Hi all!
My 7 year old has been sensitive over his rear end for a fortnight now. It began one Friday evening when he placed his feet on the bottom stairs ready to propel himself upwards as usual but he cried out and ran away - almost like he’d stood on a pin! I checked the stairs and him all over but found nothing. For the next week or so he was tucking his tail under more and more and yelping if we went near. He was climbing stairs and jumping stuff relatively okay though. He’s done similar before and it was his anal glands and as we’ve recently changed him to a new diet we assumed that’s all it was. It wasn’t getting worse but it wasn’t getting better either so I took him to the vet last Wednesday. He screamed when I picked him up to the table. She checked him all over and said everything seemed normal although his glands were full but not infected. She emptied them but he screamed in agony with both; he’s never reacted that bad before although he always has been quite a drama queen. Since then he seems in much more pain. He doesn’t like climbing the stairs when normally he’d bound up them, he has to be coaxed to jump on to the sofa or bed, he won’t let us pick him up, his tail is tucked under all the time and in general he’s really blue and seems in a lot of pain. Sometimes when we touch the painful area (deliberately or accidentally when brushing past) he cries out and at the same time he releases a bit of urine. I wondered if that could be just because he’s tensing that area in reaction to the pain? I’ve looked as best I can and I can’t find evidence of a sting, no cuts, no grass seeds (he gets a lot this time of year in all sorts of areas). It appears to hurt mostly around his retractable penis muscle and where it leads towards his anus and glands. He’s entire so I’ve checked his testies and have not found any lumps, he also lets me look with no concern. He tends to be more sensitive over the penis area
He’s going to the toilet as normal with no sign of blockage or pain (he doesn’t cry when passing). He’s eating and drinking as normal but he is very quiet and not his playful self.
He has always hated us “fiddling” since a young age. He hates the vets, being groomed and being touched if he has something painful like a grass seed stuck so our vet has always said he’s a bit of an over reactor. Having said that he’s clearly in pain and getting no better as the days go on so I’m worried! The vet said they’d start him on a course of pain killers if he doesn’t stop screaming when we go near him but I’d rather try and get to the bottom (no pun intended) of what’s wrong first. Has anyone had similar? I wondered if he’d strained a muscle those weeks ago and she’s bruised it/made it worse by emptying his glands. I wondered about a UTI but he’s not drinking/peeing more than usual. I’m not sure what else it could be!!
Any knowledge or experience very much appreciated. Thank you!
