Too long Healing

[Dobbyjo]

In Sept 2013 my dog had one of his anal glands removed. It was badly inflamed and infected.. He had surgery to remove it and the surgery went well but then the wound continued to open and infection developed repeatedly. He was restitched and treated for infection as it became necessary. After about 6-8 more months of treatment we went to another Vet, a specialist who treated him with extensive testing to find he had more than one infection.  The specialist informed us of 2 infections found and will treat him for that but surgery was needed again to close the area. They kept him on meds and kept the area clean till the surgery and needed to do a skin graft on him because there was not enough skin to close the wound. I recently asked if they checked for diabetes and I was told yes. As of today he still has this opening by his rectum that wont heal and it seems to be getting larger each day. I am all out of funds and ideas. Any suggestion, ideas or recommendation welcomed.  Please help me get him on the right track.

[Dobbyjo]

Your good.. Thanks.. It's sometimes the little things left out that can make everything different. Luckily I'm very fussy with clean new gauses and towels to use on him. Nothing is double used and gloves and surgical supply companies love me.. lol.. thanks again

[Dobbyjo]

Thanks for responding to my post. My dog had more than one infection and it did seem to work and yes it came back. He was taking Clavamax, had to stop Ramadyl - he was throwing up, injection of Amikacin, LRS fluid intravenously and hydrotherapy 3 X's a day. There is nothing more they can do for him, he just wont heal.
   The blood work they did showed no indication of Diabetes.
   Thank you for all that information. I will definitely look into trying Echinacea Angustifolia Tincture. I will leave no stone unturned when it comes to helping my best buddy. Thank you again for your help.

[ginger899]

....If you use that, bathe for about 5 minutes each time, using a clean pad whenever you want to use some more of the liquid. Don't dip the 'old' pad back into the mixture when using.
To stop cross-infection, use surgical gloves and discard the gloves each time, washing hands carefully in soap & hot water afterwards. A box of surgical gloves can often be bought at a DIY store! Screwfix in the UK stock them.

[ginger899]

Did the infections respond at all to antibiotic treatment? Or did they for a while, then the infection came back? Did the vet try other antibiotics?
Would a new course of antibiotics help do you think?

When you say they checked for Diabetes -what were the results?

I am so sorry. Your poor dog -it must hurt so much.

If nothing has worked, you could as a last-ditch attempt, try Echinacea Angustifolia Tincture (herbal) let down with a little water and bathed using a clean cotton wool ball or pad at least 3 times a day. It is safe for dogs and can have good results on external wounds.
The tincture can be obtained from a good herbal shop or online. It is not vastly expensive for a 50ml. bottle.