itchy butt!

[carpets1234]

My dog keeps dragging his butt to scratch it. Unfortunately he is a bit heavy and finds it hard to reach that area. He has been to the vet twice.  No anal sac problem, no parasites but he has rubbed his but to the point he has lost all hair there! Any suggestions

[Ghilly]

Your vet says there are no anal sac problems or parasites, but has he checked for tapeworm?  Tapeworm doesn't show up like regular internal parasites on a fecal exam.  To detect a tapeworm on a fecal exam you have to look for the telltale cyst.  

When you do a fecal exam to detect roundworms or other internal parasites, you take a sampling of the poop, put it in a little jar, float it with the flotation solution, put a slide on top of the jar so that it touches the poop-floated solution, and then remove that slide, put another slide on top and slide it under the microscope.  The problem is that depending on the flotation solution used, not all of the eggs or parasites will float to the top.  Besides, if you are looking for roundworms, the eggs will be in every bit of fecal material, so no matter where you look, you will see those little, perfectly round eggs.  A tapeworm cyst is larger and heavier and there are only one or two that are excreted in the poop.  So if you got the poop that didn't contain the cyst, or if you are using a flotation solution that isn't dense enough to float heavier parasites, it's going to come up negative for that parasite.

All your dog has to do is ingest ONE FLEA through biting at himself or grooming, ONE FLEA that contains a tapeworm egg, and bingo bango, you've got a dog with a tapeworm.  That tapeworm, unless it becomes a gargantuan tapeworm, won't make him unthrifty like roundworms or hookworms or pinworms will, it won't give him the potbellied appearance, but it sure as shootin' WILL make his butt itch.

I would take him to another vet and get a second opinion.  First of all, I would have another fecal done, specifically looking for tapeworm.  The doctor or tech can mix sodium nitrate, sucrose, zinc sulfate, magnesium sulfate and sodium chloride in appropriate amounts to arrive at a dense flotation solution that will be heavy enough to carry a tapeworm cyst.  

Then the new vet needs to check the anal sacs.  

Also have him do an internal exam of the rectum immediately inside the anus to make sure there isn't some type of growth in there that is giving him a problem.

Something you can try before you go back to the vet, however, is to actually WIPE him after he defecates.  Some dogs, believe it or not, are just neat freaks and cannot stand to have even a tiny amount of feces stuck to their fur or to the anus after they go, and they will scoot as a way to wipe themselves.  If you wipe FOR him, it will prevent him from doing it.  If your wiping him doesn't help, THEN I would set up the appointment for a second opinion because something is definitely going on.

Not to negate with Jan said, but sometimes a shot of steroids is necessary.  If the vet wants to give him a shot of dexamethasone, that's not a problem.  I would question it if he wants him on anything long-term because traditionally dogs don't tolerate steroids even a little bit as well as cats do, but a shot won't hurt him and could make all the difference in the world.  So see what the vet says.  Please keep us up to date and good luck!

Ghilly

[JanisM13]

I agree with Ginger.
Let me tell you about Harley,he is our 4 pound Yorkie,for the
past almost 4 years he has done what we call "a boot scooting
boogie" he used to go round and round on his rear,I mean
day and night. Our ver for over 20 years had him on steroids
telling us he did not have allergies( my thought) and I HATED
he was on steroids.The our vet put him on one that was ten
times stronger than all the other steroids out there,he was
on this for almost 1-1/2 years,(I TRUSTED THIS VET) but
Harley's itching increased he increased this stong sterloid
and Harley had a massive reaction,I thought he was going
to die,I am not over exaggerating here. The ER vet wated
to just keep him and observe,I opted to stay up all night with
him and I mean I prayed,took him in at 7 am to our vet.
Saturday he saw a different vet( same clinic) we were told
the medication DID NOT cause this reaction,a CBC blood
test was done,I looked at that and I saw his kidneys were
effected(close to what looked like failure) white counts off
the wall,red counts,he was in serious trouble,I can not tell
you how bad that blood test looked and yes, I can read
the CBC.
I weaned him off of the streroid,4 weeks later he went to
his regular vet for another CBC test and unine test and we
we told again it was NOT the steroid...BUT.. all his counts
in this blood testing came BACK NORMAL,urinalysis was
normal...and his answer to me was "a differnt steroid" I
flat refused! (need I say I did not make points with a vet
we'd known for all those years,in fact he walked out of the
exam room)we found a differnt vet,our vet had pre made up
his mind and would not listen to what we said,ANOTHER
steroid was NOT the answer,not this time.
I tell you this because PLEASE DO NOT let your vet even
suggesst a steroid...
We took Harley to a differnet vet,different clinic,I told this
vet what had happened,I told him I thought his skin smelled
like a old musky odor or fritos.( I know sounds funny-freito
corn chips) Right away this new vet told us-
"I can tell you HARLEY HAS A YEAST INFECTION,I can
smell it...I do NOT believe in steroids,they do not solve a
problem,they cover it and do not correct the problem,some
steroids short term are needed but never long term for
years."
We got a shampoo CHLORHEXI SCRUB,he also gave us
a spray to "spot use" between baths ( baths were to be once
a week) GENTAVED TOPICAL SPRAY 60ml.this can be
used twice a day...I HAVE NEVER used the spray because
Harley does NOT itch now.
THE SECOND OPINION WAS A MIRICLE for our Harley,I
gave him a bath,now this dog used to scratch day and night
NON-STOP for those almost 4 years and round and round
on his rear....what had I done to my beloved friend??!!
I WAS IN TEARS,for all that time trying to help Harley there
was nothing that worked,there was NO itching after this bath
(always had been before with other prescription shampoos)
years of steroids and HARELY HAS NOT ITCHED OR DONE
HIS BUTT RUBBING FOR 6 DAYS!!! He is itch free,after one
week,all he has is a bath,he's barking,started to play with
the othr dogs,appetite is great,all I could think about was
what had I done to him for all that time with the steroids and
his Thyroid,ALL BECAUSE I DID NOT GET A SECOND VET
OPINION.
ON the steroids Harley's hair was falling out,almost see his
skin in places,he had black scabs all over his back,raw sores
under his arms and front of his neck,I asked but "it was NOT"
this strong medication he was on.
Well the next test was a Thyroid and the Good Lord was look-
ing out for Harley THYROID WAS NORMAL...you can not even
imagine my relief because I had some real fear I had messed
that up with all the steroids for so long,I was crying with joy,
relief and at last,Harely had peace and not in pain because
would itch all day and night and whine...it was a HORRIFIC
almost 4 years for him!
PLEASE ASK YOUR VET about the medications I told you
about,most of all the shampoo and you can use it all over him
not just on his rear,it will not hurt him all over his body.
I hope this ( long as it is) will give some well deserved relief to
your little guy like it did for Harley and a shampoo can't hurt him
just do NOT get it near his eyes. I wash Harley's face with a
wash rag 2 times a day,the shampoo is for his neck back.
The other vet wanted to do a skin biposy just before we went
to the second vet,I refused that also...amazing the second vet
could "smell" the yeast infection on him...
Please come back and let me ( us) know if this helped your
little guy.
Jan

[ginger899]

Well normally this is classic when anal glands need emptying. But the vet said that doesn't need to be done?

NO parasites..? So I guess that means no flea allergy either? Just because there may be no fleas, there might still be 'flea dirt' present, which could cause the allergy...
I am surprised the vet couldn't come up with some suggestion to help him, whether that is a medicated wash you can use, or a cream to be applied, at least. And maybe a skin scraping to see if there are any mites just under the surface of the skin.
Another thought is maybe it is a yeast infection. I would have thought swabs or skin scrapings could perhaps help to diagnose.
Of course his attempts to relieve the itching is just making it worse, so he needs something to calm down the itch, even if it is a topically-applied cream for now. Continually rubbing could cause open sores, which could get badly infected.

I would always say -if you are not fully satisfied with a vet's diagnosis or treatment, then do get a 2nd opinion from a completely different vet.