| Michael, I sent you an e-mail a while back but think you may not have received it as I was having some problems with my computer. Here is the text I copied from Goldstein's book which may explain how Sasha's anal glands may have come to be inflamed.
From The Nature of Animal Healing:
Take a dog at six months old that begins to exhibit itchiness, iinflammation and pustules containing staphylococcal bacteria (a condition called stalph or juvenile pyoderma). A conventional vet will assume that this is a bacterial infection of the skin and administer antibiotics. A holistic vet, mindful that the skin is a powerful eliminator of toxins, will first consider than any inflammation is part of a healthful process. As in throat infections, toxins that are being eliminated promote bacterial growth which white cells then "clean up." What do I do about it? Nothing more than support the overall health of the patient - and perhaps add a homeopathic remedy or herbal preparation to help relieve symptoms - because this elimination, and the bacteria that appear with it, is part of a pet's maturation, just as acne is associated with puberty in humans. If the bacteria are killed by antibiotics, the symptoms will subside but the overall effect will be one of retained toxicity, especially if cortisone is used in conjunction with the antibiotics. Then the dog's dermatitis - itis means inflammation - will reappear as another inflammation, perhaps of the ear (otitis) or the throat (tracheobronchitis), the intestines (enteritis) or the anal sacs (anal sacculitis).
Externally and internally, a pet's body, like a human body, heals via inflammation. Sprain an ankle and it swells. Get a cut and the skin around the cut inflames. Ingest poisons, and the liver will swell. As the poisons get eliminated, the lining of the colon will inflame (i.e., colitis). A body whose inflammations are repeatedly suppressed by drugs will exhibit increasingly serious symptoms, or diseases, until they grow powerful enough to be potentially lethal.
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Bearing the above in mind, you may wish to reconsider the antibiotics. The allergies seem to me to be a sign that there is much more happening here than meets the eye. Would you be receptive to a consultation with an holistic vet?
Barbara  |