Hello, I am the proud owner of a 10 year old male Akita. Over the last month, he has developed a sore like thing on his rectal area, which bleeds, albeit very slightly. The vet told me that it is a thing that should be removed, if the antibiotic treatment does not work. I am now in my second phase of trying antibiotics, as well as antiseptic cream and a special cream for that specific area recommended by the vet. I have also de-wormed him recently. My problem is that the sore does not seem to be healing and the vet has told me that in order to remove this thing my dog will have to be sedated. The fact that he is 10 and also I have read that Akitas have like allergic reactions to sleeping drugs, I am really frightened. Is there anyone who may have had a similar problem and might be able to help me. If someone can shine some light on this for me, I would be so grateful and I can post a few pics if they would help. Thank you.
I'm sorry you are having health problems with your Akita, but I'm not sure exactly what it is that is wrong. Is this an anal abcess, or an adenoma? Whichever, if it is not responding to first line treatment, it is almost certain that it is going to need surgical attention. Athough risk can never be completely eliminated, I can say that anaesthesia is very safe these days. Not an Akita, but I have had a 14 year old dog with heart and lung problems operated on - in fact she had three procedures over the course of four months. Though my vet warned me that there was a risk, there was no problem under the anaesthetic, or her recovery from it. Dogs are family, and I understand that you are worried, but I think the best way of making a decision is to think what you would want done if you were suffering from the same problem. I hope someone with specialist Akita knowledge might have be able to comment. Good luck with your boy, and let us know what you decide to do.
Yes Akita’s are known to be sensitive to certain drugs and anesthesia being one, and being an older boy you are bound to worry but lots have gone under anesthetic without any problems. The theory is that it is due to a liver defect, whereby the liver is not able to detoxify the medication and this can overwhelm the body, talk to your vet make him aware of the problems and ask for blood tests to be done.
Thank you very much for your reply. I think that it is probably an adenoma. Yes, I probably will have to go with surgery, and just hope for the best. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your reply. I will talk to my vet, and just hope that I am not unlucky with my best friend.
Hi guys, I know that it`s only been a few days, but watching the views, I can see that quite a lot of people have seen my problem. Is there anyone out there who can maybe shine a ray of light? I mean someone, even if it is not an Akita, who has had the same problem? Impatiencty, hoping for a reply.
No, they said that they would like to give him an internal examination, but again the dog would have to be sedated. I am so trying to avoid this. The sore seems to have dried up again, so I have put the vet on hold, for another time. If it does open up again, then my only choice is to finally take him to be examined inside as well, and then see if the vet decides he needs surgery. Thank you for your interest. o
You will find that a lot more look at the thread than reply simply because they can't offer any insight. The problem you are faced with is that you haven't got a diagnosis for what is actually wrong. To be honest, regardless of the risk, if it comes back I think you really do have to go ahead with the sedation as it must be very uncomfortable for your lad, but make sure that the vet knows about the problems Akitas can have
We had a similar experience with a female mixed Spinone. Unfortunately, those tumors are generally malignant in females, but apparently generally benign in males. That means there are two options: either you remove it surgically or you let it alone and observe it. The risk of letting it alone is that the tumor may grow, leading to discomfort and possibly blocking the anus, which would be a disaster. If you are very disciplined in measuring and observing it, putting on antiseptic (like zinc cream), letting it alone could be a good solution. Putting an old dog into an operation at an advanced age is not without risk, and removal of the tumor could damage some tissues and muscles that are critical in that area (and lead to bowel incontinence). Guidance from your vet is crucial, but this is our experience. In our case, our dog was 14 years old, and was given 6 months to live with surgery and no radiation, and 3 months to live with radiation only and 8 rounds of anesthesia. It was difficult to get good biopsy results in that area, so the one biopsy was slightly abnormal, so we could not reach any conclusions. There was possible spread to the lymph nodes as measured by CT, but impossible to biopsy because of the location behind bones in that region. A lot of these expensive tests showed us nothing conclusive. We chose to observe, clean and use zinc cream daily, watching for adverse developments, and she lived for 2 years with a good life quality until the cancer spread.
