My dog is licking and chewing on his anus area. He usually does this at night. This is new behavior. What is the problem?
Hi. I'm Dr. Lee and I'll do my best to help. Can you please give me some more info? 1. How old is your dog? Is he neutered? 2. Is he on any medications right now? 3. Does he have any allergies? Especially food allergies? 4. Does he have any anal gland problems that you know of? 5. Does he scoot his butt? 6. How long has he been doing this? Thanks.
Teddy is almost 2 years old. He is neutered. He is on flea meds and heart worm meds.He has no allergies that I know of. He anal glands have been cleaned out a month ago and they said they are fine. He does not scoot on his bottom. He has been doing this for about 2 weeks.
Hi! Thanks for the updated info. Usually licking at the rear end is a sign of irritation or food allergies. Food allergy is usually diagnosed at very young or Old Age. Given the fact that Teddy had his anal gland emptied before, I suspect that his anal glands are full again. With anal glands, it is difficult to say how long it takes for them to get full. Sometimes a couple weeks, a month, for some dogs it might be 6 months. I would suggest for Teddy to go have his anal glands expressed again and if they find that they are full, then that's where the problem is. If they are not full, and Teddy continues to lick, then it might be food allergy, in which case you can try to change his diet. Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Teddy's anal gland was checked while he was put to sleep to remove a foxtail in his nose. I was told that his anal gland was almost empty. He had this done when he was nuetared and they still found his gland only partially full. He has no problem defecating.Could this be a skin irritation: he does seem to be scratching other areas more often.
Hi. Yes skin problems can definitely be possible. Some type of allergies. Usually it is food allergies. But what you can try to do in the meantime is to try some Benadryl. How much does Teddy Weight?
Teddy is a 22 pound Lhasapoo.
Hi. You can try giving Teddy some over-the-counter Benadryl 25mg tabs. Give 1 tablet twice daily and see if you see any response. Give it a couple days. If no response, you can try changing diet to something like lamb and rice and see if there is a response. But this might take up to 4 to 8 weeks to see a response from change of diet. Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions or concern. Thanks.
Experience: 6 years of experience in veterinary medicine and surgery