Why Your Dog Licks His Bottom
This is at first neither unusual nor a cause for concern. However, if you observe this behaviour often, we recommend that you pay attention.
Inflamed anal glands
The anal glands are located at the anus of the dog. In them a secretion is formed, which is normally secreted when dropping-off with and which serves the quadruped to mark its territory. If your dog licks his anus very often, this is often due to an inflammation of the anal glands.
Because if the anal bags, in which the secretion is produced, are not regularly emptied or become blocked, this sooner or later leads to an inflammation. As this causes, among other things, unpleasant itching and a feeling of pressure, dogs with anal gland inflammation start to lick their anus frequently.
Other signs of inflammation of the anal glands
If your dog suffers from inflammation of his anal glands, excessive anal licking is not the only symptom in most cases. In addition, you will most likely notice other symptoms, such as so-called sledging (sliding around on your backside).
Since dogs are not nearly as agile as cats, they find it relatively difficult to lick their own anus. It is therefore quite possible that your four-legged friend starts biting his tail and may even injure himself.
Possible consequences of anal gland inflammation
If you do not treat your dog's anal gland inflammation in time, fistulas and abscesses may develop. This is very painful for your four-legged friend and also triggers fever in many cases.
In the worst case, it can even cause the anal sacs to burst open. If you suspect that your dog is suffering from an anal gland inflammation, prompt action is therefore very important.
A dog with anal gland inflammation must go to the vet
If your dog suffers from inflamed anal sacs, you should make an appointment with the vet immediately. The veterinarian can examine your dog and empty the anal bags by hand.
Based on the results of the examination and the consistency of the secretion, the vet will then decide whether further action is necessary. It is often sufficient to clean the anal bags with a rinse containing antibiotics. In severe cases, however, your dog may also need to take additional oral antibiotics.
If abscesses have already formed on the anal glands, these must be cut open. In this case, a suitable ointment can help to soothe the stressed skin on your dog's anus. However, if you have ignored symptoms such as anal licking for too long, surgical removal of the anal glands may well be necessary.
How to prevent inflamed anal glands in dogs
In most cases, inflamed anal glands and the associated licking of the anus in dogs are the result of feeding mistakes.
Poorly tolerated ingredients, such as wheat, often lead to digestive problems in dogs such as soft excrement or diarrhoea. As a result, insufficient pressure is exerted on the anal sacs when excrement is being defecated and they are not emptied.
In the course of time, the secretion becomes increasingly viscous and the problems mentioned above can even lead to inflammation.
Bellfor dog food for a healthy digestion
In order to avoid nutritional problems with the anal glands and thus a frequent cause of increased licking at the anus in your dog, we recommend that you make sure that the quality of the dog food you buy is good.
With dog food from Bellfor you are in exactly the right place in this respect. Because our products are characterized by a complete absence of artificial additives and wheat. Instead, we rely on high-quality raw materials and carefully balanced recipes that meet your dog's natural nutritional needs.
This ensures that your four-legged friend can tolerate his Bellfor dog food well, his excrement has a firm consistency and the risk of inflammation of his anal glands is kept to a minimum.
Anal gland ointment for dogs that lick their anus
If your dog licks his anus very often or he may already have problems with his anal glands, the use of Bellfor Anal Glands Ointment can be useful.
This rich care product consists exclusively of natural ingredients, such as shea butter.
This makes our Anal Glands Ointment ideal for soothing the stressed skin on your dog's anus and for counteracting frequent licking and problems with the anal sacs.
Our conclusion on the subject of anal licking in dogs
If a dog licks its anus conspicuously often, this is a clear sign that the four-legged friend has to fight with an anal gland inflammation.
This is not only associated with unpleasant pain. It can also have serious consequences. Therefore, you should always take existing complaints seriously and have your dog examined by a vet as soon as possible.
In addition, it is important that you ensure that your dog is fed according to his needs and that you only provide him with easily digestible food made from natural ingredients, such as the high-quality products from Bellfor.
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