Recently, one of our in home criminals added a new crime to her list. It was an Assault on the senses caused by her own misdeeds.
Basically, Piper's habit of getting into and eating really inappropriate things (the latest additions to this are a sharpie, a highlighter and sticks!) have caused her system to get junked up, and her anal glands have reacted in due course.
A couple of months ago, we noticed she was getting extra stinky in a way we hadn't experienced before. After a few days, it had gotten so bad I was convinced there was something wrong and we headed into the vet's office. It turned out her anal glands had become impacted.
I had the joy and pleasure of being in the room when they drained her glands out. If you have never had the pleasure of smelling that, let me tell you- DON'T DO IT! It is a smell that you retain for hours. It haunts you for a couple of days on and off. It goes way beyond a normal gland drain that the groomer might do that has a slight aroma to it. This is WAY bigger and MUCH grosser.
Just as a Tidbit of info- the groomer can work with the glands from the outside- the Dr gets all up in there and drains the hell out of it. Even the Doctor agreed with me when I said to her "this must be one the least enjoyable parts of the job".
By the time the glands have gotten full enough and infected enough to become impacted, things have taken a really gnarly turn for the animal. Our poor girl had been worrying at her glands for days, and we hadn't noticed how bad it had gotten until the smell started to invade the entire house. Fortunately, we got her in before it ruptured, and got her on her antibiotics. She LOVES taking pills because there's peanut butter involved, and bless her heart she doesn't look past that to find the pill inside.
We got her through her treatment cycle, get her better, and changed her diet slightly to up her fiber levels, hoping that would help her system stay in the reset position. We were doing really well for a while. She hadn't gotten into anything and eaten bathroom items, or office supplies. It all added up to a healthy girl for a few months.
Then she ate a marker. Then we ran out of her diet supplement (canned pumpkin!). Then time to eat a highlighter. Then the smell started to come back.... So, yet again I had to drag her into the vet's office to get her glands drained. Fortunately this time we caught it just when the glands were just full, not impacted.
It's so frustrating, because if she just didn't do the one thing, she wouldn't have to deal with the other. I mean, come ON- a highlighter can't possibly taste that good. It just can't.
The price we have to pay is a truly stinky dog. When her glands start to become an issue, the smell is something that can't be denied or ignored. her crimes send us all to a level of punishment. Granted our punishment is much easier then hers, no one is stinking their fingers anywhere on us- it's just a smell.
Now, if we could just convince Piper that eating writing implements or anything in the 'lotion' category is a bad idea, regardless of how yummy it may smell, we'll be much happier overall.
