If you have a wonderful Yorkshire terrier charming your life, your goal is to develop an understanding for what to expect in caring for him, whether it pertains to possible health conditions, physical fitness needs or anything else. For instance, Yorkies as a breed are particularly susceptible to anal sac woes.
Anal Sacs Background
Anal sacs a set of tiny pouches located right next to your pet's anus, on the two sides. The anal sacs release a greasy and aggressively strong-smelling fluid that comes out whenever your Yorkie goes No. 2. The sacs don't always reliably empty out, however. When this is the case, the anal sacks become impacted. Impaction of these sacs can bring upon numerous issues if not handled promptly. Potential issues include uncomfortable inflammation, infection and the emergence of abscesses. Meanwhile, the foul oil serves as handy identification material for communication between dogs. When the anal sacs work right, the oil coats poo with info another dog wants to know. If a new dog sniffs your Yorkie's rear during a meeting at a park, the oil can give a lot of key details about your cutie, such as as age and breeding status.
Yorkies and Anal Sacs
No canine is exempt from the possibility of anal sac problems, no matter what his breed is. Impaction and related anal sac difficulties, however, are particularly prevalent in Yorkshire terriers. Not only are anal sac difficulties especially common in Yorkies, they're also especially common in tiny dogs in general. Years of specialized breeding of small canines is thought to have affected the sizes of their sacs' ducts, making them too little to adequately flush out, hence impaction. This occurs not only in Yorkies but also in other wee dogs like Chihuahuas and poodles.
Symptoms
Common symptoms of anal sac troubles in canines are lugging their bottoms around the floor, frequent gazing at their bottoms, constant licking and biting of their bottoms, quivering, issues walking, swelling of the anal region and chasing their tails. Any of these various possible indications might overlap with those of other ailments, but just knowing of the Yorkshire terrier's susceptibility to anal sac problems is helpful for you in describing exactly what's wrong to the veterinarian.
Veterinarian
If your Yorkie is showing signs of anal sac dilemmas, bring him to the veterinarian pronto to pinpoint the specific problem. If the sacs are simply clogged, the vet can manually flush them out. You can closely watch how the vet does it so you can handle it by yourself in the future. Veterinarians and groomers routinely handle these emptying procedures. If your pet appears to have a more advanced case of anal sac problems -- think infection or the bursting of abscesses-- the vet can discuss with you all of the possible management choices, which include antibiotics and surgery.
Always check with your veterinarian before changing your pet’s diet, medication, or physical activity routines. This information is not a substitute for a vet’s opinion.