Biting flank and base of tail

Karen

Karen

Cassie often bites her flank or base of tail - a sudden whizz around as if something suddenly hurt. She has done this ever since we brought her home at 8 weeks. The vet has checked her anal glands twice and expressed them but the biting hasn’t changed. She is still on ABs for the UTI. I hoped that the ABs might solve the biting but while there may have been a small improvement, it hasn’t been massive.

i am wondering if I should change her on to a mix of commercial fresh food ( Different dog or Butternut) plus kibble or alternatively, change her on to a fish based kibble - although we have so far tried chicken, beef and duck so I don’t think that it is necessarily a reaction to a specific protein so it may be that a fish based kibble would have the same effect. I would rather avoid raw unless there was no other option.

She has also started to throw up her kibble from time to time - too bulky maybe?

Has anyone had similar issues with sudden biting at base of tail/nether regions?
 
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JES72

JES72

Location
SW London UK
I’m not sure what to suggest about biting the case of her tail. I am concerned that you mention she throws up her kibble from time to time. Have you tried soaking it a few minutes in warm water to soften it and smaller meals more often. She may need quiet rest after eating, food can take quite a while to get all the way to their stomach.
 
Karen

Karen

JES72 said:
I’m not sure what to suggest about biting the case of her tail. I am concerned that you mention she throws up her kibble from time to time. Have you tried soaking it a few minutes in warm water to soften it and smaller meals more often. She may need quiet rest after eating, food can take quite a while to get all the way to their stomach.
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The throwing up is recent ( don’t know if it is related to her antibiotics). She gets the kibble spread out throughout the day - about a third in a rollled up towel to sniff out for the actual meal (ie breakfast, lunch, dinner) and the rest as training treats. It can be an hour or two after eating and doesn’t happen every day. I don’t know if it is a volume thing as it expands or a sensitivity reaction to the kibble.
 
M

M.F.

Why do you want to avoid raw? Snowie was fed raw most of his life (we’ve only started cooking for him in his elderly age) and I think it played a role in his health (as well as keeping him intact). He’s the only surviving one in his litter. He’ll be 14 in Jan.
 
Karen

Karen

We fed our last dog on Nutriment from 8 months to around age 7. She was fine on it until she started having a lot of bloody diarrhoea episodes which required medical treatment. I was reluctant to blame the raw food but eventually we switched to home cooked and the diarrhoea stopped. In Holly’s case I think the diarrhoea started because her stomach had been affected by anti-inflammatory meds from age 3 onwards and eventually she couldn’t cope with the bacterial load. So I would rather start with cooked/kibble and only move to raw if really needed. I know some dogs do really well on raw so it is an option. It sounds as if it was (is)
perfect for Snowie 😍
 
HAH

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
Karen said:
Cassie often bites her flank or base of tail - a sudden whizz around as if something suddenly hurt. She has done this ever since we brought her home at 8 weeks. The vet has checked her anal glands twice and expressed them but the biting hasn’t changed. She is still on ABs for the UTI. I hoped that the ABs might solve the biting but while there may have been a small improvement, it hasn’t been massive.

i am wondering if I should change her on to a mix of commercial fresh food ( Different dog or Butternut) plus kibble or alternatively, change her on to a fish based kibble - although we have so far tried chicken, beef and duck so I don’t think that it is necessarily a reaction to a specific protein so it may be that a fish based kibble would have the same effect. I would rather avoid raw unless there was no other option.

She has also started to throw up her kibble from time to time - too bulky maybe?

Has anyone had similar issues with sudden biting at base of tail/nether regions?
Click to expand...
Stilton definitely went through a phase of this when he was younger; it coincided with several other challenges (ear infections, increased noise sensitivity finding it tricky to settle) likely all interrelated, so it’s impossible to isolate the cause - and it’s one of those behaviours that can point to a lot of things: allergies, anal gland issues, dietary issues, pain to name a few. So huge sympathy!

For what it’s worth, I think the transition from puppy to adult dog is a huge challenge to their immune systems and lots of these symptoms clear up with maturity and adult dog immunity - but in the meantime we’re sold all sorts of solutions that treat the symptoms but not the cause. This is not to say we should ignore the symptoms, but in time I think many of them grow out of a lot of these issues.

I know it’s far easier said than done, but is it worth exploring other vet options, if yours are a bit nutrition-fixated? It feels like something a bit more balanced would serve you and Cassie better, if there was any choice.
 
Karen

Karen

HAH said:
Stilton definitely went through a phase of this when he was younger; it coincided with several other challenges (ear infections, increased noise sensitivity finding it tricky to settle) likely all interrelated, so it’s impossible to isolate the cause - and it’s one of those behaviours that can point to a lot of things: allergies, anal gland issues, dietary issues, pain to name a few. So huge sympathy!

For what it’s worth, I think the transition from puppy to adult dog is a huge challenge to their immune systems and lots of these symptoms clear up with maturity and adult dog immunity - but in the meantime we’re sold all sorts of solutions that treat the symptoms but not the cause. This is not to say we should ignore the symptoms, but in time I think many of them grow out of a lot of these issues.

I know it’s far easier said than done, but is it worth exploring other vet options, if yours are a bit nutrition-fixated? It feels like something a bit more balanced would serve you and Cassie better, if there was any choice.
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Interesting that Stilton went through a similar phase. I suspect that Cassie is affected by it as she also struggles to settle at times when in theory (exercised, fed, brain used, tired) she should settle. Hopefully, as you say, it might all work itself out as she grows up.
I can ask the vets to explore it more - but I suspect it will involve some tests and I’m loathe to put her through lots of tests unless absolutely necessary. An initial exploration of a possible food link may provide an answer - even if it is just that there is no food link (in which case I can follow up with the vets re other options).
 
edzbird

edzbird

Location
Isle of Man
Karen said:
She has also started to throw up her kibble from time to time - too bulky maybe?
Click to expand...
I had weeks of this with Meg. Every night. We took her to the vets who gave no diagnosis but sent us on our way with expensive antibiotics, probiotic paste and an antiemtic injection. None of which worked. Through trial and error I have come to soaking her kibble so that it is already swelled up rather than swelling in her tummy. Same quantity. This solved the vomiting.

I was quite cross with the vets really. It as during Covid so we couldn't go into the surgery, but the nurse and vet took her in. Meg is a VERY nervous dog with manifests as aggression. I knew there was no way they'd examined her and even asked straight, "did you examine her?" She said, well no, but she looks well and we did manage to inject her.
 
Karen

Karen

edzbird said:
I had weeks of this with Meg. Every night. We took her to the vets who gave no diagnosis but sent us on our way with expensive antibiotics, probiotic paste and an antiemtic injection. None of which worked. Through trial and error I have come to soaking her kibble so that it is already swelled up rather than swelling in her tummy. Same quantity. This solved the vomiting.

I was quite cross with the vets really. It as during Covid so we couldn't go into the surgery, but the nurse and vet took her in. Meg is a VERY nervous dog with manifests as aggression. I knew there was no way they'd examined her and even asked straight, "did you examine her?" She said, well no, but she looks well and we did manage to inject her.
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It’s good to know that it worked for Meg. I can try soaking kibble but this would mean that I can’t use it for training treats (could soak some I guess). I have booked an appointment with a dog nutritionist for tomorrow so will see what she suggests. I have read that wet food may help UTIs so either fresh food or soaked kibble seems to be the way forward (although I haven’t seen any published data on that approach so it may all be twaddle!).
 
Atemas

Atemas

UK Tour Guide
Location
North Cambridgeshire
Karen said:
so far tried chicken, beef and duck so I don’t think that it is necessarily a reaction to a specific protein
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I hope your appointment with the dog nutritionist helps tomorrow. I don’t have any experience of biting flank and base of tail but when Red was a puppy she had digestion problems. In the end I tried turkey as the protein. Her diet is half kibble (Symply Turkey) and half wet food (Forthglade Turkey, sweet potato and veg). For a while I cooked turkey breast and cut it into tiny portions to use a treats. Eventually I got Fish4Dogs white fish kibble as treats and that’s been her diet ever since. This Is probably not helpful to you and I am sorry if I add any extra brain overload - I remember it well - but if the nutritionist suggests a change of protein, it might be
 
Karen

Karen

Stacia said:
@Karen, why not buy some little treats to use rather than the kibble? You could give less kibble to balance the treats out.
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That’s would be ideal and I think we can work towards that but for now I use around two thirds of her entire kibble allowance for loose lead walking and general training. I couldn’t add that many other treats without unbalancing her diet. I add other treats (eg JR pate) for actual training classes.
Atemas said:
I hope your appointment with the dog nutritionist helps tomorrow. I don’t have any experience of biting flank and base of tail but when Red was a puppy she had digestion problems. In the end I tried turkey as the protein. Her diet is half kibble (Symply Turkey) and half wet food (Forthglade Turkey, sweet potato and veg). For a while I cooked turkey breast and cut it into tiny portions to use a treats. Eventually I got Fish4Dogs white fish kibble as treats and that’s been her diet ever since. This Is probably not helpful to you and I am sorry if I add any extra brain overload - I remember it well - but if the nutritionist suggests a change of protein, it might be
Click to expand...
Yes I thought that the Fish4dogs would be a good next step kibble as they also make small bite treats. A single protein would be fine if needs be.
 
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