The Golden Shot
As a vet you are generally ready to expect the unexpected, but because of the unpredictability of working with animals, on occasions things happen that really surprise you. One such an occasion happened last week.
During the course of the working day you tend to meet people from a cross section of society and, as with other jobs, build up a rapport with clients that come in regularly with their animals. Two clients (an elderly mother chaperoned by her middle aged daughter) come in every couple of weeks with their dog “Peppi” – a rotund little Bichon frise -to see me at the surgery.
In recent months “Peppi” seems to have developed a problem with his scent glands in his back passage which I normally feel obliged to evacuate manually. This isn’t the most pleasant of procedures both for the patient (despite a generous amount of lubricant, I have quite large fingers) or anyone with any sense of smell (coincidentally -mine appears to be failing rapidly). Mrs Jones is elderly and a little hard of hearing, and although her daughter is very pleasant she can be a little “vociferous” in nature. “Peppi” on the other hand is quite a nervous dog, and understandably feels slightly aggrieved and indignant at being brought in to have his anal glands expressed. I was however, quite surprised at his reaction to seeing me on this occasion.
On bending down to pick him up to put him on the consulting room table whilst holding him around his midriff, “Peppi” started to urinate... Now I’m not usually surprised when a dog urinates in the surgery- it’s an unfamiliar place with lots of smells including other animals. However as I gently lifted him from the floor, holding him a little bit like a hamburger, even I was taken a back at the force and volume of the urine that emerged from such a small dog. Things were about to get worse. Like a type of distasteful fountain display the urine curved a golden trajectory in mid air travelled over a few foot and to my utter astonishment covered Mrs Jones’ daughter’s face, open mouth and hair.
The moment went by for what seemed like far too long. Holding “Peppi” suspended in mid air (in utter disbelief) he continued to urinate over Mrs Jones’ daughter’s head. The poor women whilst telling me about her day, her cat, and her take on life, was caught in mid sentence by “Peppi” like some kind of unmanned canine water cannon... For the first time ever there was silence in the consulting room. Then the realisation of what had just happened sunk in. It was like something out of a comedy sketch, Mrs Jones junior became hysterical that her mum’s dog had just urinated in her mouth, Mrs Jones senior didn’t utter a word but smiled unsympathetically, I, well, I just tried to hold it together and “remain professional..!” .
I’m not really sure why I thought I’d share this story with The Bay readers. I feel like there should be some kind of veterinary context, or moral to the story or thread leading onto some greater meaning. Unfortunately, there isn’t really. -I’m not even going to take the opportunity to make some half- baked pun about silence being golden...
In all seriousness, as vets we see lots of dogs (and some cats) with anal sac disease daily. The specific cause of anal sac disease is unknown. I always tell owners that if they imagine the sphincter as a clock face (?!), there are a pair of glands situated in a four and eight o clock position. These normally produce a secretion that in the wild is used as a form of territory marking and to give information about the animals’ social status etc. The glands are affected by impaction, inflammation or sometimes abscess. It is widely thought that the glands become problematic when the dog has had a recent bout of diarrhoea, or chronically produces soft faeces. Other possible reasons for anal sac disease include poor muscle tone in the wall of the gland or allergy. Treatment involves manual evacuation of the glands, antibiotics for more serious cases and sometimes surgery to remove the glands should they become chronically affected.
Apologies in advance, if this article puts you off your apple juice...
To discuss any of the above issues please make an appointment to see your vet or if in any doubt phone 01792 205000 for some advice.
Geraint Jones
