[Dailydrool] Sore basset bottom... Drool please!

[Dayna Whitehead]

As I've been bragging about, Pierre just turned 13 years old. One of the
many problems he's had over the years are impacted anals. I got in the habit
when he was 6 months old of expressing them myself because he's never been
able to. In order to prevent what has happened to Flash, I had to learn how
to do that. That's not to say that it's your fault. It's something that just
happens sometimes. The anals build up and what can happen is impactions,
infection and/or explosion. My mother's dog, a Boston/Chihuahua mix, had all
of the above. I was unaware that she was taking Tiffany to the vet to have
them expressed so when my mother was hospitalized and my sister had Tiff,
one exploded (there are 2, one on either side of the anus, about 1-2 cm
back). If there is food that can assist with that, I'm unaware of it. That's
why there are so many of us on the Drool; to provide information in order to
teach those of us who do not know. My groomer taught me how to do it. Your
vet can show you. Ask him/her how to do it. It's very difficult to figure it
out online. I do it when my husband give's Pierre a bath. We've never had to
do it with our other dogs, but I have had to do it with 1 or 2 fosters
because their anals were quite large. With time, you'll learn to recognize
the signs that it's time to do it. One warning. The stench is terrible! I
always did it in the shower, with the shower running and several sheets of
paper towels in my hand over the anus. Those would immediately get put in a
zip-loc bag and placed in the can outside. 

Thanks,

Dayna
mailto: Dayna.Whitehead at comcast.net

Mom to: Pierre, LaBelle, Bubba ATB (1/24/2011) and notabassets Izzy, Elke
and Nikki ATB (10/2/2010)