Welcome to Ruff Housing!
About Me - Everything seemed like it fell into place when my boyfriend and I decided to adopt a wonderful four-month-old puppy. We fell in love as soon as we saw her and named her Pointer. Because of Pointer I started to become much more aware and concerned for aggressive dogs. I then volunteered at a local shelter and realized how wonderful all animals are. I found myself being interested in taking care of not only cats and dogs but also other small and exotic animals like rats, birds, and reptiles.
Last year, my other dog Q (believed to be a Chihuahua/Terrier mix) was diagnosed with an anal rupture! Many mammals such as dogs and cats have these small anal glands or anal sacs that are found near the anus. These glands are often known as “scent glands,” that’s why every time your dog meets another dog the first thing he or she does is sniff the butt. An anal rupture occurs when your dog’s stool is too soft to exert any pressure to secrete those glands and when those glands are not well secreted a small pimple will form outside of the anus. Similar to humans having a hemorrhoid, this anal problem can be extremely discomforting for your pet! Some key symptoms to look for are licking or biting the affected area, dragging or “scooting” their rear end across the floor, chasing its tail, difficulty in both sitting and standing comfortably, and fishy odors in their stool.
So what can you do to prevent this from happening? Just like humans, make sure your pet is getting sufficient amounts of fiber in his or her diet! Eating fiber will produce firmer stool which will lead to more pressure to exert the glands so an infection will not occur. You can also take your pet to the groomers so they can manually secrete those glands for your pet. But if you are thinking about not spending the extra cash every month you may also consider doing it yourself! Just be prepared for some flying butt juice!
Here are some basic directions from lovetoknow.com of how you can do it yourself:
- Prepare a warm moist washcloth.
- Locate your dog’s anal glands by raising his tail and using your other hand to feel for two lumps at approximately five and seven o’clock on either side of his anal opening.
- Holding the cloth over his anal opening to prevent an unpleasant squirt, begin applying firm but gentle pressure to the sacs. This should cause some of the fluid to be expelled through the rectal opening, thereby emptying the glands. Wipe your dog’s behind clean, and the job should be finished
- Give your dog a bath afterwards!
