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One of the much more common medical complaints presented with in small animal practice is when clients are perplexed with why their canine or cat is rubbing their anus along the carpets (often referred to as scooting), or licking excessively around that area. By far the most significant cause of that is some sort of anal gland impaction or infection. The anal glands or anal sacs are located at 4 and 8 o’clock to the sides of the anal opening (if the anal opening is saw as a clock).
The function of these glands is not really known, although they typically release their contents during normal bowel movements, or when an animal is frightened. In some pets, these glands can become blocked leading to impaction, infection/abscessation and occasionally rupture. That’s why it is essential for any animal guardian who observes their pet rubbing their anus along the ground excessively, or the persistence of an unusual rotten fish-like odor or bloody discharge from the area to see their veterinarians as soon as possible to assess their pet for anal sac disease.
Sometimes just manual expression by the veterinarian is enough to cure the problem, but other times animals are prone to relapses to varying degrees. In those cases, some veterinarians will flush the anal sacs out under anesthesia, while as a last resort some veterinarians will surgically remove the anal sacs, which can on occasion have surgical problems such as the development of fecal incontinence.
While we are often asked what to do to avoid this annoying problem from occurring, there are no guaranteed answers that will always avoid problems. some of the suggestions I will give clients include feeding as natural a diet as possible such as Wysong, adding extra fiber to the food through products like Vetasyl, as well as making sure their pet maintains an optimal weight and gets plenty of exercise to help promote anal sac emptying at the suitable times.
Pet Health
