Canine Anal Impaction Emergency. . . Say What?!!!

We spent Thanksgiving and Christmas 2016, and New Year’s 2017 in Mexico this year, and Valentina came up with a health challenge that I had no experience with: one of her anal glands was impacted.  When I let her out to do her business, I noticed from a distance that she had something red close to her anus.  On closer examination, it looked like a little red balloon ready to burst.  I took to the internet immediately and it was not too difficult to discover that anal impaction was not rare in dogs.  Most of the resources cautioned that if the gland burst, it could be more serious, and, it could become infected.  I acted fast and started putting warm compresses of salt water on the area. The swelling went down only a little, but it was not responding very well to the treatment.  I began to think that I needed to get her in to our local vet.  I went back to the internet and happened upon a veterinarian’s site that said everyone needs to know how to treat an anal impaction.  Apparently they are quite common. She said that two things are vital if you have a dog with an anal impaction: Epsom salts and homeopathic Silicea 6X. I found the homeopathic remedy immediately. Like Europe, Mexico has always been very supportive of alternative therapies. There are numerous homeopathic stores in the Lake Chapala area.  The Epsom salts were a little more difficult to find. The dictionary translates Epsom salts as “epsomitas”. That didn’t work. So, I translated what Epsom salts really are – magnesium sulfate.  After going to about three pharmacies, I finally got results with my new translation: “sulfato de magnesio”. The package, however, contained only about 2 tablespoons.   The pharmacist only knew Epsom salts for internal, gastrointestinal treatment, so you can understand why   I got a strange reaction when I asked them for all they had – about 10 little triangular-shaped  packages. When I explained I wanted them for warm compresses for my dog, they were less worried. I explained that Epsom salts could also be used  for warm compresses as well as to soak tired feet after a long day’s work.  The pharmacist got a dreamy look on her face, imagining how luxurious that might feel,   and said in Spanish, “Oh. That must be wonderful.  I’m going to get some for my feet.  They really hurt by the end of the day.”

Finally after a few more stops at other pharmacies, my husband suggested that I stop at a pharmacy located in an area where there are a lot of Americans.  He was right. I was able to get a package of 250 grams.

How did it work out? It was nothing less than miraculous. I started with the treatment of warm compresses (using clean terry cloth rags dipped in warm water with Epsom salt) on the anal gland, and with the Silicea 6X  as soon as I got the first packages of Epsom salts. As instructed by the lady at the homeopathic store, Valentina   got 3 Silicea 6X tablets ground to powder between 2 spoons, poured on her tongue,  three times a day and several  (at least 5 to 6) warm compress treatments of 5 to 10 minutes each per day.  The next day, a lady at the Ajijic Tuesday organic market who sells extracts and sprouted legumes suggested I add some Calendula extract to the warm Epsom salt water to help soothe the area.  The little taut red balloon on her butt went away in a day and a half! It took a little longer for the skin to completely return to normal texture, and I followed the internet advice of the veterinarian and continued the compresses and the silicea for two weeks.  I also put 2 tablespoons of colloidal silver in each of their water bowls every day  to help with any infection that may have occurred.   I was just about out of colloidal silver and stopped in at Dr. Garcia’s office, a local homeopathic-naturopathic doctor just down the street from the organic market to get some more. (It’s very good quality and made in Guadalajara, Mexico, by the way!)  He mentioned that homeopathic treatments work very well on dogs, and other animals, and suggested another treatment which would prevent further anal impaction in the future.

Further research of silicea, also known as silica, taught me that it is useful, among other things for treating  abcesses, boils, swollen glands, helping the body to push out the toxins.  It is helpful with abcessed teeth.  Silica is the most common element in the earth. It is present in our bodies, and helps with formation of bone, hair and nails.

Problem solved.

So far, Valentina has been anal impaction-free.