Allergy sting in the tail?

Our vet works his magic on your furry friends

AWe have a pretty healthy 14-year-old male Burmese cat. For the past year or so he has had ulcers around his back passage. Our vet is aware but as he has no blood in his stool she does not seem worried. Should I be concerned? A year or so is quite a long time for a problem to be unresolved so I suggest you opt for a follow-up appointment with your vet.

Ulcers in this area could be initiated by impacted or infected anal sacs, worms, inflammation of the large intestine and allergies.

The more likely one of the allergies is to food. These are often said to cause facial and neck dermatitis, but I’ve seen some that just involve the anal area.

Tumours in the area are theoretically possible but less likely in a cat that has had a problem for a year or so without any deterioration.

Whatever the cause, once the cat starts licking the area, a vicious circle is set up, even if the original problem is no longer present.

Whether your cat is licking excessively should indicate that the ulcers are sore.

An additional pointer to look for is scooting on his bottom, particularly after passing a stool.

If licking is contributing, one possible approach is an Elizabethan collar to stop this in the short-term, alongside soothing anti-inflammatory ointments.

This might result in an improvement and buy some time to look for an underlying cause.

My three-year-old German shepherd has started defecating in the kitchen at night. He is left all day with my other German shepherd without any accidents.

Do you think it could be down to separation anxiety?

AIn your email you don’t say how long he is left during the day. This is quite important as separation anxiety cases very often show signs soon after being left.

Although soiling in the house is one sign, there are usually others such as barking, howling and destructive behaviour. It would be a little unusual for your dog to be fine all day and only show signs once you go to bed.

While it is still possible that separation anxiety exists, I would want to rule out other causes of soiling first. For this reason a general health check of your dog with your vet is recommended.

Dogs normally defecate twice, or three times, daily, coinciding with their daily walks.

Is your dog exercised during the day or only when you get home? If defecation is occurring more than three times a day on a regular basis, that would suggest a problem with the gastro-intestinal tract.

German shepherds are predisposed to a disease called exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI). In this condition, there is a lack of pancreatic enzymes, resulting in inadequate absorption of food from the intestines.

Affected dogs eat and defecate more than usual, and in the latter stages lose weight. Blood samples diagnose EPI and can check for a range of diseases.

If no disease is diagnosed, then an opinion with a behaviourist would be my next suggestion.

David Grant MBE has been a vet for more than 50 years. Email questions to him at pamperedpets@people.co.uk