Is it the anal glands?

[elletr13]

Hi All,

I used to post here back at TN, but haven't since the move.

My dog (pit/lab mix) woke me up early this morning. I assumed he needed to go out. Nope.

He's eating and drinking fine. He's acting mostly normally except for one thing--not wagging his tail. In fact, it is hanging straight down when he walks. My dog is ALWAYS wagging/thumping his tail; we joke that it never gets tired.

I did some googling and it seems it could be something with the anal glands. We've never had an issue in the almost 2 years we've had him.

What do y'all think? Is this something we need to go to the emergency vet for, or could I call our vet in the AM? I see that PetSmart offers the cleaning as part of their packages, but we just bathed him yesterday--is it possible to get that service as a one-off?

Thanks for the help . Here's a pup picture for your time. From yesterday--we'd just finished our 2nd walk of the day and decided to hang out at the park and enjoy the nice weather.

[midnightmare81]

I would not take him to the vet for that, since he is eating and drinking and assuming he acting normal otherwise. If this is not the case that would depend on how he was acting. It is odd though. I would not jump to anal glands unless they looked swollen or he is showing other signs of them bothering him.

You could ask petsmart, but they probably will not do it as a stand alone service. Have you ever smelled what comes out of them? It is likely one of the most awful smells you will ever experience! They do it before the bath so that the bath can wash the smell off after. Their policy is never to send a dog out who is not clean, dry, and smells good, or at least smell free, and doing it without a bath would not result in a good smelling dog at all.

[elletr13]

Thanks. He went on a walk and was excited about it, but before we left for Church he was just laying on the couch. We'll keep an eye on him. I'll call his vet tomorrow; we need to go in for our annual shots and Heartworm Rx this month anyways, so I may as well do it this week and get him checked out just to be safe.

[elletr13]

Hmm. PetSmart does do the cleaning, but when we took him, nothing came out! We're
Not sure what is going on...he does keep licking a spot just below his tail. He doesn't flinch or whine when we touh that area or his tail. I guess since he is otherwise acting normal, I'm just going to hope we can get our annual appointment scheduled for this week and have it checked out then.

[mrssavy42112]

Hmmm, that's interesting. I don't have dogs, so I'm really no help. I do have cats & the smell that comes out of those glands is just atrocious. Hope the vet can alleviate your worries.

[patches31709]

Is it any better? I'm wondering if he managed to break his tail.

[elletr13]

No, no better today It is so strange to see him not wagging/thumping his tail. He'll lift it some and so a slight wag, but nothing like normal. usually that thing it thumping or wagging from the tie he wakes up to the time he goes to bed! I am calling the vet this morning.

[patches31709]

Another though - has he been swimming recently? That can cause cold water tail which needs anti-inflammatories.

[elletr13]

Nope; the closest he's been to water is his bath on Saturday, and he was fine after that.

We have an appointment tomorrow afternoon.

[patches31709]

Apr 8, 2013 12:04:26 GMT -5 elletr13 said:

Nope; the closest he's been to water is his bath on Saturday, and he was fine after that.

We have an appointment tomorrow afternoon.

What did the vet say?

[elletr13]

Limber/dead/cold tail. Basically, he over used it I'm seeing improvement, but she gave us an anti-inflammatory for the week.