Anal furunculosis/perianal fistulae......treatment n cost. - Page 1

Anal furunculosis/perianal fistulae..... treatment/cost.i have today had my bitch of 9 years old diagnosed with a mild case of anal furunculosis.I live in the uk.My vet at the peoples dispensary for animals(PDSA...charity)has advised the use of cyclosoprin at a dose of 150gm.once daily to start with or(as the pdsa will not supply cyclosporine)the alternative is prednisolone at 70mg daily.I,m wondering if gsd peeps who have experienced this disease or are now experiencing it mind answering some questions.Thank u......1)which route would u take....cyclorsporine,prednisolone,or homeopathic methods......2)Dosage.....is this too low to start with......3)wot do u recommend for keeping the anus area clean n dry.....4)would u combine some natural treatments such as aloe gel drink,cream for external use....5)would u change diet.....i feed raw,obvious the raw bones would have to go but vet has recommended a prescription diet(Hills science diet,)......5)less important but would u continue to show her in veteran classes.......6)the most important one COST.......i have sourced 2 online vet prices her in uk....Canine chemists quoted £85.10 for 15 tablets @100gm n 15 @50gm.vet medics was £92.40.Just wondered if anyone here in the uk knows of anywhere i could purchase cyclorsporine cheaper.Thank you.Carole Spelman.

I take it the bitch is 30kg going of the recommended dose of Atopica - a way to reduce cost is to add in Ketoconazole then you only need 1 to 2 mg per kg of Atopica instead of 5mg per kg, as the anti-fungal drug slows down the degradation of ciclosporin
another immunosuppresive is Tacrolimus cream (Protopic) not sure of cost but if this is the first time she has had lessions and they are not deep it may be an alternative
Keep her weight low, you could use malaseb spray on cotton wool for cleaning, again not sure if available in UK - options to discuss with the treating vet

Hi there, a friend of mine has had a similar problem with costs of medication for her dog which has quite a severe problem with furunculosis. She has taken the medication to a local pharmacist who is in the process of identifying the composition of the tablets with a view to the possibility of providing a cheaper alternative! ( My friend hasn't disclosed to the pharmacist the price she is currently paying the vet!) It might be worth considering this as an option. I will ask my friend to let me know how she gets on and keep you updated,


 

I have had two gsd's with fistula's, both were the result of anal gland infection/issues, so not "true" fistula's in my opinion.

I did go the cyclo (atopica) route with my second one and it worked for him.

To answer a couple of your questions with what I did.
1. cyclo
2. my male weighed 80lbs I started with 300 mgs per day, (split into two doses), for one month, second month I went to 200 mgs per day, by the end of the second month the fistulas were closed, third month dropped to 100 mgs per day, and for a maintenance month went to 50 mgs daily.
3.  I kept the area shaved, daily keeping it clean and as dry as possible..I also used Desitin (with zinc),,I believe some in UK use I think it's called sudacream(sp)?

I did not change diet as mine was not the result of other issues, (many pf dogs have other issues, allergies, ibd, sibo etc)

I would encourage you to chek out the PF website and join their email group, alot of great advice

 http://perianal-fistulas.tripod.com/MainIndex.html

Pet Drugs Online appear to be cheaper for buying Atopica - 15 x 100mg for £39.78, a prescription is needed for them though.

Hope it all goes well for you

Hi Carole,
Some years ago I had a dog from a well known UK Breeder who developed this nasty disease at about 4 yrs old. Thankfully I had insurance and this covered the cost for Cyclo for the full period (cant remember how long) approx 1-2 months.
It was a horrible time we were dreading the what was thought the worst!! Thankfully he made a full recovery and lived a normal healthy life up to 13yrs.
The vet believed that because we caught it early it was treatable and hence did not have to have long term medication. I had never seen this horrible disease before but knew of it and I believe if you are giving the necessary care and husbandry and paying attention to your animals everyone should catch it early.
What would we have done if I had not got the insurance? I would have paid no questions asked. If the dog had been old then that would have been a different matter. I do believe the disease is no longer a killer now we have cyclo (thank goodness).
Good luck, hope the animal does well.

thank yu  very much,to all who have provided information ,i,m extremely grateful.I have decided that Chiki will be having the cyclo.even if i have to register with a private vet instead of the PDSA.I would prefer to stay with the PDSA,not because of only making a small donation for my dogs treatment which most do but not me.Everytime i,ve had to attend there i have waited to see how much my girls treatment has cost n then i mostly pay £50(donation)even if treatment was less.Lily (Chiki,s mum)had an open pyometra in feb.2010,cost approx.£305,which i paid over a period of time.One receptionist calls me a star,so i would hope they,d allow me the prescriptions(paid for of course)to obtain the cyclo.from an internet vet.pharmacy,thus allowing me to attend PDSA for follow ups n my contributions for her treatments.My only worry will be if she has to have surgery but i,ve a feeling the PDSA wont offer that either???.Chiki is fine in herself,looks very well,alert but looks a bit peed off with me as i keep examing her bum.Whathave u kind ppl.used to soothe the affected area n to keep it dry?Can i use baby wipes with aloe for cleansing affected area n wot do i use to keep it dry?The vet said it was a mild case but DID NOT DO AN INTERNAL EXAM,as i asked her ...how she knew it was AF.n she said she not examined internally as she didnt want to hurt her n that obviously i knew a lot about my breed n was observant enuf.to catch it in the early stages.I,m pondering whether i should get a 2nd opinion as a friend in another breed asked why antibotics werent being tried first or the anal glands removed if antibotics dont worked??Carole.S.

Hi Carole,
So sorry to hear about Chiki, she was such a good gorl when I took her in for you at Maidstone, looked the picture of health.

My Willow has this, and also my old Dexter's brother had it as well as a few other GSD's I know.

Firstly I would not put her on the Prednisalone, GSD's do not do well on steroids in general & I would never give them to any of mine after what happened to Dexter & what i know about other dosg who have been on them.  Apart from a few exemptions it's like signing a death warrant for your GSD.

Cyclosporin is good & will work in that it holds it at bay.  Willow started with puss around her bottm & small holes seeping this brown grainy fluid.  The vet did an internal & diagnosed an abcess in her anus, but the minute I saw it I knew it was AF.  She had strong antibiotics for a few weeks but then had to go to have the removed.  The vet called after the op & said he could only remove one gland as her inside was in sucha  bad condition, tracks going down as deep as he could find with this grainy fluis seeping through everything, he stictched her back up & told us in his op it was an aggressive tumour. The tests came back showing AF & deep seated infection. 

This was 18 mths ago.  She was sput on 3 Antirobe antibiotics once a day for several months, and slowly weaned off them so that she now is on them for a week & off for 3 wks, but it has been a slow process.  She was also put on 150mg of Atopica daily (she weighs 35kg)she was on this for a few mths & then reduced to everyo other day, then every 2 days, then 2 pw, then 1 pw.  Sadly at this point it all flared up & so she started back up on the daily course. We droppped them back again slowly & got to one every three days before it started up again.  She was put back on the full dose, then dropped abck again.  But by the time she got to one dose every 3 days it flared up again.  Unfortunately this seems to be the pattern for most dogs I know with it.

I have found that if she gets too hot this can make it worse, so I try to keep the bedroom (where she sleeps of course) as cool as we can bear & also try to stop her getting to hot in the warmer weather or when the heating is on.  So watch where she is sleeping.Also a change in routine or being stressed doesn't help with this.

As for keeping the area clean, some vets prescribe hibiscrub bit I think this is too strong.  I cleaned Willow's bum every evening when at it's worse, just with water or salt water on soft cotton wool & dried it off.  Dermisol cream from Vetuk might help if there are sores & shaving foam (sensitive one) will break down any poo if it is crusty there.

Usually dogs GSD get it from about 18 mths to 4 yrs so she seems late for onset.  I think it is a sign of a compromised immune system, so if she has never suffered with anything along those lines, could there be a more serious health problem underlying?  I doubt it though.

I pay about £45 a pack for my Atopica (cyclsporin) at Newnham Court in Maidstone.

Hopefully you will be able to keep it pretty much at bay as I have with Willow & i'm sure she will still get to a ripe old age if you can afford the meds, but they have finacially exhausted us even though we are insured because of the interest on the bills & all the excess fees

Good luck with this Carol & hugs for poor Chiki

Hi carole, hope you and Mr are well. So sorry to hear about Chiki, can't give you any advise but hope everything works out well for her. Have a Merry Christmas and a great New Year.

Hope you get it sorted Carole - I know how much she means to you.