I adopted a 10yo dog about 3months ago. At that time she was hardly licking herself (she had been on kibble)but did it occasionally. I switched her to a raw diet 2months ago and now she is licking her rear alot. The previous owner said over the years she has done that so I know its nothing new but disappointed that a raw diet has actually worsened her. At the moment I have her on Primal raw with some crushed veggies in it. When I first got her I had her on Honest Kitchen and she seemed to do ok. Thanks for any help and btw she does not have parasites or fleas
anneh
The butt and it looks a little sore there. Was thinking last night of maybe eliminating the bone and giving her Animal Essentials Calcium instead and see if that helps, perhaps the bone is causing problems. anneh
Sounds like anal glands to me, too. Often in older animals especially, the gland fluid gets really thick and pasty and doesn't express when they have a bowel movement like it normally should if it's very liquid.
thanks again everyone for your help. Primal is not high in bone and have fed it for years successfully with my other dogs. Re the anal glands, is it ok to have vet express them if needed, thought I read somewhere that it is not a good thing to do (sorry if dumb question but could swear I read it somewhere recently). Otherwise will take her to vet. I use a holistic vet for other stuff but have a good regular vet for medical things like this. I have put her back on Honest Kitchen with a little raw meat added so will see if that helps. She does also lick her vulva and previous owner said she has always done both things but I know she seems worse since switching her to raw meat with bone. emily
Quote: Becky Shilling
Sounds like anal glands to me, too. Often in older animals especially, the gland fluid gets really thick and pasty and doesn't express when they have a bowel movement like it normally should if it's very liquid.
Tracy Collins Webboard User Reg: 10-09-2008
Posts: 1917
Loc: St. Louis, Missouri
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If her poops are already quite small and firm (which would indicate that there's enough bone in the diet) then she could just be one of those dogs that needs to have anal glands expressed manually. It's not a big deal at all. It's a grooming issue as much as a health issue (unless they become infected or impacted). You can even do it yourself, if you want to.
The very firm poop of a good raw diet generally helps express the glads on their own as the dog strains just a little to poop.
Perhaps by adding raw meat to the Primal mix (which you say is not high in bone anyway) there is not enough bone in this diet?
How would you describe the size and firmness of this dog's poop?
One thing you might need to be aware of. My male had this issue for a while and he turned out to have a mild infection of his anal glands.
Just to be sure, it can't hurt to get the vet to take a look and see what is going on there.
I was surprised because my dogs are raw fed. But just something to think about.
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