Hi All

Sorry not posted an update on here about Robbie for a few weeks but my grandad sadly passed away so things been hectic here at the moment one way or another.

Well we took Robbie off of the zd ultra diet afterall as it was causing him to have terrible diarrohea and in turn blocking his anal glands again which was defeating the object, it also wasn't helping with his itchiness so the vet agreed to go back onto the wafcol, we also put him onto piriton which was half a tab twice per day, the face itching he found a lip fold problem and told us to bathe it with salt water after he has eaten to remove any food debree which we have been doing, he is still having days where he is rubbing his face but not quite as much as he was, he seems to have stopped licking at his feet and only seems to be going for 1 of them if he does have a go, the anal gland problem we are still having problems with though which i am finding it hard to understand as his motion has firmed back up since going back onto the wafcol and he is not passing soft motion at all now, but he is still having problems with his glands getting blocked, we are having them emptied every 2-3 weeks at the moment which i know is not good but he starts to really smell that bad fishy smell from his back end and then starts biting at his tail area and chasing his tail round and round in circles he also keeps getting up where he is sitting and sniffing the area. The vet said that it is a greeny looking substance that is coming out of the glands which points to infection and he said it may come to it that he will have to have his glands removed but this sounds a bit drastic seeing as he is only 18 months old and i don't really want to go down that route straight away, he said unfortunately where they are keep being manually expressed they will build up some scar tissue which in turn can cause him discomfort, so not sure whether to leave him and see if they settle down on there own instead of keep taking him down but not sure if they will drive him potty if they are not expressed.

I am looking into taking him to a homeopathic vet in the next few weeks to see what they come up with i did start to enquire but didn't get round to booking an appt. i also spoke to the vet about possibly changing his food from wafcol to orijen he said he didn't have a problem with that and it was worth a try as it is a good quality food but to do it gradually he didn't say which 1 to put him on though and i know they do a few different varieties so not sure which 1 to possibly try, has anybody used this with good results.

Any tips on clearing gland problems i would be interested in, as i just cannot get these damn glands under control and they are really bothering him thats for sure, never had this before with my other westie what causes some dogs to suffer?

If your up for giving him raw bones then they will help to firm things up, and its the pushing/straining to pass a motion that helps to empty the anal glands in the first place. You could also try and add fibre to his diet again to firm things up so he has to strain a bit more to go to the loo.
Out of interest which Wafcol is it that you feed him?

has your vet suggest this (info I found on a website::
Flushing and ointments: Where manual emptying and antibiotics have failed, the next stage is to empty the glands and flush them out with iodine solution and then to pack them with a special ointment. In most cases this is done under anaesthetic so that the patient is properly relaxed (allowing the glands to be filled properly) and not frightened by our interference

i feed him the salmon and potato as this is supposed to be hypoallergenic

Whistler is having problems so the vet knocked him out flushed his anal glands and took swabs. He has been on antibiotics for 14 days (since the results came back) and we are due a second swab taken on April 1st (but I bet he will not find it funny) to see if he's clear. Cant you get the same done? to find out once and for all. Failing that we may decide to remove them but im not convinced on that one yet!!

Yep thats what we had done he was fine after the flush and has had swabs and antibiotics. Another swab to check will be done on April fools day oouch!!!

The vet hasn't said about flushing them just about he may have to have the glands removed, i am not keen on this as i have heard it can cause incontinence and he is such a young dog that i think this is a bit drastic, not sure what the chances are of them clearing and not having any more problems though.

Yes Whistler is 3 and I think he is too young we shall see what tomorrows tests bring before I take any decision.

Well he's all infected again so another set of swabs and a long talk with Finn the vet and we will have the anal glands removed next week. we decided to wait for the results of the swab but after flushing and 14 days antibiotice no good so Im having to have a good think this easter. The positive is Finn worked on Jakes OC shoulder ect and I have confidence in him, he tells it like it is, he feels sooner rather than later whilst the infection is localised, but Ive had a tear and I have to do whats best.

Oh dear !!