Dog and cat pet tips - on Pets.ca
Cat illness, dog is sick, behavior problems... Once a week
Pets.ca will publish a pet tip.
Tip
81 - Scooting - dog or cat rubs bum on the floor - anal sac problems
in dogs and cats
Although
more common in dogs than cats, scooting is the action of a pet
that drags its bum on the floor. The cat
or
dog literally
moves using its two front paws while its whole backside gets
dragged. It may look like the animal has broken or injured its
back legs and is using its front legs as crutches, but this is
rarely
the case. It's a very unique movement that usually denotes a
problem
with a
dog or cat's
anal
sacs. It is also a condition that gets progressively more painful
for the animal and should be dealt with ASAP.
The
anal sacs or anal glands are a pair of glands that are located
just inside your dog's or cat's anus. These glands contain an
extremely smelly substance. Most
dogs empty their own anal sacs through normal defecation and
most dog owners never have any problems during their dog's lifetime.
However,
sometimes
these anal sacs get blocked or irritated and the dog will scoot
in order to try and relieve the problem. They may also start
chasing their tails and licking their anal region and fur around
their tails. Cats will often obsessively start licking their
anal areas and fur around their tails.
In
order to relieve the problem, the anal sacs must be emptied or
expressed by either gently pushing on the exterior parts of the
anus (at 4 O'clock and 8 O'clock if you imagine your pet's anus
to be a clock) or if that doesn't work, by seeing your veterinarian
who will squeeze the glands inside your pet's rectum.
Any dog owner can
learn how to do this but the horrific smell and possible mess
make the majority of dog owners seek a veterinarian. If you would
like to learn this technique, we recommend that you ask the vet
for a demonstration the next time your dog has a problem, and
then you should feel comfortable doing it yourself if you can
handle the smell. Once the sacs have been emptied (on occasion
it takes more than one session to empty them completely) the
scooting may not stop immediately but should stop within a few
days. A
scooting problem that involves the anal sacs needing to be emptied
becomes VERY painful for a dog or cat if it is left untreated
and can easily cause an abscess or rupture.
It
should be noted although scooting USUALLY denotes an anal sac
problem, scooting can also be the result of tapeworms,
a back injury, ulcers near the anus or other problems. Seek veterinary
care to diagnose and treat any scooting problem in your dog or
cat.
© Pets.ca
2007
www.pets.ca
See the other pet tips here:
