Why does my Chihuahua constantly lick her butt?

DEAR JOAN » Why does my Chihuahua lick her butt so incessantly?

I had the vet express her glands down there, but that made no difference. She’s clean and indoors all the time.

— Leslie, San Jose

DEAR LESLIE » Before we get to the more worrying issues, it’s important to know that dogs just like to lick. They learn a lot about the world around them through their tongues, but the licking can get to be a habit.

The best way to stop this behavior is to distract her whenever she starts doing it. Just moving her face away from the area being licked can do it, but you might have to use a treat or a toy to get her focus somewhere else.

Although the licking can be annoying to you, it’s not too much of a problem as long as she isn’t harming herself. If the skin at or around any area that she licks becomes red and inflamed, it’s time for a visit to the vet.

Dogs will lick their butts if their anal glands are affected, but as your vet treated her for that and it didn’t stop her licking, that might not be the problem. Dogs can develop a chronic condition and need to have the glands expressed frequently, so you should consider that.

You also should have a fecal test done on your dog to check for worms and other parasites. Even dogs that are mostly indoors can pick up a bug from something brought into the house. That can cause itching, which she is trying to soothe.

Allergies also can cause excessive licking, although it’s generally more widespread with the dog licking and chewing on other parts of her body.

Hopefully, it’s more of a compulsion than a physical problem, and with a little work, you can break her of the habit.

DEAR JOAN » We put new rope on our cat’s favorite scratching post and glued small spots on both ends of the underside to the cardboard tube. She now refuses to use it. What do we do?

— Sue, Stockton

DEAR SUE » Cats are very much creatures of habit and they aren’t always fond of change, even when the change is good.

Your cat’s scratching post doesn’t look, feel or smell the same, and she’s just stubborn enough to refuse to give it a chance. Two options come to mind.

One, chuck the old post and get a completely new one. She might accept this one because, well, feline logic.

The more practical and economical option, however, is to keep the old post and rub the new rope with catnip. That should get her attention and make her forget why she hated it in the first place. Apply the catnip daily until she gets used to the revamped post.

If she is in the minority of cats that aren’t wild for catnip, try putting some treats on and around the post.

DEAR JOAN » My cat won’t let me put a flea collar on her. What should I do?

— Corlette, Eleanor, West Virginia

DEAR CORLETTE » A lot of people don’t recommend flea collars for cats because the chemicals can be too strong. If your cat is an outdoor cat, the collar also can get caught, posing a strangulation risk. Ask your vet about alternatives, including external oils or internal medications.