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DAISY'S STINKY BUM | Poor Daisy...a nervous disposition and oozing anal glands...guess who wasn't very welcome on the sofa...?

When Daisy was a couple of months old I noticed there was blood in with her faeces. This might have easily gone unnoticed but for snow on the ground. Advice was sought and, as usual, confusing opinions given. "You'd better worm her," said one, "as she's probably got worms which are making her colon bleed." "Whatever you do," warned another, "don't worm her. She's obviously got a delicate digestive system and chemicals will only make it worse." I must admit it was a depressing few weeks thinking we had another "Cyd" on our hands...symptoms which could be due to any number of causes and no single obvious treatment.

After some weeks of panic and futile experimentation I did what I eventually learnt to do with Cyd. Stop thinking about the symptoms (runny stools with blood in them and a frequent revolting stink emanating from Daisy's rear end) and consider the cause. Worms were eliminated (literally I am disgusted to report) as was a food allergy. An allergy was possible but unlikely considering she was eating a healthy, natural diet of unprocessed foods with WOW, a supplement from Herbaticus. Research and scouring the internet led to the rather unhelpful conclusion "colitis" which just means "inflammation of the colon." So what was happening in Daisy's innards?

Far from being able to reach to definitive conclusion about Daisy's tummy I could only say that she was suffering from some kind of digestive disorder. Caused by what is anyone's guess although even at a few months old it was clear she was quite highly strung. Perhaps it was "nerves". The stinky bum was easier to explain. The smell was fluid leaking from Daisy's anal glands at inopportune moments. (If you're eating may I suggest you pause here until you're done!) Dogs have an anal gland (or sac) either side of the anus. These exist to release some of the foul smelling secretion therein every time the dog defecates. Kind of like a person signing their name. Well, sort of. Daisy's weren't releasing the secretion when she was defecating because the stool was not solid enough to squeeze the sacs on its way out.

In the end I decided on a double plan of attack, all natural. For the digestive problems I fed Daisy kefir milk every day. A friendly vet had advised me to (1) avoid feeding Daisy dairy products so I was careful this was the only one she got and (2) try adding a handful of bran to her breakfast and dinner to bulk out her stools and hopefully squeeze those pesky glands when she was defecating in the garden as opposed to all over our furniture! I began this regime when Daisy was a few months old and when she was about 2½ I gradually reduced the amount kefir milk and bran I was feeding. I have totally stopped the kefir now but continue to give her a handful of bran and no longer avoid dairy products (although she doesn't get them that often). Daisy still - very occasionally - leaves a smelly patch behind her but it's now an extremely rare occurrence.

So did natural treatments cure Daisy's stinky bum or did she just grow out of the problem? It's impossible to say and quite likely that her digestive system just hadn't finished developing properly thus would improve with age. This said I'm even more glad that I opted for natural, dietary treatments rather than the surgical removal of her anal glands which was really the only veterinary intervention on offer. As natural solutions can sometimes take months or even years to really help it's also worth noting that kefir milk and bran are as cheap as chips!

home | Cyd's story: part 1 or part 2 | index of holistic health issues | Daisy 'n' Seven | email