31. A Cavalier King Charles X has an itchy right backside

Tuesday April 26, 2016  Queen's Veterinary Surgery

Dr Daniel has his day off on Tuesday and so the mother and young adult daughter brought their dog to consult me at 7.30 pm at Queen's Vets.

"His right backside is itchy," the daughter said that this dog did not bite his tail, scooter on the floor nor chase its tail.  I placed the dog on the table and expressed the anal sacs which were not obviously swollen under the skin. Copious amount of yellowish oily fluid shot out onto my tissue paper. The daughter was careful not to stand behind the dog as she must have read about its foul-smelling oil which would squirt out like a bullet, exploding onto her face or dress. 

So, was this a case of anal sacculitis? Yes. I explained how the anal sacs can be expressed weekly by the person bathing the dog. "Who bathes the dog?" I asked. "It's the father," the mum said. "He should be here, as he is the correct person to teach how to express the anal sacs" I replied. "He is at work."

"Has my dog any more ringworm and does it infect people?" the mother asked. The dog had been given 20 days of anti-fungal medication and had been clipped bald.

"There are no more bald patches nor scales," I noted that the dog had recovered fully. New short hair covers the whole body.

"Are you sure?" the mother asked.
I did another close check up. On the left side of the base of the tail, hidden amongst the growing 5mm-long brown hairs, there was a bright red skin ulcer of around 5mm x 3mm. Hidden at the corner of the tail base and backside.

This could be a new area of ringworm infestation and to be careful, I prescribed another 15 days of anti-fungal . Generalised ringworm is very difficult to treat but this mum and daughter had done a wonderful job such that I thought the dog had recovered 100%.  The tail biting complaint was on the right backside. It was a clue but most likely, the left backside beside the tail base was the real itchy spot.