Licking And Sheath Infection

[Guest KayGreat]

Our 4 year old male has been licking his sheath until it bleeds. It started about 2 weeks ago; the first vet we saw suggested Apoquel, but when he continued licking after a couple of days, we returned to his regular vet with a urine specimen and she diagnosed a sheath infection and/or UTI. He's just completed a week of Keflex and rimadyl, which seemed to reduce the duration and intensity of licking, but this morning he has a few drops of blood from licking again.

 

He will stop if we say stop, which was not the case when he was really hurting last week. Anyone else been through this? Any advice?

[silverfish]

Have they checked to make sure there's no foreign body in there? Might be worth asking.

 

You can rinse out the sheath with a mild saline solution (about a teaspoon of salt to a pint of barely warm water), and use a syringe - without the needle attached, obviously! Simply take him outside with the container of water and a towel to dry him off afterwards, and gently squirt water inside the sheath, being careful to avoid the tip of the penis as you insert the syringe. I usually try to hold the opening shut for a second or two and squish it about before letting it run out, but he may be too sore for that.

BTW, every male dog I've done this for has thorough enjoyed the process!

Maybe also get them to check for crystals in the urine. That can be very painful for them.

[Houndtime]

Fuzzy had chronic sheath infections. Keflex is the correct antibiotic, but one week may not be enough. When your dog is clear, do the sheath flushing at least one a week for a while. We still do it once a week. To stop the licking you can belly band him. We found out they can find a way to lick through the muzzel. Good luck and I hope he feels better.

[krissn333]

I'd have the sheath flushed. Dried smegma gets in there and festers sometimes. Ozzie is currently taking Zeniquin for a sheath infection...his urethra was also inflamed.