Why Dogs Drag Their Butts: Anal Gland Disease, Anal Pruritus, Etc.

     Picture this heartwarming image in your mind: A Thanksgiving Day feast with the whole family sitting around a large table overflowing with a bounty of delicious and scrumptious foods. Dad is there at the head of the table reverently preparing to carve the succulent, perfectly-cooked, plump and juicy turkey. Grandma and grandpa are there, as well as brother-in-law Joe and his family from Alabama. And just as this Norman Rockwell-moment is about to reach its blissful conclusion, sweet little Fifi, the family’s slightly obese apricot poodle comes scooching by, in plain sight of everyone, dragging her nasty butt on the dining room carpet.
      Discussing the topic of anal pruritus (Pruritus ani is the medical term for having an itchy butt hole) can be a little bit embarrassing. That having been said, it’s still an important aspect of your pet’s health, and if there is a problem, a visit to your veterinarian is in order. Most of the time, the problem is uneventful; on rare occasions, anal itching can be a sign of potentially life-threatening disease.
      Hands down, the most common problem I see with regards to a dog’s (and occasionally the cat’s) itchy rear end is anal gland disease in all of its various forms. For owners who are not familiar with anal glands, here is a short description. Dogs, cats, and skunks have two structures in their anus called anal glands. And what they are, are scent glands. Located at 4:00 o’clock and 8:00 o’clock within the muscles of the anal sphincter, what is supposed to normally happen is that when the dog poops, as their feces pass through the anus it squishes theses glands which then empty their, pungent, musky-smelling, contents on to the dog’s poop. This glandular secretion represents the dog’s unique smell. It is this smell that other dogs are trying to distinguish when the sniff each other’s butts or crap. The normal condition of anal glands is empty. When anal glands fill up to full capacity, they hurt the dog like a tooth ache!
     This leads to the most common cause of itchy butts: Anal Sac Impaction. With anal sac impaction, FOR REASONS UNKNOWN, the dog’s anal glands don’t empty like they are suppose to. Dogs with impacted anal glands will drag their butts (known as “Scooting”), rub their rear ends against trees and door jams, and generally seem to look back at and appear anxious about their back sides. Sometimes, and quite most commonly, the only symptom the owner notices is their poor dog “just don’t act right”. I get that last symptom a lot! They sometimes will also chew and mutilate their tail heads, crotch, or area around the anus.
     The cure for anal sac impaction is to just have the sacs emptied by your veterinarian. It may be the only time it may need to be done in the dog’s life; it may need to be done monthly. My personal rule-of-thumb is that if the anal sacs have to be emptied (the medical term is expressed) less than monthly, then the owner should consider having the glands removed. Although it is not a bonding experience between you or your pet, I have also taught owners to empty their dog’s anal glands.
     Before I proceed, clients usually ask me what they can do to help prevent impacted anal glands. The answer to this question is that there is NO Answer. The cause has been blamed on everything from being over weight to lack of exercise to the phases of the moon to the Clinton administration. There are a lot of claims to curing this problem, but I’ve found none to work with any reliability.
     Closely related to anal sac impaction is Anal Sacculitis. This is a condition where the anal glands become inflamed and are very often infected. This is a very painful problem for your dog and needs to be attended to medically by your veterinarian. Most of the time they respond well to simple antibiotic therapy. Again, THIS CONDITION MUST BE TREATED. If it isn’t, it can lead to anal gland rupture!. These are pus-filled, draining tracts to the outside skin in the region below the dog’s butt hole.
     Finally, with regards to the various types of anal gland diseases, is Anal Gland Cancer. Known medically as apocrine gland adenocarcinomas, these tumors are a very serious problem that cannot wait to be taken care of. These tumors tend to be quite aggressive and often the outcome is not good. Besides the usual symptoms of itching or scooting, other signs you may see are difficulty in pooping, and in advanced cases, signs of drinking lots of water and peeing.
     Other problems that cause your pet to constantly have itchy butts are bacterial, fungal, or parasitic skin infections (dermatitis) and their very close cousin, skin allergies (I see this a lot!) This problem is sometimes difficult to diagnose precisely. But what I tell my clients is that if the dog or cat is itching all over, licking their feet obsessively, or are constantly shaking their heads and having ear infections, than dermatitis must be included as a possible reason for the pet’s itchy butt.
     Other causes of anal pruritus that are closely related to dermatitis are having worms and fleas. For reasons that have always completely baffled me, having worms is the first reason that owners seem to think of when they see their dog scooting or itching his or her butt. In my experience, as it pertains to itchy rear ends, worms are very uncommon. That having been said, routine worming with a worming product recommended and dispensed by a veterinarian should be part of your pet’s larger overall health care history.
     Fleas, on the other hand, are quite common. For reasons known only to the flea, these pesky little critters love the area around the dog’s anus. Maybe they like the flavor. Treat the pet for fleas, and if the dog stops itching their butt, then that’s likely the problem. My preferred treatment for fleas is a product known as Advantage, or its close cousin, Advantix.
      The other causes of itchy rear ends in dogs and cats are not all that common, but include constipation, bee stings, bug bites, a bone stuck in the butt hole, etc. Sometimes we veterinarians can’t find any obvious problem. Sometimes, it turns out that dogs just like to lick and itch their butts!
Thanks again

TICKS, OUR DOGS AND CATS, AND OURSELVES: A TRULY SISYPHEAN TASK!!!

     Dear readers, its starting all over again, only it seems to be earlier than normal. That is, its time again for having to deal with ticks. I know, most-precious readers, that I just spoke about these little guys last fall, but I’ve got to do it again because there are still pet owners freaking out and doing all sorts of bizarre things to remove these repulsive little critters from their pets. It isn’t even May yet, and I’ve already seen an olive oil-doused tick, a nail-polished tick, and a barbeque-butted tick. This last one barbequed the poor cat as well. (The cat survived, but will be missing portions of his ears.) 

     But first—as I am prone to doing—I need to ramble a bit.
I learned a new word yesterday. While researching this article on the internet, I came across the words “Sisyphean task.” From the second I saw this phrase, I knew it had to be talking about me and my unending task of trying to save cats and dogs from the “good intentions” of their owners. The phrase takes its roots from the Greek myth of Sisyphus. In the myth, Sisyphus, a king of Corinth, was punished by Zeus by being condemned to eternally roll a heavy stone up a hill. And each time he neared the top, the stone would roll back down again forcing him to have to start all over again. A sisyphean task, therefore, relates to any endless and futile undertaking.

     But the myth of Sisyphus is also about perseverance. And that’s why I keep on trying to get this important stuff across. It seems that for every intact and living tick that a client brings in for me to remove from their cat or dog, there are another five pets brought in with the tick dead, mangled, or decapitated for me to dig it out. (Ticks, by definition, don’t have heads; they have a capitulum.) I’ve seen ticks slathered with nail polish as well as coated with nail polish remover. I’ve seen ticks with their rear-ends barbecued to well-done by a cigarette, and others that have had their butts blown-up by a burning match. I’ve seen them doused with mineral oil, olive oil, basalmic vinegar, kerosene, rubbing alcohol, vodka, flea spray, Tabasco sauce, gasoline, and yes, I’ve even seen them gobbed-up with my dastardly old friend, udder balm.

     I can hear the talk out there now. “Ah, come on, Doc! Quit pickin’ on us. We only did what we thought was best. Our mother-in-law/neighbor/website/guru/cousin from Arkansas all told us their method would work every single time.” Most-treasured readers, I don’t say this stuff to pick on you, or make fun of you, or any of that other nonsense; I do it because all of the methods I mentioned above are wrong ( actually, some are down-right stupid.) And its important to KNOW these techniques are wrong because, when it comes to ticks, there could be life or death consequences for your pets.

     By killing the tick violently with any of the above mentioned substances or techniques, you cause them to lock-up, or clamp shut, their mouth parts. This clenching-down reflex of their jaws is the reason a tick will leave it’s ‘head’ in our pet. But even more dangerous than just simply leaving their ‘head’, is what happens just before the tick dies.

     What happens is that as the tick wiggles and writhes in it’s death throes because of whatever junk you applied to it, the poor little beast will expel whatever blood it has in it’s guts into the dog or cat. Unfortunately, along with this regurgitated blood will come whatever disease organism the tick may be carrying.

     I can hear it out there now: “So Doc, what is the proper way to remove a tick? My favorite way is to part the pet’s hair away as best as possible and then grasp the tick between my thumb and forefinger as close to the point of attachment of the tick as possible, and then gently pull it straight backwards. Unless it’s a mentally-deprived tick, it will let go. A rubber or exam glove should be worn, and make sure afterwards, you wash your hands. If you are too squeamish to touch one of these little guys, you can grasp the tick as close as possible to the skin with a pair of tweezers, and gently pull straight backwards. There is a new invention out there called a Tick Twister that seems to work good as well. http://www.ticktwister.com/index.html.

     After pulling the tick out, be sure to look at it in a good light to see whether or not it has it’s pincer-like mouth parts (its ‘head’). If it don’t, or if you’re not sure, bring it, and your pet, in to you veterinarian. Thanks again.

Being Blocked: Urethral Obstruction in Tomcats.

***My wish is that everyone in the world who owns a male cat reads this article. You can help by showing it to your cat-owner friends who in turn can send it to their cat-owner friends, who can then send it on to their cat-owner friends.***

Treasured readers, urethral obstruction is such an important topic that—HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS—I’m gonna get right to the point; no stories, no rambling, no bull poop, not even any presidential jokes! Well, maybe a short story first, just to set the mood.

Across the exam table from me stood Mrs. T.

Doing all she could to hold back her tears, she said, “Doctor, something is terribly wrong with Little Fifi (her eleven year old white toy poodle). I’m worried to death about her!”

As I looked at Little Fifi standing there on my exam table, eyes clear and alert, hair bright and shiny, and tail a wagging to beat the band, I couldn’t help but think that her owner could possibly be imagining things. But I knew her to be a very calm person and not the type to panic over the smallest things. Gently, I asked, “Mrs. T., what is it that makes you suspicious that something is wrong with Little Fifi?”

“Well, Doctor, this morning, when I let her outside to do her business, she circled around three times before she pooped. Something must be terribly wrong. I just know it! She always, always, always spins around only two times before she goes. Doctor, what’s the matter with her?”

As I stood there, my first reaction was that she was trying to put one over on me. But again, the tears that were welling up in Mrs. T’s. eyes as she recounted these intimate details of Little Fifi’s bowel habits told me more than words ever could that she was dead serious.

“Well,” I said, “I’m not sure yet what Little Fifi’s problem could possibly be, but let me just give her a good physical examination, and I’m sure I’ll find something.” After a careful and very meticulous exam, the only abnormal finding I could discover was that the scent glands in Little Fifi’s rear end were abnormally enlarged. I explained to Mrs. T. how, when these glands are overfull, they cause small dogs like Little Fifi a great deal of discomfort. This pain, in turn, leads to a reluctance to defecate. I then expressed (the medical term for emptying) the scent glands and gave Mrs. T. the prognosis that everything would be all right by morning.

And sure enough, when I followed up with a phone call the next day, Mrs. T. happily informed me that her Little Fifi had performed the perfect number of pirouettes that morning before pooping, and she was perfectly pleased with her performance.

I can hear it out there now: “Great story, Doc, but what’s your point? What does a dog diligently dancing before defecation have to do with urethral obstruction in cats?” My point dear readers is that even though as pet owners you don’t have to be quite as observant as Mrs. T. was with her Little Fifi, it is still important that you pay attention to your pets and how they normally behave, especially their eating and toilet habits.

There’s a disease out there that I often see in male cats (and, rarely in females) known as urethral obstruction. A common expression that we veterinarians use for this condition is “being blocked.” (Plugged-up, occluded, and obstructed are other words used to describe this disease.) In this disease, the male cat’s penis literally becomes blocked and then, because of this blockage, he can no longer pee.

Urethral obstruction (being blocked) is one of the few actual life-or-death emergencies that exist in veterinary medicine, and it can be diagnosed by your veterinarian in about a second just by feeling the poor guy’s abdomen. Sadly, however, because it’s such a very sneaky disease, most owners don’t recognize the problem until it’s too late. Death from urethral obstruction can occur within a day due to a ruptured bladder, metabolic disorders, kidney failure, or cardiac arrest. And this death is a painful, agonizing, death. These poor guts really hurt!

Symptoms of this disease show up in many ways. What most owners notice is that the cat seems to be spending a lot of time in the litter box and not actually doing anything. Sadly, many owners mistake this difficult elimination behavior for constipation or worms, and then waste precious hours trying to doctor the cat with laxatives or hairball or worming medicine. Sometimes the cat wants to just hide behind the refrigerator or be left alone under a bed. Most of the time, however, the owner’s only complaint is the cat “just ain’t acting right.” And to confuse the matter even more, these same symptoms can also be seen in simple bladder infections.

Treating this disease can be very challenging. The patient nearly always has to be put under anesthesia to be unblocked. Because of the possibility of damaged kidneys, this process alone can be life-threatening. Once under anesthesia, we will then try to dislodge the blockage through a combination of catheterizing and back-flushing. If this procedure is successful, an indwelling catheter (a tiny plastic or rubber pipe) is often inserted up the penis. This will allow the bladder to drain accumulated urine, which in turn will allow the bladder to heal itself.

Complications of this medical procedure are many. Some of these complications, but not all, are: not being able to unblock the poor kitty in the first place, becoming blocked again a day or two later, ending up with an atonic bladder (one that will no longer empty on its own), kidney failure, or urinary incontinence.
I can almost hear the question being asked, “So, Doc, what causes it?”And I know already that you’re gonna be unhappy with my answer.

Despite what the cat food ads say, what the popular press and cat care books all say, or, what all the Internet armchair veterinarians say, the truth is that there is no one single cause. Over the years, the ash content of the various cat foods (both wet and dry) has been blamed, obesity has been blamed, bladder and kidney infections have been blamed, too early neutering has been blamed, too late neutering has been blamed, too much salt or too little salt have been blamed, the mineral content of one’s well water has been blamed, and on and on. Again, no one knows for sure.

I knew you wouldn’t be happy with this answer.

So, what can you do? By far, the most important thing you can do is just be aware that the problem exists and be watchful for it. Pay attention to your cat’s habits. The earlier the treatment begins, the greater the chance of success. If you even vaguely suspect the problem, please don’t waste time messing around with the home remedies. Hours are precious with this disease.

And I’m running out of room. By the way, did you hear the one about the time former President Clinton saw the ghosts of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln . . .?

PYOMETRIA, OVARIAN AND BREAST CANCER: DISEASES OF UN-SPAYED DOGS AND CATS

There are three potentially life threatening diseases that are commonly seen in un-spayed (pets that still have their reproductive parts) female dogs, and I had to deal with each of them last week. They are pyometria, ovarian cancer, and breast cancer. The original full-length version of this story can be found on my website: www.doctoroz.com

Until they’ve had to deal with one in their own dog or cat (human women can get them also), pyometra is a disease most people probably never heard of. But it’s out there. The word pyometra comes from the Greek words ‘pyon’ meaning pus and ‘metra’ meaning womb. And that’s exactly what the disease is: a very serious, life-threatening, disease in which the uterus of the un-spayed female fills with deadly, fetid-smelling, pus.

Most people have never heard of pyometra because most owners spay their female dogs or cats. Obviously, if your pet doesn’t have a uterus (the uterus and ovaries are removed during a spay), it can’t get a uterus infection. Spaying also addresses the second disease I mentioned, ovarian cancer. These tumors can be scary! But, again, spayed dogs don’t have to worry about ovarian cancer because their ovaries are removed during the spaying surgery.

The last disease which can be greatly reduced in numbers by spaying you pets is breast cancer. Although veterinary researchers say the cancer can still happen, in the hundred or so breast cancer surgeries I’ve done, every single dog and cat was not—I’ll say it again with emphasis—NOT spayed.

So why don’t people spay their dogs or cats? The reasons are very complex and the conclusions would fill this column for the next ten years. The reasons involve multiple issues that range all the way from simply not wanting to spend the money on the surgery, to the almost sacred notion of an owner not wanting to deprive their pet of it’s God-given right to reproduce. It wears me out just thinking about it.

Pyometria is seen in dogs and cats usually over the age of four years. Most of the time owners complain of the animal having a foul (and they really do smell) and sometimes bloody vaginal discharge that comes on very suddenly. With both pyometras and ovarian cancer, sometimes the only sign will be a prolonged bloody ‘spotting’ that is likely to be confused with a regular heat. With both diseases, frequently the only complaint is the dog or cat is very lethargic and is off their feed. All of these gals will die unless attended to; and some, despite heroic efforts, sadly will die anyway from the infection or cancer which spreads to other parts of the body. Treatment always involves an emergency ovariohysterectomy (spaying), usually on a Saturday night when the vet is outta town.

Breast cancers show up as hard nodular swellings along the mammary gland chains on the bellies of cats and dogs. Observant owners usually find them early and their removal is usually curative. However, just like in human women, the cancer can spread—especially in cats. Less observant owners usually wait until a softball-sized mass bursts open on the poor pet’s belly and then it’s too late.

Thanks again.