Pet of the month for February 2025 goes to this handsome boy, Ziggy!
Ziggy came to visit us after being seen at another vet for ongoing lesions around his rectum. After a couple courses of steroids and antibiotics, the lesions would not clear- so a second opinion was sought after.
This is when he came to see Dr Raj, who on first exam had a suspicion that poor Ziggy had all the symptoms of anal furunculosis. Anal furunculosis is a chronic debilitating disease of the perianal, anal and occasionally the rectal tissue. Lesions on the perianal area itself vary considerably in severity by both the extent and the depth.
To confirm this condition, an anaesthetic is required to take samples of the lesions, which are then sent off to the lab.
Unfortunately for Ziggy, the diagnosis was confirmed. Anal furunculosis is a very difficult and lifelong autoimmune, breed specific disease to manage. Meaning that Ziggy will have to stay on a immune-suppressive daily tablet to manage the disease for the rest of his life.
He will continue to visit us at the clinic for annual checkups, to make sure the disease is being managed, so we can keep him as pain free as possible.
We would love to thank Ziggy’s family for doing the best for him, he’s a lucky boy!