Anal Fistuals - Page 1

We have a 6 year old GSD.  She is suffering from anal fistulas.  Has anyone ever had this problem?  We have tried the ointment and the pills and nothing seems to be clearing this up.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

One of my old girls, now passed, had fistulas. I brought her to the vet for them and at the same time she was diagnosed with a tumor.  She also was severely dyspastic and 10+ years at the time!! My vet felt with all these problems and her age it was not fair to do surgery on her (for the tumor), but prescribed prednisone. Also said to keep her rear end washed regular. The pred was started at 20mg daily (if I remember right) and I slowly got her down to 5 mg's daily. It was a God send for Willow. It helped the inflamation in her hips as well. She lived alot more comfortable until 12 years and 4 months. Your dog is alot younger so not sure if this would be a good route for her. Pred is usually used as a last resort I think. But I thought I would mention it as an option...

Hello JMZCaffaro, My female who is 5, Kara v Edelwald has been through the ringer with the anal fistulas,this time last year she was having problems defecating and had the horrible smell..We had her at the vet and went through several meds inclding the prednisone and finally put on the Cyclosporine capsules ...Once it cleared up it came back..Finally my vet said she would have to be on the Cyclosporine for the rest of her life at $180 a month at his cost..He said that I could give it to her every other day..Well after the healing process it caused her scar tissue which caused a stricture..After surgery $ 2500 she came home and was able to defecate fine until her pain meds were done..During the surgery she had an epideral and now can not get up or walk due to the epideral causing inflammation on the spine...She went back to the vet for a few more days and put on several more meds costing me another $2500 plus meds...I am in debt up to my eyeballs..Kara is my personal protection dog and I would do it again,not sure about the epideral though...She hasn't been right for the past 6 weeks...My husband had to carry her down several stairs to go outside or I would have to place a towel under her rear and hlep move her down the stairs..I have been exhausted,stressed and broke over this whole ordeal..Its very sad for the dog too! Unfortunately she had one litter of 11 puppies when she was 2 and atleast 2 of her females have the same thing, but at a younger age..She was also on the Protopic cream 2 weeks  after her surgery ..She is lying on the floor as I type not the same dog she was  6 weeks ago..I was told this will be a long recovery if she returns to 100% normal ??After the surgery the surgeon said that she wouldn't need the Cyclosporine anymore?? I'm holding my breath ,because I am sure the fistula will return..I hope I am wrong..I wish you and your dog the best and hope someday there will be a cure for this painful problem..I was told that it is very common in Shepherds and a few other breeds...Feel free to email me @ karabell1@comcast.net...

What pills specifically have been tried? I believe that oral pred and antibitotics combined with a topical ointment  are often usually used as a first attempt for treatment and/or for more "minor" forms of the condition. This is the treatment I have used with my one GSD who has a mild form of this condition. Some dogs do well on a continued low dose pred, but many do not.

There are other medications that are currently being used (Cyclosporine, which is an immunosuppresant combined with Ketoconazole, which is an antibiotic that enhances the efficiancy of the Cyclo, which essentially means that a lower dose of Cyclo can be given), although recurrence can occur and therefore continued therapy may be needed. Some dogs have complete remission following treatment. Cyclo is very expensive and liver function tests must be routinely done because it is hard on the liver. There is tons of research literature on this treatment modality - the results, as I said, strongly suggest that this form of treatment yields relatively good results overall.

I strongly encourage you to join the Yahoo Group Perianal Fistulas. Members here are incredibly knowledgeable about this disease, treatments, etc, and will be able to offer you some excellent advice to help.

Best of luck to you. This is not an easy disease to manage, but with any luck, some of the newer treatments available may help you and your dog.

I have been there done that with two gsd's..I also am a member of the yahoo PF group, and also strongly urge you to join. you will receive a wealth of information and support there. Also listed are vets in your area that are 'up' on treatments.

My first GSD who had them was gosh, around 10 years ago. At the time there wasn't much 'talk' of PF's but I lucked out and found a board certified surgeon was quite knowledgeable about them. Jake had radical cyro surgery and removal of glands which got rid of the problem. He was 7 when he had surgery and lived until 13 years of age.

Dodge, my current 11 yr old, also had a couple of fistula's at around 7 years of age. I went the cyclosporin route with him. 3 months of treatment, they closed up. He had a couple of set backs. at the time someone on the PF group had been experimenting with Desitin (as in baby diaper rash creme which contains zinc oxide), I used it on him and his fistula's closed up.  He has been PF free for almost 4 years. 

Both of my dogs PF's were the result of infected/blown anal glands..The first thing to do is figure out the reason for the PF's, IF they are gland related they, in my opinion and others, aren't true "pf disease",,and easier to treat. IF they are immune system related, harder to treat but certainly not impossible, reccurances are not uncommon, and the disease can be maintained for most dogs.   As with any dog, what works for one may not work for another.  Diet plays a large role in maintaining them as well.

Definately join the yahoo group

Diane

Thank you all for replying.  We have tried the prednisone and the protopic ointment.  No success.  We are now, just starting, the cyclosporin.  From what I am reading, it sounds as if the treatments are hit or miss.   We will stay on the cyclo for 3 months and see if that helps her at all.  I feel horrible for her, as she is starting to cry now when going to the bathroom.  Thanks for the info on joinging the online group.  I'm not sure how "up" out vet is about this horrible condition.

Cyclosporin has apparently done great things for this condition, so don't give up hope!

I had a wonderful dog (Jack) who had numerous treatments for Anal Furunculosis, (that's what it's known as in the UK) 3 lots of cryo surgery, anal sacs removed and eventually, a soft tissue cut operation, I was lucky because the surgeon performing this was first class.  He cut it all out, but there was no stiching to speak of, so it was a horrid open wound for some time, which meant pretty constant cleaning etc and a degree of pain for Jack, (he was 7 at the time) but Jack was a fighter with a zest for life second to none and we never saw sight of it again. 

I totally am in agreement with Northern,,,also,,a couple of things I would be doing as well as the cyclo treatment,,make sure the area is shaved down,,keep it clean, and apply desitin (or whatever other diaper rash creme with zinc oxide) daily,,I put it on a qtip and put it around the affected area as well as IN the affected area..

Change her diet. and definately join the yahoo group

I have been this route too, not a lot of fun for anyone, but, we did use cyclosporine with great effect, eventually I was able to give the correct dose for the weight of the dog every 4 days.  This was acheived by very slowly increasing the time between doses, ie every other day for 2 weeks, then every 2 days etc, I could never manage 5 days  that was just too big a gap, and also reducing the strength of the dose didn't work either. Surgery was not an option either, apart from removing the anal sacs, as my vet was of the opinion that sometimes when the dog is opened up it is so difficult to know where to stop cutting, and that if not all of the diseassed tissue is removed then the surgery then becomes pointless, this male lived with relatiave normality for about 3 years from diagnosis, the dreaded pneumonia got him in the end at 11 years. Wish you all the best, just hope  that some of these postings help you..