Need some advice.

Hi, I'm new to this site only joined yesterday. We have a 11 week old black and tan boy called Harvey. We took him to the vets on saturday for his last injection and to get him microchipped (which now also reads their temperature). Whilst we were there I mentioned that although he was wormed a week ago on the day we picked him up, he had started to do that strange scooting thing with his bottom. The vet said it probably wasn't worms as he was wormed a week ago. She did however say that he needed his anal glands emptied. I had read about this but didn't think it would need to be done so soon. Is this normal in a 11 week old pup?

He was also sick last night but thought that might be due to the fact that he was chewing the grass in the garden yesterday.

Any advice would be great.

This is a breed prone to scooting -- try searching the site on that term and you'll find quite a few posts! Vets always say this means anal glands need empting. Sometimes this is the case but in an 11 week pup that seems pretty unlikely. Puppies seem to scoot a lot more regularly than adults. All my adults still scoot a couple times a week -- even right after their analglands are emptied. It is worth always having glands checked by a vet on a visit as sometimes they can (rarely) get infected or even burst and cause other problems. But in my experience full glands are rarely causing scooting -- cavaliers just like to scoot.

Lots of animals like to eat grass and sometimes it makes them vomit. If he continues to vomit or look distressed in any way, ring the vet and ask what they think. Vets are very good about telling you when you should be concerned and explaining what to watch for. Occasional vomiting isn;t a big deal but would be a concern if it happens numerous times in a puppy. They can go downhill very quickly with things like tummy problems or diarrhea so it is always a good idea to keep a close eye on anything and ring the vet for advice if the dog hasn;t improved in 24 hours.

Thanks for that. She did empty his glands by squeezing them and getting some very horrible smelly stuff out (much to my childrens disgust).

He's had his beakfast and a good run around in the garden and is now asleep on my feet as I type this aahh.

I have just posted another question about plum trees on the health and diet board if you know anything about them?

Like Karlin said, scooting is a breed trait, and a charming little one it is too. My guys occasionally scoot. Do keep an eye out though if he scoots constantly or seems irritated around his tail. When we first got our Cavalier I'd read about the scooting breed trait but because I didn't know the difference between normal scooting & not normal scooting, I ended up with a very sorry dog with an abcess on his bot.

In your little bloke though, it is probably just a fun thing to do.

Oliver scoots quite a bit, too and has since he was a baby. I take him to have his glands done regularly but he comes home and scoots again!

He also loves to eat grass- I think he may be part cow!

This thread is making me giggle ... Lucy has done this her whole life as well. Itchy bum syndrome we call it. Very comical looking - round in circles ... once or twice she's even done it on concrete - OUCH!! But I didn't realise this was a trait, it's good to know.

Try having 5 that scoot and you know they really like doing it when we have company. So embarassing and then trying to explain. I wouldn't trade my Cavis for anything!!!!!

I've seen my Molly scoot a few times back when she was having diarrhea problems, but not since then.

Speaking of eating grass, Molly used to do that also... until she got spayed. Then all of a sudden it stopped. However, she still tries to eat sticks, leaves, pinecones, paper, and anything else she can get her paws on!

-laura

When Kosmo was little he used to scoot in circles. I thought it was funny to watch (the vet said he didn't have a problem) so we tagged a word to it. Now I can say "Kosmo, scratch your bum!" and he scoots.. It's absolutely hilarious!! Guests really get a kick out of it as well :lol:

That's got to be a youtube moment Sara, try filming it!