A fever often is a sign infection. Infected fight wounds are the number one cause of fevers in outdoor cats. But this cat was kept indoors and had not escaped. Why was his temperature so high?

The owner decided to volunteer additional information. She had noticed that he was reluctant to walk and jump. He didn’t wan’t to raise his tail to “wink at her”. It seemed to her that his “butt” might be sore. And at one point she noticed that one of his “butt cheeks” seemed larger than the other. She suspected that one of his “butt glands” might need to be “squeezed”.

I evaluated the cat’s hind end. It seemed symmetrical to me. However, cats have notoriously hairy butt cheeks and it was hard to see through the fur. The owner allowed me to perform a Brazilian trim on her cat.

Once the hair was out of the way, it was clear that the area to the left of the cat’s anus was swollen. A rectal exam revealed that the left anal gland was infected and infiltrated with pus. I drained the pus and the fever broke within an hour.

Fortunately the client did not ask to be present when I lanced her cat’s anal gland abscess. She surely would have regretted it.

Photo: here’s looking at you, kid.

Marty
San Francisco, CA

It could be an anal gland issue, but it’s probably not. I suspect that your dog is reluctant to jump up because he thinks it will hurt to jump.

Several problems can make jumping painful for dogs. Back pain is one of the most common causes of reluctance to jump. Back pain also frequently leads to a non-wagging tail.

Dogs may develop back pain after suffering major or minor trauma, or after suffering no trauma whatsoever. The last time my back hurt it was because I slept on it wrong. Dogs with back pain may be reluctant to engage in massive, explosive bursts of activity such as jumping.

Pain in or injury to the hips or rear legs can make dogs reluctant to jump up. So can any problem that causes pain in the hindquarters (including infected anal glands) and any problem that causes weakness in general.

Because this problem has so many potential causes your best bet is to have your vet check your dog. A thorough physical examination may lead to identification of the problem. And remember: if your vet wants to express your dog’s anal glands, I’d recommend that you step outside of the room for the procedure.

A thorough general physical examination was unremarkable (unremarkable is how veterinarians say normal–we can’t actually say normal because the word normal, according to some malpractice insurance providers, implies things that can be very dangerous if we have missed something subtle).

The symptoms were consistent with an anal gland problem. If you never have heard of anal glands, consider yourself lucky. You may want to stop reading now in order to preserve your innocence.

The anal glands are bulbs located adjacent to the anus. The bulbs are connected to the anus by ducts. The glands produce a fluid with a unique odor. It smells like a combination of rotting fish, feces, and tear gas.

Cats and dogs have anal glands. Skunks do too–the glands are modified in skunks and are responsible for skunks’ unique smell.

The anal glands normally empty when a cat or dog defecates. In some instances, however, this does not happen as it should. The result is anal glands that are impacted and distended. Animals with impacted anal glands often drag their rear ends along the ground.

Impacted anal glands are treated by manual expression. The most effective means of manually expressing anal glands involves inserting a finger into the animal’s rectum and massaging the accumulated fluid out of the glands.

This is what I proposed for my patient whose hind end was so uncomfortable.

The owner accepted my proposal. However, she declined to accept my recommendation that the procedure be performed in a section of the hospital where only employees were present. She asked to be present while her dog’s anal glands were expressed.

Palpation of the glands revealed that they were both markedly distended. Both glands were expressed with ease. A large amount of fluid was released.

As the smell of the fluid filled the room, the owner of the Miniature Schnauzer soon was ill at ease. She complained of light headedness and dizziness. She asked to sit down. She retched and nearly vomited.

The nurse and I escorted her to some fresh air. She rapidly recovered. I blame myself for not warning her vehemently enough that anal gland fluid smells really bad.

After enough time one becomes inured to the smell of anal glands. To the uninitiated, however, it can be overpowering.

Marilynn
Winchester, CA

Pets don’t have fingers. Therefore, they use their tongues and toes to scratch. When a pet licks any area of its body excessively, I take it as a sign that the area itches or tingles.

Two issues commonly cause pets to lick their rear ends in seemingly excessive manners.

Fleas are by far the most common cause of rear end licking in cats and dogs. Flea bites may stimulate pets’ immune systems. In the same way that pollen causes some peoples’ eyes to itch, flea bites cause many pets’ rear ends to itch. For some pets, a single flea bite may cause severe irritation on the back near the tail.

Impacted or irritated anal glands also may cause licking near the tail. The glands, located (as the name implies) adjacent to the anus, produce a foul smelling fluid that usually is deposited on feces. Any irregularity with the anal glands can cause pets to scoot their hind ends along the ground or lick their rears.

Less commonly, allergies to pollen, food, or any number of environmental agents and chemicals also may cause irritation of the skin near the hind end. In my experience, it is not common for tapeworms to cause excessive rear end licking.

Based upon what you have written, it is most likely that fleas are causing your dog’s behavior. I recommend a high quality flea preventative. The itching may persist for several weeks after your dog is free of fleas, because your dog’s immune system may react to the flea bites for quite some time after the fleas are gone.

Conveniently, eliminating fleas also will reduce the risk of tapeworms in your dog. The most common type of tapeworm is spread by fleas.

Photo: Maggie May’s rear end looks fine.