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Question

My dog is a 14 year old Cockerspaniel. Lately, he has been chewing / licking near his tail & rear end constantly as though it is itching him. I have not see any fleas. What do you think may be causing this?

Submitted: 17 days and 23 hours ago.
Category: Dog
Value: $15
Status: CLOSED
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Optional Information

Pet's Gender: Male
Pet's Age: >12
Type of Animal: Dog

Already Tried:
We have tried to give him a few baths / flea dips. However yesterday, my boyfriend noticed blackened discoloration around the dog's rectal area. Of course we want our dog to be comfortable & happy, but cannot really afford vet expenses at this time. I have been looking online to see what the most common causes could be & have found dry skin? ringworm? full anal gland? We would like to rule out possible things to see if we can treat him at home first before spending extreme amounts of money. Would appreciate any help you can offer. Thanks.

Posted by Gen B. 17 days and 23 hours ago.

Answer

Hello and thanks for researching this very important question!

Anal gland impaction is by far the most common cause of this type of discomfort. Anal glands are probably what is left of the scent glands of wild types of animals. The fishy-smelling scent fluid produced by these glands is deposited on a dog's territory during a bowel movement, or sprayed into the air during a fearful event.

When this fluid gets hard, it can back up in the gland's ducts and get stuck in the gland...over-full glands are itchy and painful. Dogs lick, chew and "scoot" around to try and get relierf.

Warm soaks in the tub or warm water compresses can help open up lightly blocked ducts, and adding a teaspoon of pumpkin to his meals can help his colon work more efficiently at this age.

Older dogs can develop cancers inside these glands and tumors of the other tissues surrounding the anus...if he does not get relief by the end of this weekend, he should be examined to make sure something more serious is not going on.

If you need additional support at this time, please "Reply", otherwise I thank you in advance for your "Accept".

17 days and 23 hours ago.

Reply

Would this impacted anal gland cause the area around the rectum to darken almost to a blackened color? Or is the discoloration due to frequency of the dog licking / chewing on this area?

Accepted Answer

Any dried scent fluid or stool may have gotten stuck to his skin and dried "black" in color...or if this looks like flakes of skin, it could be that his continual fussing has damaged the outer layer of skin and it is dying and flaking away.

Older intact males (that still have their testicles) can have some skin changes to the anus that can appear black and/or flakey.



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Expert: Gen B.
Pos. Feedback: 100.0 %
Accepts: 
Answered: 11/5/2009

Retired Veterinary Technician

Lhasa,Shih Tzu Breeder/ B.A.Neurophysiology & Animal Behavior/I use plain English!

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