Poo smell

Jazbee

Hi, our dog (now 7 months) has a poo smell coming from her back passage for a couple of hours. She has also been licking herself more than normal for the last week or so. Could it be her anal glands? Her hair is short at her bum so there's no poo stuck there and she has also had a bath today.

If it is her glands, do vets express them? Thanks

SillyMangoX

It could be the glands, is there a sort of fishy smell? If you smell it once you'll never forget it! It's wash enough to do yourself, though not pleasent, but vets will do it for you.

Jazbee

SillyMangoX wrote: »

It could be the glands, is there a sort of fishy smell? If you smell it once you'll never forget it! It's wash enough to do yourself, though not pleasent, but vets will do it for you.

Thanks sillymango
It was more a normal poo smell? We thought she had pooed on the carpet and sent her outside to do her business but smell is still there? Thanks, couldn't do it myself..too yucky for me..kids poo I can handle!

lorebringer

Your dog could just have some poo stuck/smeared on her bum, give her bum a wipe with some baby wipes (and keep going until it is clean!). Sometimes it can be deceptive and it's not until you investigate that you will find anything.

Most dodgy bum smells from dogs are due to anal glands, they can smell pretty harsh so this could be the smell. If they are at her, you will need to have them drained (vet will do this for you if you don't want to do them yourself) as they can get very uncomfortable. Because she is at her back end, I would say this is the likely cause.

Jazbee

Thanks, there's definitely nothing at her bum we keep her hair short and its white! I think I'll bring her down to vets in morn

Karlitto

It could be a bit of poo that is stuck,

The glands don't exactly smell poo like, but more gone off fish (kind of), vets can empty them quite easily (and I would doubt they would charge a consultation visit as it is a 1 minute job)

The smell could just be her farting, and the reason she is licking could be an indication she is coming into heat.

Jazbee

Thanks. I read your post and I thought 'come into heat, no way, sure she had her first heat at 5 months and she's only 7 now' .
But low and behold there is blood! Can't believe it. We were waiting til after payday to get her done never thinking she would go again so quickly.

Karlitto

Jazbee wrote: »

Thanks. I read your post and I thought 'come into heat, no way, sure she had her first heat at 5 months and she's only 7 now' .
But low and behold there is blood! Can't believe it. We were waiting til after payday to get her done never thinking she would go again so quickly.

Hmm,

Ok, are you 100% sure she went into heat at 5 months? If so she should definitely not be going into heat now. Heat usually last between 2 and 4 weeks, so I wouldn't imagine that she is still in heat from the first time.

Dogs would usually have 2 heat cycles a year (note "usually", not every dog is different)

Give her a clean with baby wipes, if the smell persists and the obsessive licking, I would bring her to the vets, it may be her glands.

Jazbee

Yes she was definitely in heat. It lasted almost 4 weeks. We were told to leave her for a couple of months then get her done. I'm bringing her to vet this morn to get her checked out.

Karlitto

Jazbee wrote: »

Yes she was definitely in heat. It lasted almost 4 weeks. We were told to leave her for a couple of months then get her done. I'm bringing her to vet this morn to get her checked out.

Good luck, and keep us updated .

ZiabR

Interested in this, keep us updated! 5 months not very young for first heat?

Karlitto

logik wrote: »

Interested in this, keep us updated! 5 months not very young for first heat?

Naw, smaller breeds can go into heat as early as that (that's not saying larger breeds can't, but it is more common in smaller) and larger breeds could take as long as 15 months before they go into theirs.

Jazbee

Just back from vets, she has an open pyometra (not sure if spelled right). So that accounts for the smell and blood.
She is going to have an ultrasound, then they will spay her. Vet said she very young to have it.
Poor thing, hated leaving her.

DBB

She is indeed very young for a pyo, but well caught op! It just goes to show how important it is to get them to the vet promptly when there's something amiss.
The fact that she came into heat so young is unusual, an indicator perhaps that things weren't quite right?
Spaying her is an instant cure, and your vet will give her antibiotics too. It's horrible leaving them in for surgery, but very necessary in her case.
Good luck to her and you, keep us posted!

Karlitto

Jazbee wrote: »

Just back from vets, she has an open pyometra (not sure if spelled right). So that accounts for the smell and blood.
She is going to have an ultrasound, then they will spay her. Vet said she very young to have it.
Poor thing, hated leaving her.

The poor baby :<

Ah, well, you caught it, so well done on the early signs,

Here is something to read up on:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyometra

Seems your case is textbook

SillyMangoX

Oh wow good thing you caught it so early, untreated pyos are just a nightmare. Well done you! Hopefully all will go okay with the surgery and she will be right as rain in no time

Jazbee

Thanks guys, hopefully surgery will go ok. Feel sick to my stomach. Will read that article when home.

Jazbee

She's out of surgery and it went well. They said she will make a full recovery. Countdown is now on until I can collect her. Thanks everyone!

tk123

Jazbee wrote: »

She's out of surgery and it went well. They said she will make a full recovery. Countdown is now on until I can collect her. Thanks everyone!

Glad she's ok! Well done for spotting something was wrong and also thanks for posting. My pup hasn't gone into season yet but I'll definitely be keeping an eye after the heat from reading this!

Jazbee

So glad to have her home. She hasn't really moved since I brought her home. Shes in her crate, door open. I put a blanket on her as she was shaky. She's very quiet.

Gave her a couple of drinks of water from our hands. Will start the anti-b's in the morn. Will check her during the night. Wary of lifting her up to do a wee outside..?

Any pointers for looking after her for the next few days?

DBB

Jazbee wrote: »

Gave her a couple of drinks of water from our hands. Will start the anti-b's in the morn. Will check her during the night. Wary of lifting her up to do a wee outside..?

Any pointers for looking after her for the next few days?

I'd leave her be in terms of feeding her or getting her out to pee, unless she voluntarily gets up on her feet herself. I think it's a good idea not to be lifting or rooting at a post-op dog, just let them come out of it in their own time. She will be out of it for a while yet, even though she might seem to be awake, if she stays put, she's still feeling very woozy and out of it until tomorrow, and even into tomorrow (every dog is different!) Don't panic if she starts to whine and scream, it's a reaction to the anaesthetic and is scary, but normal enough.
She will probably sleep through most of the night, but if you hear her rooting about during the night then get up and bring her out... again as long as she can go under her own steam.
Has she a lampshade on? If so, I'd be inclined to slide her out of the crate on the rugs she's on, trying not to disturb her, so that she doesn't overly frighten the bejayzus out of herself when the cone inevitably crashes off the sides of the crate.
Offer her some tasty, easy to eat food in the morning, and I find that if they're slow to drink, if you drip water onto their lips, they start to lap it from your hands, or from a syringe.
Good luck with her, she'll be happy to be home I'm sure!

Jazbee

Thanks DBB, yes she has a lampshade on which she managed to get off during the night. There doesn't seem to be any damage done to the stitches.
She hasn't got up to pee or leave her crate. She got out of her crate when I was going to bed last night and walked a few steps to me and sat on my lap (I was on the floor).
Eventually got her tablet into her. Feed in to her crushed in peanut butter. She's very quiet, obviously still very out of sorts.

borderlinemeath

If possible can you have her sleep with you in the same room for a couple of nights? If she's capable of working off the lampshade she could be in danger of pulling out her stitches, she was pretty out of it last night and still managed to get out of the lampshade I'd be keeping an extremely close eye on her.

Jazbee

borderlinemeath wrote: »

If possible can you have her sleep with you in the same room for a couple of nights? If she's capable of working off the lampshade she could be in danger of pulling out her stitches, she was pretty out of it last night and still managed to get out of the lampshade I'd be keeping an extremely close eye on her.

Hi, the problem with the lampshade last night was that we keep her collar on the loose side (we walk her with a harness) so she managed to slip the whole lot off. Have tightened it up now. But not a bad idea, I might move her crate to the sitting room and sleep there with her. Or put her in our room. Thanks.

DBB

I also put a babygro on little dogs who have stitches. It won't stop them ripping at them if they're very determined, but they do tend to put them off licking and rooting. In conjunction with an inflatable doughnut collar, they're great (the inflatable collars are only suitable for abdominal surgery).
As a guideline, a large Westie-ish sized dog takes a 6-9 month babygro;)

How's she doing now?

Jazbee

She's a bit more with it today, she came out of her crate for a few minutes but when I opened the back door to see would she come out with me to her business she ran back into her crate.

She won't go to her bowls to eat or drink. But will drink from her bowl when we put it up to her mouth. So we're feeding her by hand.

She just has the normal busta collar on. I'm presuming the inflatable one is more comfy? I'm not near any large petshops but i'll get the oh to look during the week. She has tried a couple of times to get at the stitches, but she cant reach them. They're probably tightening. I'd say she's a 3-6 in babygrows!

Jazbee

Well she's on the road yo recovery. no bowel movement so the vet suggested dupholac and wet food for a couple of days. She was only eating tiny bits of food from our hands. Went down a treat!

Anyway she's very itchy on her belly where she's been shaved and is trying to scratch herself. Shes left red patches on her skin. What would be best to do, put a babygrow on or is there a cream you can get similar to eurax, for pets?
Thanks

Karlitto

Hey Jaz,

That is great news! Glad she is doing well.

Not too sure about irritations like that, but my suggestion is, you can either just give your vet a bell, or, depending on your pet store, they might be quite knowledgeable, so ya could ask them

ZiabR

Great to hear she is doing well. Keep us updated.

Jazbee

Thanks guys, she did a poo, yay! She's in flying form today, back to her usual self, eating..have to mix a little wet in with her kibble but hope to wean her off that over the next couple days.

She's back to her mission of getting the cat to play with her (no joy, cat tolerates being licked but nothing else!) Hard to keep her quiet! Terrified that she will tear the stitches running.

Can't wait til Monday to get them out and walk her!

Karlitto

Jazbee wrote: »

Thanks guys, she did a poo, yay! She's in flying form today, back to her usual self, eating..have to mix a little wet in with her kibble but hope to wean her off that over the next couple days.

She's back to her mission of getting the cat to play with her (no joy, cat tolerates being licked but nothing else!) Hard to keep her quiet! Terrified that she will tear the stitches running.

Can't wait til Monday to get them out and walk her!

Yep! That's a fear I had when I had my previous guy snipped But they didn't.

In terms of the wet food, you might consider a teaspoon of cod liver oil in with her food, good for joints and fantastic for the coat. It also makes the dry food slightly damp so it is not as "crunchy"

ZiabR

I had mine on cod liver oil and found it caused alot of shedding, more than usual.

Karlitto

logik wrote: »

I had mine on cod liver oil and found it caused alot of shedding, more than usual.

I wouldn't be able to tell, the girls barley shed at all.