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Scooting...a lot

RockNRollCav

Well-known member
Corgan has been scooting a lot lately, and he just had his "glands" cleaned last week by my mom, who is also my groomer (she's a professional groomer with 18+ years experience)

Should I be worried??
 
Welsey does it frequently too. The worst is that he just looks right at you in the process :yuk: . It is occuring more than it used to, his bottom may be itching for some other reason. Purhaps the glands got irritated during the last "gland purging" or even worse...worms :yikes . I would take him to the vet if you are concerned.
 
Scooting

Do all cavaliers need to have their anal glands expressed? A friend of mine with cockerspaniels questioned me as to whether I was having this done when Tucker was groomed. I had never heard of it. My groomer, a mobile unit that comes to my house, does not perform this service. When Tucker visits the Vet I now ask that they check to make sure his anal glands are not full, so far, they say he's fine, he's done some scooting from time to time. It's comical, it looks like a duck walk. I think it might be a little itch, or sometimes I think he just does it cuz it feels good to rub his butt on the rug.
 
Some breeders feel that if at all possible glands shouldn't expressed -- that once you start you need to do it all the time. Most also say this is a breed that likes to scoot. I wouldn;t want to be constantly emptying them but I haven't noticed that occasional emptying causes any issues.

Scooting can be a sign of a medical issue -- worms, or discomfort -- but most of the time they just seem to do it because they like to do it. I've had mine scoot days after having glands done. I only very rarely have the vet do their glands -- once a year maybe. They have never been very full.

In small breeds the glands apparently can get blocked more easily and this can cause an infection that sometiems can cause an absess and be quite serious. Some dogs seem inclined to such infection (probably just have very small openings).

The best approach to glands is to make sure your dog gets lots of roughage because solid regular poops keep the glands working correctly. Hence carrots or other veggies are good; so it feeding a bit of weetabix or plain shredded wheat sometimes, or oats, or a prune (pitted) each week or a couple times a week. Diets with some kibble are better than all soft foods for this reason too (also to help clean teeth).

More than you want to know:

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_anal_sacs.html

:lol:

I don;t think their advice really applies to cavaliers though -- they seem to scoot when there's nothing needing emptying and no medical issue. All three of mine scoot.
 
Karlin, that "Anal Sacs Page" site is hillarious! I love the "click here to zoom in on the dog's rear end" (but first you have to click to make him wag his tail, as if that makes it seem less wierd! :lol: )! Funny, but EXTREMELY useful and informative, for people who are unfamiliar with anal glands. Thanks for sharing such a great reference page!
 
that webpage is the site of one of my vets, the first one i took zack to when i first got him and took my cat to for years. that website is a great resource.

i had a dog when i was a kid in the 60s, and another one in the 70s, and they both occasionally scooted, one was a cocker spaniel (or maybe cavalier?)mix and the other was a small sheltie mix. I never gave it any thought. then last year my daughter got a cavalier and she told me that they need to have their anal glands expressed, this particular breed, if the glands get full, and that a sign of the glands being full is scooting. then i got zack. He scooted. He had chronic diarrhea for a month when i first got him so i thought he was just wiping off his butt. Ttrying to be a responsible dog owner, when i had him to the vet for the second time, a couple of weeks after i got him (it was the same vet that made the website) I asked the technician if the anal glands needed expressing. She didn't bring it up, i did. She said she didn't know, she didn't seem experienced, but she said she would express them, and when she did, nothing happened, i don't think anything came out, she really didn't seem to know how to do it, i thought.

months later, zack got sick and i took him to one of my other vets, and she asked if he had been scooted, and i hesitated but i said yes, i hadn't been concerned about it. she suggested expressing his anal glands. They took him in to another room, away from me. He was given subcutaneous fluids, had blood drawn, and had his toenails clipped, and had the anal gland expression. i don't know what happened because i wasn't there.

After that day, he was scooting more than before. He wasn't scooting very much before this, and i have regretted letting them do it, i don't think he needed it, she later said the glands had not been very full, when i asked. I told her he had been scooting more. She said it was common for there to be more scooting after anal gland expression.

He continued to scoot more often for several weeks but it finally went back to how it was before.
 
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