Perianal fistula presence? - Page 1

Hi, my dog is just about to be four years old and has a persistent perianal fistula that weve been battling and are on the upperhand of conquering for now. This has been very costly and over all a pain in the A**!!! no pun intended.. luckily he has never had large spreading sores like dogs with severe cases of PF but still a nuisance nonetheless. I had to neuter an amazing dog and it was very unfortunate, i feel like he was robbed of some good times because of his PF!!! i dont push training as hard anymore due to causing flare-ups and bleeding when he was younger when we didnt have vet guidance or even knowledge of it going on.

Ive called the most recent people breeding dogs in the line and no one has mentioned or even heard of PF so maybe just a fluke?

has anyone ever had a dog randomly spout this issue? have you had success healing it? It is in a rather difficult place for it to heal due to the muscles constantly pulling the tracts open when deficating or under stress/excitement - being a long stock doesnt help either.

we currently take atopica and ketaconazole under supervision of a canine dermatologist and vet, food is blue buffalo wilderness

Thanks

https://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=2046842-blitz-von-braunfels-haus

What a shame and what a pretty boy.  Just wanted to know if you have watched the video on this subject with Dr. Karen Becker;  I just googled her name and her video's are available to watch and you can consult with her also if you have any questions.  She is fantastic and a holistic vet to boot;  uses some stuff to help to heal this problem and also helps to keep especially clean and disinfected.  Good luck  Nan

PS:  I would ask her about the Blue Buff Diet...

I owned a female back in the 90s that had Perianal Fistulas. We tried all types of antibiotic therapy to no avail. One vet even suggest that the tail be removed.  Finally, we were referred to a surgeon in Brentwood, Tn who was also professor at UT Vet Hosp. He performed a rather radical surgical procedure that involved removing all but a small strip of tissue surrounding the rectum and the removal of all diseased tissue inside the abdomen.  The recovery period required us to wash and cleanse the surgical cavity with a handheld shower device twice a day for about 2 weeks. Topical and systemic antibiotics were used throughout the recovery. All in all it was a very long, drawnout and expensive process but the female survived and the fistulas were gone forever.

PS:  I would ask her about the Blue Buff Diet...

so originally we did the food change (kangroo based diet) and atopica/keta at the same time, we noticed no difference and he hated the food (at $80/bag so did we) the agreed that the likelyhood of it being caused by food allergies is fairly low compared to autoimmune issue.

it doesnt make a whole lot of sense to me that this dog with all of these other great dogs in line would wind up having a genetic issue. infact, i really find it tough to believe that it is actually perianal fistula caused by any disorder. I have bounced around from vet to vet until they kept telling me the same thing over and over, and at some point you have to just take their word for it and start medicating... no one has found it serious enough to operate on, although once he starts bleeding from the wound flaring up at 3am (thank god we are now on the longest stretch ever without having any issues whatsoever, 7months...) I find myself wishing that i could just get an operation to help him out from having to deal with it. we would much rather have the operation to remove the bit of infected skin than to have to medicate the dog for so prolonged periods, risking further health issues to an otherwise perfectly healthy dog.

what is most frustrating to me is the fact that almost no one has a definite answer as you may imagine, especially when vets basically print off a webMD article over perianal fistulas that i have seen over and over again.

i appreciate the time taken replying to my post, luckily he is a very happy dog and its a minor case of an annoying condition that doesnt affect his day to day life anymore.

-josh

Have you checked with any of the group sites that deal with this problem. You will find owners of dogs who have tried different things and what does or does not work.

Many swear by feeding a raw diet to minimize the sores and flare ups.  Yahoo I think has the sire.  A search of this site should bring up the subject as it has been discussed before.

Good luck

warning, these pictures are a little in your face! genetic perianal fistula or gland rupture? i just feel like im treating the wrong thing here and wasting time,health and money. i personally think there was an anal gland rupture on both sides and that cyclosporin may be hindering a healing process that may be more than fine with only antibiotics or immune boosting supplements...

this was prior to cleaning to see what is happening daily. they are not very deep...

Here is the video from Karen Becker that someone mentioned....

Thanks

Luckily my cousin is our local vet so i have really good guidance on this. I am cutting the cyclosporin off today and switching over to only antibiotics/homeopathic treatments, constant cleaning and maintaining the wounds. This was the first night off cyclo and with lots of wound cream/antiseptic creams over the past week have yielded the first morning without the wounds draining, the area was dry thank god. crossing fingers that the doctors are wrong about this and we can get it healed up and move on with our lives...

Good luck Joshbuckley;  I am also fighting this problem with my 8 l/2 year old sammie male although I have left him intact.  Don't really feel they are related unless the dog is having a prostate problem which as far as I know is not my case.  Have simply kept the area clean, made up a solution to spray on area then flush with large amounts of water and treat with neosporin.  A&D ointment is my next ointment as you can buy it in larger quantity tubes/jars and has some pain relief in it. 

My guy eats a raw diet and has for the past almost 5 years, grain free and premade (K9 Kravings) so I do not think his diet has been a factor but really no one knows.  I am going to try Orijen 6 fish though along with still using the raw.  I am also trying something called "Seacure"  which is a immune booster for healing along with something called Vascustatin which supposedly shuts off internal feeders of the fistulas or tumors or absesses?  We will see if it is going to help the problem and can let you know if you are interested.  Just some alternative medicine for solving the problem.  My vet seems to feel that it will come back though,  am hoping NOT...  Best of luck  Nan

Zinc ointment diaper rash cream works really great on perianal fistulas. Have you checked the perianal fistula support group? They found ot worked as well as the more expensive medications.