I'll preface this with I never knew about anal sacs--I mean, I knew they were THERE, but I didn't know they could have complications. I've had many dogs of different breeds and never had this issue!
My pup is 4, and she's never had a problem. Then on Christmas Eve, when we took her out she would sit down every couple of steps. Inside, she's lick and bite at her rump.
Because she's so fluffy, she picks up twigs and branches and burrs in her fur a lot, so I thought it was just a renegade twig in her tail and I gave her a good brushing.
Christmas Day she started doing the dreaded butt scoot. I tried to lift her tail, but the area was so tender she yelped and ran from me.
I rushed her in this morning to the vet, and I'm so glad I did...everyone kept telling me I was being silly and all dogs do the butt scoot and it's nothing...
It turns out she has an anal sac abscess--they couldn't even express them because they were so impacted and sore. The vet just barely touched the one and tons of blood came out.
So my dog got a steroid shot and is now on antibiotics. I have to go back in 2 weeks to see if the inflammation/abscess has healed...if not, we have to consider surgery for her.
Lesson learned: You know your dog. Ignore people who say you're stupid, and get them to the vet. The vet said many people ignore the butt scooting for months, and by the time they bring them in, the infection is extremely advanced and the dog must be in terrible pain
Has anyone else dealt with this?
