Dog butt discomfort - relief ideas until he goes to the vet?

[katherineyyyy]

My dog is going to the vet first thing tomorrow morning but in the meantime I’m wondering if there’s anything I can do for him because he seems really uncomfortable!! This is kinda gross so sorry in advance for all the butt and poop talk.

Hes been scooting his butt for like a day or two and is having trouble getting all his poop out. He doesn’t usually need his anal glands manually expressed so it’s not that (or if it is that I’m wondering if it’s a sign of something else). And his butthole just looks generally red and irritated, he’s acting really uncomfortable about it like doing a sharp look back at his butt every so often. He has a somewhat long body so he can’t really reach it to lick it that easily! Also, his poop is a little more liquidy than it should be, although not quite diarrhea. I’ve saved a sample of that to bring to the vet!

I just feel bad for him but don’t know what to do to relieve his symptoms until tomorrow - maybe just a bath and washing that area pretty good?? Any other ideas for topical stuff I can grab at petco or a store that’s open later?

[S1969]

Hot, warm water compress. Just make a hot water bath (you could add Epsom salts or just plain water) and soak a washcloth in it - then apply to his rear end.

It sounds like he has an impacted anal gland - it’s not abnormal and may resolve itself. It can be caused by a change of diet (that resulted in a lack of regularity), or a GI illness (same with regard to regularity), etc. So, the diarrhea might be the problem, and a side effect is an impacted anal gland.

The vet can definitely help sort both issues - but a hot compress might help in the meantime.

[katherineyyyy]

Thank you! He got his anal glands expressed and they’re doing a fecal exam to check for intestinal parasites. Hopefully his poor little butt starts to feel better after that - they said the glands were full so I think that was it.