Periananl Fasciatas - Page 1

Anyone heard of this. My daughter has a 2 year old male with this. He is now not eating and not moved his bowels in a week.  He can only have venison.

 Are you talking about perianal fistula? Yes, it is an all too common problem in GSDs. She probably needs veterinary assistance.

Perianal Fistula can be a terminal disease if not treated quickly and by a vet that is familiar with it. I have a female that came down with this and she is now healed and doing well. The dog needs to get to the vet so it can be examined to determine the severity of it. There is an antibiotic which the dog needs to be put on, an ointment that is actually an opthamalic ointment that heals the sore opening. There are also supplements that the dog should be put on to help with the internal healing process. Wheat Germ Oil 1 T on food 2 times a day (you should introduce it slowly because otherwise you will have a dog with the scoots and you should feed the food wet allowing the water to soak into the food), Olewo, Hokamix, Vertex and Fastrack. Also get some baby wipes that are not scented and keep the area under the tail clean every time the dog goes to the bathroom, you should clean the area at least 2 times a day and the wipe should be clean when done. This disease if not treated quickly and agressively will actually lead to the dog getting a second opening by the rectum that will eventually get large and every time the dog goes to the bathroom it will lose quite a lot of blood. Sometimes the vets and universities say that the dog's tail will need to be removed, this is not always necessary. That is why I said the veterinarian needs to be familiar with the disease. My female is now 11 years old and doing very well and the Fistula is healed (however you always need to keep an eye on the dog for any signs of the Fistula trying to restart). The supplements were something that a friend of mine who knows a lot about diseases of this nature and natural ways to help fight it. The dogs that typically get this are dogs that do not keep their tails up (for instance like a Pointer) and so the anal area stays a little on the moist side allowing bacteria to form and causing the anal glands to be able to become infected. Also put the dog on a good quality food that is not high in protein or fat. I would suggest Royal Canin German Shepherd 24, unless you can get Burns Diet depending where you are at Burns will shipand it is quite reasonable. I can email you a direct link if you provide me with your email address also a link for where to purchase the supplements. If your vet is not overly familiar with Perianal Fistula I can get the names of what my vet gave to my female so that your vet can prescribe it. My vet happened to be out of town when I first noticed the problem and so I had to take my female to a different vet, the other vet did not prescribe the right antibiotic or the right treatment and time is of the essence with this disease. I wish you the very best and for the dog.

I have had two females suffer with this condition.  The key word here is SUFFER.  It is a condition that seems to be unique to the GSD. Research the Internet, take any information that is more than two years old and discounted.  I recently discussed this with a vet here in California who told me that there are new drugs (that are not cost prohibitive) that can treat the condition.  It will not go away on its own! It must be treated and it will be an ongoing issue.  The open sores, constant state of infection and structural weakness caused all make the dog's life a misery.  Good luck.

Join this Yahoo list.  They helped me a lot when one of my dogs in the past had PF.  But do get medical attention ASAP.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/PF-L/

Rozoan

My son's GSD mix had severe perianal fistulas, with tracts that developed deep into and all around the rectal area, even with supplements, good diet, & stringent care. He seemed to exacerbate with stress, as when my son had to leave him with me for travel or business reasons. The stress of separation would always start him having bloody stools. It was very like a person with Krohn's or colitis. He was on and off Cyclosporin for years. When he was in remission he was a very happy, easy going (no pun intended) dog. He lived to be10 & 1/2 years old, but the disease caught up to him; in the last days of his life he lost a lot of weight & was no longer his happy self. Poor boy, my son had to euthanise him last summer. I'm glad that he spent his life with my son, you never saw a dog so crazy for a boy, well, now a man. As long as he was with my son, he was in heaven. RIP, Buddha. jh

I have an 11 year old with PF diagnosed at  8.  He had rectal pull through surgery at 9 and it made al the difference in the world.   He went through a period where we seriously considered euthanizing him. Some of his tracts were 4 inches long (the vet dissected out each tract from point of origin in recturm)

It is frustrating - you need to keep the stools soft but soft stools are a bit sticker to clean.  A lot of people have had good results with, believe it or not, Desitin.

I do not belivee it is unique to GSD .  That yahoo group is good. That is where I found the doctor I went to after 9 months of ineffective veterinary treatment. 

Thanks everyone for your help. My daughter is going to a Vet that was reconmended for this condition. I will have to let her read all of these replies. She will probably be asking some questions. I will tell her about the yahoo website.  Thanks again.