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Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Update, update, read all about it:
Artie and I just got back from the vet. She (the vet) did a little more expressing on him (Artie) and said it was "normal stuff" -- just a bit of liquid and not even smelly.
She said he wasn't scootching because his anal sacs needed to be expressed again, but maybe he was doing it because his bum was irritated from the previous expressing. She said that the expressing often causes some inflamation, so she gave (well, SOLD) me some anti-inflammatories (Deramaxx 25mg), one of which Artie gobbled up like it was a treat. Silly boy.
Anyway, all's good. And I'm hoping that his new food (Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul... thanks everyone for the recommendations) along with some broccoli will continue to firm up his stools so that his sacs can express on their own.
Fingers crossed! Woofers, cross yours for me too, please.
Artie and I just got back from the vet. She (the vet) did a little more expressing on him (Artie) and said it was "normal stuff" -- just a bit of liquid and not even smelly.
She said he wasn't scootching because his anal sacs needed to be expressed again, but maybe he was doing it because his bum was irritated from the previous expressing. She said that the expressing often causes some inflamation, so she gave (well, SOLD) me some anti-inflammatories (Deramaxx 25mg), one of which Artie gobbled up like it was a treat. Silly boy.
Anyway, all's good. And I'm hoping that his new food (Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul... thanks everyone for the recommendations) along with some broccoli will continue to firm up his stools so that his sacs can express on their own.
Fingers crossed! Woofers, cross yours for me too, please.
Thanks everyone!
She charged you for anti-inflams for a sore butt? Hmmm..
Well, I'm sure Artie will be fine. Did you learn the technique?
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 32,907,188 times
Reputation: 28902
Quote:
Originally Posted by Woof Woof Woof!
She charged you for anti-inflams for a sore butt? Hmmm..
Well, I'm sure Artie will be fine. Did you learn the technique?
Not only that, Woofers, she also charged me again for the expressing! Another $35 for that (even though it was just done at the end of December, and the fact that there was practically nothing in the sacs!) and $18 for the meds.
And, no, she didn't show me the technique. I stayed in the first exam room, and she took Artie to another to do it. In her defense, she always does that because Artie gets uptight and tries to protect me. And this time, he was really upset and didn't want to leave me. It wasn't a happy visit. He was having his sacs re-expressed and I was in the next room listening to him whimper. I shed tears over that sound, and thinking how he kept holding onto me, not wanting to go.
But, all that aside, he's fine now, and we're changing vets in September, for Artie's next annual. That vet is too far (the office is near our old house) and, besides, I think we need to go somewhere where they won't continually gouge me for $$$$.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 32,907,188 times
Reputation: 28902
OK, I'm at my wit's end now...
At the end of December, Artie had his anal sacs expressed. They were "full" according to the vet.
Then, even the next day, he was doing the bum scootch. It stopped, then it started again. Off and on. In mid-January, I took him back to the vet because of the scootching. She said that it was just "normal stuff" in there and that only very little came out when she expressed him. She said it could have been irritated or inflamed, and sent me home with Deramaxx for him.
I gave it to him for 3 days (she gave me enough for 7 days, but said that 3 days should do it) and all seemed fine.
Yesterday and today, guess what? He's scootching again!!! And he's scootching over and over and over again, in quick succession.
I gave him another Deramaxx yesterday. And after he scootched this morning, I gave him another. We only have 2 pills left, but that aside, I wonder what else is going on!?!?!
I called the vet's office and told them that I don't want to have to come in every couple of weeks to be told that it's nothing... and then get charged for the visit. But, above all, I want to get to the bottom of this (no pun intended) and find out what's bugging Artie's bum and causing the scootching.
Any ideas? Do any of you know any other reason, beside anal sacs needing to be expressed (since this is not the case here), that would cause Artie to scootch?
PS. He's 5 years old, 35-pound healthy Lab/Corgi mix, and we've had him since May 2007.
So long as it's happening outside and not on the carpet I wouldn't give it a second thought. My female fills fast, easily can have full glands in less than a month. My male on the other hand can go as long as two months and be nowhere near as full as the female.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 32,907,188 times
Reputation: 28902
Quote:
Originally Posted by cleosmom
So long as it's happening outside and not on the carpet I wouldn't give it a second thought. My female fills fast, easily can have full glands in less than a month. My male on the other hand can go as long as two months and be nowhere near as full as the female.
He's mostly doing it inside -- mostly because it's snowy and wet outside -- but he's done it outside too. He does it on the floor and the carpet, although I'm not concerned, really, because he's clean and not leaving any marks.
The part that concerns me, though, is that he's been doing it when his sacs are NOT full. He had them expressed at the end of December, and then he was scootching right after, for a couple of weeks, and I brought him back to the vet in early-mid January. And even though he was scootching, the vet said that his sacs were not full at all, and he likely had some inflammation there that was irritating him.
But now that he's doing it yet AGAIN, I'm thinking that his sacs are still not full. He's taken the Deramaxx for the inflammation/irritation, but I'm wondering... do you think he could be scootching for a reason other than his anal sacs needing to be expressed?
Could his bum just simply be itchy because it's so cold and dry outside?
I hate returning to the vet for nothing (and having to pay for yet ANOTHER vet visit), but I don't want to just think it's nothing if Artie's in discomfort. He "usually" (I say usually because he's only had his sacs expressed twice since we got him in May 2007) get his sacs expressed every 6-8 months, so this scootching has got me worried.
How does his butt look? Is it red and irritated? Can you put some vaseline on it? How often is he scootching?
Also, he may need his sacs squeezed once a month, which is not unusual. That's about how often I would do my dog.
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