Hi, my 10 year old GSD began licking about 2 weeks ago, she doesnt usually do this. I investigated and saw she was looking a little red. Took her in today and she has had cryosurgery for AF. It was only small as only just begun, so it has been removed, leaving her with an inch open wound at the moment. Im hoping it will heal well and that will be that. I am fully aware it may return though.

Here to hoping not

my poor 6 yr old gsd got diagnosed with AF 5 weeks ago , and 150 pound later shes still on antibiotics and very miserable . i now dont see the point of still giving her the tablets if its not a bacterial infection , after reading all the comments there is absolutely no hope for her at all , what are we to do , is she suffering , or like a woman just getting on with things , as best she can ? . i dont know wether it will be kinder to put her to sleep now or carry on with the suffering , please help

The only treatment that helps AF is cyclosporin.
If that is not helping - and it is expensive - I do not think that there is any reason for you to feel guilty about having her put to sleep.

w

Dear Walter,

I have a 6 year old GSD and got the Anal furunculosis since he was 3 years old. He had three surgery's of removing the dead skin around the area and his vet is recommending to cut off his tail.. His case is really bad to a point they suggested to put him down which I cannot do.

I think that his vet is experimenting on him, he is currently in the surgery and it has been 3 hours. She had removed all the skin around the anal area and called me saying that she wants to cut off his tail.

I know that my dog is suffering and I do not know what to do anymore and what decision to take regarding that... i dont know whether i need an advice or someone to tell me its gonna be okay

As you realise, this is a very difficult condition to treat, but I have never come a croos the suggestion that amputation of the tail would be an appropriate treatment. It may work, but a bit drastic since it would nee to be a high amputation..
The antibiotic of choice is Cyclosporin
Let us know how her gets ion.

John Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dear Walter.
> My six and a half year old german shepherd
> developed anul furunculosis last year,he was given
> tablets and cream for three months by a vet but
> got worse.
> I contacted another vet and they referred me
> to Dick White referrals who operated on him it was
> expensive but after three weeks it looked really
> well again it has stayed like this for nearly five
> months now but when I did my daily check on him
> today I found his anal orifice red and raw looking
> I used some Fuciderm cream on him but does this
> mean he will slip backwards again to how he was
> before the operation.
> Keeping fingers crossed for your
> advice
> John

Anal furunculosis is a chronic and frustrating disease and is extremely common in German Shepherds. We used to think it was a primary deep skin infection but now we know that it is a disease where the immune system gets out of control and then the skin becomes infected secondarily. In the past this was always treated with surgery but nowadays this is reserved for the worst cases to hurry up the resolution of the condition. You were very lucky to be sent to Dick White as he is one of the best surgeons on the planet! If the condition is now recurring a cream is going to make little difference - furunculosis is a deep seated problem in the skin and creams only penetrate a few millimeters. The modern way to treat this condition before it gets really bad and needs surgery, is to use drugs which suppress the inappropriate immune response which is the cause of this disease. The most common drugs used are corticosteroids and ciclosporine; antibiotics may be prescribed as well, but on their own, antibiotics will not sort this problem out. Make sure you see your vet promptly to get on top of things as soon as possible. Unfortunately this is likely to be a recurring problem.

Hi my 2 year and 8 month lab as this condition the vet as just phoned to say that it was the worse and progresive he had seen he as been ill since xmas eve and today the13th Jan is when we found out what was wrong with him, Can anybody tell me if the treatment is worth doing at £400 per month approx is very expensive ...... I would thank anybody with any responce to this

Sue

Hi,

WEith all due respect for your vet, I would ask for a second opinion. Anal gland abscesses are far commoner in Labradors than anal furunculosis, an entirely different condtion which is much more difficult to treat.

W

Hi Walter

They have got him at the Willows as he was sent there via the vets that i have just started using as they where baffled at his condition ? Its a prof White that as been treating him, I tock him to Birmingham last night they giving him drugs that are used for Kidney Transplant in Humans or somthing simular ..... This vet at Willows is the 3rd vet i have seen. The others could'nt tell me anything and all of this started from a cough ????? then he just went down hill

Hi

Willows arebhighy respected consultants and should know what they are doing, Presumably the medicine you mention is Atopica.

W

Hi, i took my 23wk old gsd bitch to our local vets for her 2nd jab + get this months wormer, I mentioned that she gets minging fishy breath and asked was it down too her teething? The vet explained that it may be that she has blocked glands and so after giving her, puppy jab, he then went up the other end to have check, he said they where full and so he emptied them, he explained somthing too me about it but as i have the memory of a fish n the attention span of a 5yr old i have forgotten what he said exactly but I know the words infection, regular treatment & worsen where used quite alot, I was then advised to purchase a tub of Pro Fiber from them and told that i need increase the fiber in her meals to keep her stool firm (she was a lil bit loose, as the night before i had to use a different dog food as shop had sold out)
What i would like ask you is, should she have given a antibiotic jab and/or a corse of antibiotics??
and roughly how much extra ££ would that have cost me to have her glands squeezed? bearing in mind we were there for a 2nd jab, if im not mistaken it should inc a basic health check temp taken teeth checked etc etc??

Dear Mea,

The smell you describe is typical of dogs anal glands - and isn't it awful! The anal glands are used to mark a dog's territory but some dogs get the hump and mark the house or the owners if they are stressed. No one knows why dogs anal glands cause trouble but some older vets have told me it is because they don't get enough fibre in their diet so they do not empty naturally when they go to the toilet or that a lack of contact with other dogs can stop the impulse to empty them. Whatever the cause, getting them emptied by your vet is often recommended to stop the smell but in my personal opinion this is not that helpful and sometimes causes more problems in the long run than it solves. Once you start doing this it seems to become a never ending problem. Adding fibre to the diet to encourage them to empty naturally and socialising your dog with other dogs may help. As for any treatment, nothing else will change anything, so none is necessary.

As for any charges I am afraid that I cannot comment on that. Your vet should give your pet an examination before the vaccination to make sure there is no reason not to give the vaccine but exactly what is done depends on the vet - if you are not happy then first discuss this with your vet and if you are still not happy then you may wish to seek the advice of another vet. Like all of us busy people sometimes things slip our mind but feel free to say 'can you also .....' whatever that might be.

I have just lost my 5 year old GSD from Anal furunculossi, she had been struggling with her anal glands they found what was really wrong when she was operated on to remove the glands, she was so bad we put her to sleep on the operating table.
Her sister has just had to have her glands removed due to infection, we are shocked that AF has started with her.
I have been informed by the breeder that this is not Hereditary if this was true how do they get it? if it is not hereditary then how unlucky am I to pick two that have it.

Never heard of this but learning fast.

Jean

I am very sorry to hear that you have sadly lost your dog. In the past, before we understood more about the causes of this disease, the condition could be so difficult to sort out that dogs were often put to sleep. I am surprised that this is what has occurred to you because the treatment is so effective nowadays. The anal glands are not really associated with this disease as such, although anal gland abscesses can extend to the surrounding tissues and look similar. In female dogs anal gland tumours which are usually malignant are more common but this would be unrelated to anal furunculosis, just in the same area - are you sure that was not what was going on as I am very surprised that anal furunculosis would be a reason for euthanasia these days?

As I said in my earlier post anal furunculosis is a disease where the immune system attacks the tissues - we call these immune mediated diseases. These diseases are very common in German Shepherds and although I am not aware of a proven genetic link, it is almost certain that due to the fact that these diseases are so common in German Shepherds that it is genetic and thus potentially hereditary.

Again I am sorry for your loss.

Hi,

My GSD has just been diagnosed with what the vet thinks is anal furunculosis, but she wants to do a biopsy next week just to confirm as she mentioned it could be cancer, does this have similar symptons??

Also, he is 11 years old, has hip/leg and spine problems, his legs are not going yet but they are just starting to, also skin allergies, catarachs etc, we rescued him 5 years ago and have tried to give him thes best life possible, but now we realise we possibly only have him for a few more months, do you think it is worth putting him through the treatment for anal furunculosis and the vet said it was not a mild case so I assume the treatment of atopica will really take it out of him, there is a large part of me that is saying it would be kinder to lose him now rather than put him through that??

Thanks
Jo

Hi, took my Meg back for a check up after op, (see above message) told the stitches have broken and the wound has parted inside and I need to take her back for another op to close the wound. We do not want her operated on any more can we refuse?

It is always hard to say why your vet may be in doubt about the diagnosis without actually seeing the lesions but the only skin lesions that I can think of that might mimic anal furunculosis would be a sweat gland tumour which is incredibly rare. The question may be whether your vet thinks that there is an anal gland cancer but these do not usually present with skin lesions just a mass in the region of the anus. If this is anal furunculosis you have to accept that this may take a few months to get better (although your dog should feel much better a few weeks after treatment is started) and atopica and or steroids, possibly with a few weeks of antibiotics will usually solve the problem. As I have said previously this is a disease that 10 years ago always required surgery and was a nightmare, but now we understand more about it then drug treatment works really well, all be it a bit slower. It is worth persevering but one must always consider any other problems your dog has as to whether this is the straw that breaks the camels back as it were. Nothing you say suggests to me that this is the end of the road and this is a disease which can be well controlled if not cured so do not get too despondent. The other problems your dog has need to be taken into account if these are more of a worry.

I would like to add a positive note to this forum about this terrible predominantly GSD disease. Nearly 5 years ago we rescued a lovely bouncy 1 1/2 year old GSD who had been waiting in kennels to re-homed for over 1 year. She was a bit tentative around people at first but was always very loving and obedient to her owners. Over time she has matured into a confident and happy dog. Unfortunately about 2 years ago she was fussing her back end quite a lot and appeared to be in some discomfort. The previous year she had an infection of her anal glands which required squeezing, so it seems this may be an early sign which should be looked out for. Once diagnosed she was put on 2 100mg Atopica tablets every day for 3 months. Amber responded well to these drugs and the medication was changed to 1 100mg Atopica and 1 Nizoral tablet everyday. This reduced the cost of the drugs by about 40% as Nizoral is much less expensive than Atopica.
Gradually over time the dosage has been reduced to 1 of each every 4 days and it is keeping the disease in remission very well. We very regularly inspect the area to ensure that the drugs are working.
The drugs to put this disease into remission are expensive, but it is worth getting a prescription from your vet and buying them from the internet. This has saved us a lot of money over the last few years.
With a combination of great veterinary support and careful monitoring we have not had to go down the route of surgery etc. The drugs do seem to work. Also it is commonly thought that the price of Atopica will fall within the near future. The company who developed the drug has a limited time of exclusivity to produce the tablets. Once this has expired other companies will be able to manufacture them and prices should go down. So the future is much brighter for those of us who have a dog with this terrible disease.

My 7 year old GSD dog wad diagonsed with AF about 8 weeks ago, we have been treating him with Atopica 150 mg twice daily and have now had to increase the dose to 200 mg twice daily as the lower dose was not making any difference. Jazz is 37kg in weight. does anyone no of any other treatments that could help as I find this condtion so frustrating, Jazz seems ok some days but now walks with heavy back legs as if his muscels have been pulled and it hurts him. he does wimper at times. any help would be grateful as my vet is also now at a loss!

hi

i have a gsd who had this terrible disease, we managed to cure with the following,
initially she had an op to cut out what could be removed of the infection without doing any damage to the bladder, we did a lot of research and put her on a diet of raw green tripe and a few drops of tincture of ecinachea, apparantly the tripe and ecinachea do wonders for the digestive system and apparently helps clear the intestines of infection, my vet then looked into an alternative to the cyclosporin tablets as these are so expensive, and came up with an eye cream called optimmune which contains cyclosporin( yes i did say an eye cream!!) i found this available from petsonline for around £17 per tube - you will need a pescription from your vet first, this cream was squeezed into the holes around the anus for months until eventually the holes healed up and i wasnt able to get any more cream in (at its worst i would squeeze the cream in one hole until it oozed out of another not very nice but at least i knew the cream was going in to the infected areas), i also shaved all the hair from around the anus and inside base of her tail as fresh air helps, lack of air can cause the disease in the first place, finally she had plenty of dips in the sea which we think might have helped as the salt water may have penetrated the infected areas
hope this helps please let me know how you get on
lucys mum

If you look at my comments earlier you can see how frustrating this disease is. 200mg twice daily for atopica is fine and nearer the accurate dose. Adding steroids to the atopica may improve the rate at which the disease improves but comes with side-effects such as increased thirst, urination and appetite. Some cases may also require antibiotics if there is secondary infection. Rare cases require surgery and you may want to ask your vet to refer you to a specialist surgeon.

I have a seven year old Irish Setter who had anal furunculosis two and a half years ago. He was firstly treated with 2 different types of antibiotic which did no good at all then he was put on 3 tablets of Atopioca 50mg daily for 4 weeks and then every other day for another 4 weeks. Thankfully he is insured with a top pet insurer and they paid many hundreds of pounds for his treatment. He has had it again for the last 4 weeks and will receive the same again for a couple of months .He is also epileptic and on a lot of medication as he has had status twice and nearly died from that. I hope that my info helps those who have dogs with this complaint. Be like me and if you can afford the treatment go for it and do not give up until there is no more you can do for your dog other than to put him down. I wish you all well with your lovely doggy friends.

3 weeks ago had to have my second GSD put down due to AF. My GSD's were litter sisters, all the family is devastated.
They were 5 & 6 no age at all, to think we were worried we might get to old to look after them!!!!!!!!!!!

The harest thing to do but could not let them suffer anymore.

Would love another but very afraid.

I have a 10 yo female GSD (Kira) who has EPI & anla furunculosis. 3 years ago she weighed 30kg & had chronic diarrhoea & she was utterly miserable & unwell, & disliked eating.
Now she weighs 37kg, loves eating, is really fit active & well. The AF seems to have gone & she passes perfect stools every day. It makes me so happy to see her happy & well & I want to share what I have done with all GSD owners - it seems to have worked perfectly so far & no cyclosporin was used.
My email is p.christian@exemail.com.au.
If you know the best place for me to spread our success story to max GSD people please let me know. Or if you wish to know details email me. It is basically a diet of good quality chicken with rice & vegies, added vits & omega fatty acids (no dog food rubbish or grains) to get the EPI under control (plus 1 x 10000 creon capsule with food 2ce a day). With no diarrhoea & washing bottom 2ce a day with saline the AF also cleared up. Initially she was on cephalexin as the bottom was infected from AF, and neocort. I changed the neocort to Ketacomb from the chemist & applied to bottom 2ce day after washing (I also washed her bottom after every poo as I think it is critical to keep faeces off it & keep it clean) - it becomes easy as the more you wash it the easier & quicker it gets - but if you love your GSD as much as I do then you will enjoy being able to help her (or him) & clear up such an awful condition.
Diet is critical & I prob spend more on her food than mine - but she is worth it - & the results make it all worthwhile.
If you need more or know of good place to post please email me.
I hope I can help all those other beautiful GSDs out there. bye Peter & Kira

hello.
Our 7 year old male, neutered, yellow labrador has had AF for a couple of years now. He responded very well to his first course of Atopuca and Ketaconazole, and the AF disappeared completely. However, within 4 weeks of stopping treatment, the AF is back and worse than before. I have read about Imidocarb being used to successfully treat perianal fistula (another name for AF), with just 4, once a week injections. Has anyone on here ever used this treatment, or know a vet wh has? We are keen to find something that will really help our poor dog.
thanks.

The paper you refer to used imidocarb because the the affected dogs had Babesia, a blood infection, and this was why it was used. It was concluded that the Babesiosis was the cause of the AF. I am not aware that imidocarb would otherwise be useful for the treatment of AF and the usual approach of steroids, cyclosporine, azathiaprine and antibiotics is still the recommended approach. Recurrence is very common when therapy is stopped and so needs to be repeated.