Two weeks ago, I was bitten by a brown recluse spider and developed cellulitis at the site of the bite. I went to the emergency room, and the hospital wasn't sure what to do with me, seeing as how poison control told them we don't have those in NYC. (Actually, yes we do, because I saved the spider body and the exterminator confirmed that it was a indeed a brown recluse.) They left me overnight and didn't do anything with the wound. In the meantime, what happens with these types of bites is that they develop an abscess and rupture. So, since the wound wasn't opened and drained, this is what it did. The next day, when they finally got a general surgeon in to see me, he lanced the wound and drained it. You have to leave it open because you don't want to sew the venom in. They did so, and long story short, I picked up a MRSA infection in the open wound while in the hospital. I ended up being in the hospital for 8 days on IV antibiotics, Benadryl (for the spider bite), and anti-inflammatories. I was discharged from the hospital a week ago.
Last night, Frankie, who is now two & half years old, had faint watered down blood spots on his puppy pad. I picked him up and checked his bottom and noticed a wound much like my own abscess close to his rectum, around his anal gland area. I figured he too may have bitten by a spider (even though the exterminator has been out, and the time that I was bitten was the first and last time I'd ever seen one of those spiders) or that he had an anal gland abscess/rupture. I was torn between which was more likely because 1) He hadn't exhibited any signs of anal gland trouble and has never had a problem in the past, and it was a very sudden onset buuuuuuuut 2) What is the likelihood of the spider bite being exactly where his 8 o'clock anal gland was located?? Neither situation seemed likely.
I took Frankie to the vet this morning, and mentioned to them the spider bite. (I forgot to mention the MRSA, since that was a secondary happening and it was acquired in the hospital, plus I didn't think humans and animals could transmit infections like that.) The vet sedated him and expressed his anal glands, flushed his wound, and gave him injections of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. (One of his antibiotics is the same one I had.) The vet mentioned that he was very unsure was to why Frankie was experiencing anal gland trouble, noting that there was very little puss in the wound (I cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide last night when I discovered it) but also that there wasn't a lot of fluid in Frankie's anal gland either, so that wasn't what was causing the swelling and hardening of the tissue in that area. The right one was completely fine.
Is it possible Frankie's "anal gland rupture" was really initiated by a MRSA outbreak and not by an impacted or full anal gland????? 
Definitely going to call the vet back and ask him about this, maybe request a culture. I just think it's soooooo coincidental that he would get cellulitis & an abscess (exactly what I had) but not have evidence of an impacted anal gland or show any signs/symptoms prior to the rupture, because an anal gland rupture doesn't just happen overnight, and I tell you he showed not one sign of a problem.