Tough call. I just had my Golden Retriever in because of a growth near the anal gland. The vet wants to watch it for a week, then if it hasn't improved, she'll use a needle to aspirate and find out what it is. She has been practicing for over 20 years and prefers to use the least invasive approaches first.

Your substitute vet does sound a little "intense". Seems to me that surgery should be a last resort. I think I'd consider a second opinion. Are there any other vets there? Does your sis in law have any suggestions?

I would probably just have the anal glands expressed more frequently and regularly, ie. monthly. If thickening, blood or infection appears to be ongoing after 3 or 4 months of regular expression, then you might want to consider surgery.

But 4 lbs of weight gain for a dog is quite a bit. (4 lbs of weight gain for a human isn't much, but for a dog its a considerably larger percentage of total weight). I definitely would agree to check the thyroid.

And if you have any hesitation at all about the new Vet, I definitely would get a second opinion. You are not obligated to go to this Vet and many times I have regretted not following my gut instinct.

The vet saying it 'could' be a tumor isn't the same as saying it's cancerous. It could just be the start of an infection and the antibiotic should help.

If you're not comfortable with this new vet is there another one in the office that you could see when you return? If not, then I wouldn't hesitate to bring up the alternatives you've read about and discuss them with her.

Otherwise, get a second opinion.

Couple of points to consider:

Greyhounds have notoriously low thyroid hormones, and she will almost certainly test as "hypothyroid." However without having any clinical signs such as lethargy, unexplained weight gain (not the typical summer weight gain), hair loss on the body (not in the typical greyhound area of back of thighs) the likelihood that she is actually hypothyroid is very low, and she would not need treatment. Greyhounds and other sighthounds have some strange normal values (low thyroid levels, high PCV/HCT which is sometimes mistaken for cancer or dehydration) and anyone who is not familiar with them will drive themselves and the owner nuts trying to figure it out.

Second, hypercalcemia does not ALWAYS occur with carcinomas, only about 50% of the time. Sure, when there is hypercalcemia we go searching for carcinomas unless there is another obvious reason, but just because there is no hypercalcemia doesn't mean there is no carcinoma. There are 2 types of tumors that could affect the anal sacs or area around the anal sacs: the more common in female dogs is apocrine gland adenocarcinoma (malignant), the more common in intact male dogs is anal sac adenoma (benign), although either could occur in either gender. In a retrospective study on dogs with apocrine gland ACA, over 50% of the dogs had NO clinical signs, and the mass was found on routine physical exam.

A thickened anal gland is not normal- could be either inflammation, infection, or tumor. I don't think that you can rule out inflammation or infection with a weeks worth of oral antibiotics. The anal sac needs to be drained (with sedation or anesthesia because it can be quite painful) and possibly infused with antibiotics as previously mentioned to truly rule out infection. However if it were my 9 year old dog, I would have a biopsy of the affected gland taken at the time of anal sac flushing to get a diagnosis. Apocrine gland ACA is a bad bad disease, most tumors have already metastasized by the time of diagnosis, and with surgery + chemotherapy the median survival time is not so great (6-12 months) IF no visible mets are noted on abdominal ultrasound and thoracic radiographs. If there are already visible mets, the median survival goes down despite best efforts.

Personally I would simply drop the whole hypothryoidism thing (as you were most likely thinking anyway) and put your money, time, and effort into diagnosing and treating the anal gland problem with flushing/infusing/biopsy under heavy sedation or general anesthesia. In a 9 year old dog, I wouldn't do any of the above without a CBC and chemistry profile to rule out other organ dysfunctions. It may just be an impacted gland, maybe even have to be surgically removed, but getting it treated sooner rather than later will spare your dog a lot of discomfort. And if it is an apocrine gland ACA, getting it diagnosed and treated soon may buy your dog several months of good quality time.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

Meghane, that is an excellent post on this subject,and you deserve a congrats on your post! Best I have seen in a long time on anal sacs and I participate on several Vet boards.

If you read the initial post, I get the impression the dog has had anal gland issues for a long time but never had the Vet express before. so it doesn't surprise me there may have been some impaction, simply due to lack of good expression rather than tumor. I still think a biopsy is a bit premature.

You wrote your dogs has been licking itself for a while now. Your dogs licking indicated a propblem, that the glands needed to be excised, your dogs licking is only cleaning up the mess which would have ended up on the carpet, your dogs glands should be routinely excised by either the vet or the groomer, this should take place once a month. The glands sit too far forward for your dog to get any relief as a result of licking. Your are lucky, a blown gland is not a nice thing, and any surgery involving that area should be avoided unless absoluetly necessary - aspiration is a better option, operating anywhere near the bowels is going to be a very long time in healing. I would get a second opinion regarding the operation and please get our dog into a groomer or the vets for a monthly galnd excise to avoid future problems. Good luck, hope your dog is okay

Ok, I'm a little confused. Do all dogs need their anal glands excised? Or is it just dogs that have problems? I don't think I've ever had a dog that was excised, unless it was during the yearly checkup and I do my own grooming.

Your confusion is understandable, I too have had dogs for close to 50 years and never had anal glan issues. Many dogs are born with their glands too far forward for their regular bathroom habits to empty on their own, so they become impacted. Anal glands are kind of like our appendix, dogs dont really need them any longer, they would usually get released when a dog is in a fight or flight situation. Some dogs outgrow their glands not being in the right place, some dogs dont, some the situation just disappears, some need to have their gland dealt with every month or so for their life time. Since your dog has displayed behaviors that are indicative of anal glands bother it, they should probably be dealt with on a monthly basis. Your vet can even teach you to do it yourself. Hope all turns out okay.

My groomer initially noticed that my shih tsu's one anal gland was a little larger (size of a quarter) about two months ago. At her recommendation I took him to the vet to have them expresses. Two months later at his next grooming session they had increased to the size of a two dollar coin. I took him to the vet who again expresses it however he was in a lot of pain. Upon examination the vet determined that it was a tumour. Acouple of days later he had an operation had it removed and a biopsy was sent out as it "appeared suspicious".

I just received the results yesturday and it has been confirmed that my dog has cancer. It doesn't appear that it has mastized however the vet said that it could not be confirmed until bloodwork has been done. The prognosis doesn't look good. His life expectancy at his point is about 12 - 16 months at best hoiwever if it's mastisized he has 6 months.

He has numerous ailments; senacceous cysts that are growing & spreading quickly also numerous allergies - including grasses, "many" foods and he is also on a prescription diet for crystals in his urine. He's been drinking a lot of water over the last few months and I fear that his kidneys are being affected as he is drinking a lot of water.

I love my dog and want to know what options are available to extend his life and allow him the best quality of life possible.

Thank you

No not all dogs need to have their anal glands expressed.

If your dog is showing symptoms of anal gland problems, then you should have your vet check them.

Symptoms could include licking or biting at the rear, scooting, odd sits, tail chasing, pressing their rear up against the wall, wanting you to pet their rear all the time...

Here is a link that might be useful: A pretty good link about anal sacs

Thanks for all of the info, everyone. We have a follow up appt at 5:30 today and I'll be sure to let you all know what happens.

Our regular vet (who's out on maternity leave at the moment) has been aware of the anal gland issue for some time now. She's always checked it out as part of routine exams (every 6 months) and up until our dog's last exam (a few months back), she felt things were normal. And granted, our dog's expressing herself was a problem that came up from time to time but it was never a consistent issue from what we had seen in the past (and what the vet had found). So, that's why we've left it alone until this point when, a few weeks ago, we saw her fussing w/ her rear more than usual.

I'm hopeful that its a simple infection that we'll get matters resolved quickly. We both adore this pup of ours and have done everything we knew to do to keep her healthy and happy in her life. To lose her at 9 years of age, when by all accounts from our vet, she still has alot of life in her yet, would be heartbreaking. I cannot, at the moment, even bare the thought.

Anyway, we will see what happens in an hour and a half. Keep those fingers crossed for us.