steroids and the anti b's. Will ring the vets and ask about the ant-acid :)

JG - probably a stupid question but did the dog have to be operated on to find out if the mass was benign?

He also had a shot of anti b's and steroids whilst at the vets and is now very quiet, he wont even come out of his crate for the nice juicy bone i got from the butchers on the way home. Do the steriods do this to them?

I need a slap round the face to sort me out. I've always been so calm and positive when the other pooches have been ill and now i'm a blubbering wreck.

Hi again ally,

he's probably feeling a bit sore and uncomfortable after being examined and so wont be himself for a while.  The meds wont have caused it.
I wouldn't think he should need an operation to determine the cause of the mass since the vet could feel it - maybe some sedation required to keep him calm and still and then a biopsy performed.

I know how hard it is - rooting for you both xxx

My best friend and neigbour has a JRT who developed a lump on her bum and this too was diagnosed as a infected anal gland. The vet put him on ABX and steroids and as it reduced in size it became obviouse there was another kind of lump there. However she was on ABX for 4 weeks to clear the infection up and the outcome was that the lump was nothing more than scar tissue from the infection. Fingers paws and toes crossed for you that it is nothing too sinister.
Aileen

If I remember she was sedated for a small biopsy, but didn't need surgery as such.

>I need a slap round the face to sort me out.

It's easy to panic - I've got the "blubbering panicker" teeshirt.