My 3 yr old dog is dragging his behind across the carpet and then chews on his butt. The vet has checked him and he has no worms, the gland is clear, and there are no flea. He doesn't do it all the time, he will go for days without doing it. Then he will do it for a few days. or not do it again for months. Any ideas?
A couple of things. First, a dog dragging his tush on the ground doesn't necessarily mean just worms. Dogs have anal glands, little glands back there, that can get implacted or clogged. If that happens a dog (more rarely a cat) will rub them on things to 'express" or empty them. A good vet, hearing this symptom, would check and express them for you.
Second, worm tests at the vet don't always catch tapeworms (which rarely show up on a fecal float test for worms). Look around his bedding for small things that look like dried rice, just one. If your dog has fleas, then he's likely to be exposed to tapeworms because that's how they're transmitted - via eating a flea when grooming. If you see them live they can look like a wet piece of rice, a noodle in bad cases. But most often you never see them, maybe see the little dried segments as I described above.
You can buy tapeworm medicine that is safe to use at your good petstores. Get a good weight at the vet, or just tell your vet that you'd like to treat for tapes.
This happens to our Gus when things don't come out, as solidly as they ought to. He's usually okay the first time it happens but if it happens a second time in a day or so he starts to scoot on the floor. (We have an old house with old wood floors and I worry about splinters when he does this!)
We watch what comes out pretty closely, two "squishys" in one day usually prompts us to start feeding him his upset tummy food (boiled chicken with rice and pumpkin) until his stool firms up. This was easier when we lived in the city and were walking him for all bathroom breaks but now that he has a backyard things are a little more difficult to catch....we have learned to watch his body language to get hints about what is going on.
For example, Gus usually kicks around at the grass a little when he is finished (my husband calls this a celebratory "I just pooped dance"....claims that all guys are proud when this happens), when things come out squishy the dance is a little different and it takes place farther away from the pile. After the second squishy in the day the dance is usually followed by a butt scooting grand finale.
I agree with other posts, consider a change of diet. You may have an allergy or a food that just doesn't produce firm enough piles with this dog. My Father in Law worms his dog twice a year as a preventative measure (apparently you can buy the stuff you need at pet stores) and has never had a worm problem. (I have never in my life wormed a dog and have still never had this problem, so I suppose it could go either way.)
Maybe after he takes a crap it doesn't all drop off so to speak. and its making him itchy. My boyfriends dog does this to but only after he takes a crap.
My Rachel the Cat does this and almost in the same pattern as your doggie ... I know she does not have worms and her food has been the same for eons so I just figure she's no different than people and simply gets an itchy behind now and then ;-)
I wouldn't worry unless your baby is chewing himself to the point of harm ...
Gosh! I'd still have him wormed just to make sure! He also may have allergies, either to his food or to something in the air or environmental. Sounds like something is driving him crazy & his poor little rear is itching. Embarrassing to say this, but as a small child my sister was always playing in the dirt & like lots of little kids she got worms several times & they can make your anus itch like crazy. That's why I'd get your dog wormed if he does that again. Did your vet do a stool sample? Cause you can't really tell for sure useless he did. Also, try putting him on a lamb & rice non-allergy diet for several weeks when this happens again. Another thing, if he has dry or itchy skin, I'd recommend adding Salmon oil to his food. They sell it at pet stores.
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