My Pomeranian has painful matted poop and a red anus. What to do?

Having the fecal matter stuck to the skin can actually cause the skin to become very irritated and red. It can actually cause the skin to become infected as well. Because the fecal matter (and probably urine) was sticking to the skin and had no where to go, it was making the skin painful and red. In the future, you should not cut the hair away with scissors because you are likely to cut the actual skin itself. You should have the fur shaved by a professional groomer or the vet and keep the area clean and the hair short to prevent this in the future. It is very common for dogs with long hair to have poo stick in this area, so it is important to keep the hair groomed short for that reason.

Poor Louis! This can happen in some long-haired dogs, when poop becomes matted in the hair and stuck over the rectum. In many cases, the skin underneath becomes irritated and infected, and very sore when touched. I would recommend taking Louis to a vet today if you can - he/she can sedate him to allow the poop and matted hair to be clipped away without hurting him, and can also prescribe antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication for the skin underneath if needed.

Rather than hemorrhoid cream, I suggest some triple antibiotic ointment to help it heal. You may have nicked him with the scissors, which is really easy to do, even when you're being very careful. You can use something like the Tucks pads for hemorrhoids to clean it, then apply the antibiotic twice a day. If it doesn't improve significantly in the next day or two, I suggest getting him in to see your vet as he may need additional medication or treatment. If you get him groomed, make sure to ask them to do a sanitary clip, which will trim the hair very short around his anus to help prevent this from happening again in the future Your vet may also offer a similar service in between grooming appointments. If you want to do it at home, get a pair of clippers and use a guard to keep from cutting him.

Poor guy. The only thing you can do at home here is to cleanse the area antiseptablly with Betadine diluted 50:50 with warm water or Chlorhexidine solution 3 or 4% diluted until a light blue mixture. If there is a lot of hair there, you can also gently cut away the hair to prevent further fecal matter to get stuck. If the area looks severely swollen, painful, or infected, then the best thing to do moving forward would be to get him seen and treated by your vet. It sounds like he is ingesting a lot of hair, so it would be wise to remove the source of his ingestion and either have him groomed more frequently and/or brushed at home more frequently to limit how much he is ingesting. If he still can't poop on his own, then yes he should see a vet to get an enema and remove all the stuck feces that are in his colon and provide him some relief. Poor guy. : ( I do hope that you can provide some comfort for him soon! Best of luck moving forward and take care.

I’m sorry to hear Pompom isn’t feeling well. If she is straining to poop but her stools are soft, it may be that she’s got some colitis (inflammation in her colon). Another concern would be a mass or tumor in her colon. I would recommend that you have your vet examine her. They may recommend a fecal exam, possibly some blood work or X-rays. An abdominal ultrasound (sonogram of the belly) may also help determine what’s going on. Even if you aren’t financially able to approve diagnostics, your vet will probably be able to prescribe some medication to help make her feel better. As far as something soothing for the skin on her bum, I would recommend a wound healing ointment made for dogs, you can likely find at PetCo or another pet store. Another option would be A and D ointment —the brown ointment, NOT the cream as it contains zinc oxide. . DO NOT USE A PRODUCT CONTAINING ZINC OXIDE (often in diaper rash creams). Again, my best recommendation would be to get her in to your vet as soon as you can. Good luck to you and Pompom! She is such a cutie! I hope she’s feeling better soon.

He may be scooting on his rear due to his anal sacs being full or from intestinal parasites causing itching in the area. I recommend an exam to check and express his anal sacs. They can get full and become itchy and infected if the fluid isn’t emptied. Usually dogs express some of this fluid when they defecate but the opening can become plugged and the fluid builds up and can become infected. Dogs with tapeworms can have tapeworm segments come out the anus and be around the fur by the anal opening. This can cause itching and make the anal opening inflammed. You can give canned pumpkin with wet food and green beans to increase the water and fiber in the diet. That can help with the constipation. I do recommend an exam and have them empty the anal sacs. If needed they can give an enema to get the poop out. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Max.

Poor guy. If he won't tolerate you trying to clean the area well with some cat shampoo and water, then he may just have to be sedated by your vet and have the area clipped and cleaned. Also if there is inflammation, then the vet can make sure there isn't also an infection on the skin that requires a short course of antibiotics to resolve. I'm sure Louis will feel much better once this is taken care of. Best of luck moving forward. Take care.