Husky obssesed with the lower part of his tail

Question
QUESTION: Loki, my 3 yr. Siberian husky has started freaking out about the lower third of his tail- this has been going on about 10 days intermittently, he will sniff it frantically and jump around like someone is pinching it, he even looks alertly at something around his tail that none of us can see. When this is going on he gets very stressed and whines, he has no fleas, nothing that I can see is on his tail...I took him to the vet and they expressed his anal glands and that didn't change anything. It is very upsetting to see him when he gets like that.Any ideas? have you heard of other Huskies doing something similar? Thank you.


ANSWER: Here are my Ideas: Could he have gotten his tail stuck in something? He could have a kink in his tail or dislocated it.

My second thought is food allergy. I makes the feet, tail and legs itch but usually with this you will see licking and chewing on feet. The hair will start to fall out shortly there after (usually caused by a wheat allergy or chicken.)

Thyroid problem, but then again they are itchy everywhere and the hair falls out on the tail only.

Mange, But the hair will fall out starting on the head and feet first and they will be very swollen (the feet)

Scent gland is swollen. There is a scent gland about 1/3 down the tail (usually has a dark patch of hair around it) it will feel very hot and the joints in the vertebrae will be swollen. Give him 1 asprin (a low dose or child's aspirin) a day to control pain (to much can cause heart failure so only 1 per day) and bathe the area in warm water using a mild soap 2 times a day. hopefully this will open up the sent duct.

any more questions please ask!
-Michelle B

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you! I think the scent gland may be the culprit because just last night I thought an area of his tail felt warm to me, but I could not find it again so I didn't think much of it. I will now investigate furher and take him back to the vet if I need to. Can you tell me more of what to look for in trying to locate the scent gland on his tail? ie: on top or underneath what does it look, feel like? or anything else you think might help me find it, especially through all that beautiful Husky coat! :)

Answer
It is small so it is hard to find (you cannot see it with the naked eye). But it is on top of the tail about 1/3 of the way down. I usually soak the whole area in a bucket of warm water and apply a mild soap and scratch all the way to the surface of the skin, to ecfoliate the whole area. The huskies coat is usually a darker color around the gland. It looks like a circle or oval. If you have a white husky or a solid coated (red, or black with no delution) husky you can't use that trick. On a grey, sable or agouti dog you can usually find it easly because of the darker coat area or even a black or red with a deluted (sabled) coat)
Any more questions please ask!
-Michelle B