Hi all, my westie Charlie has been chewing his tail for a while now, he has been the vet who emptyied his anal glands, he's also been wormed and deflead so i dont understand why he's still doing it.  Any help would be apprieciated.

Warm regards Susan

hiys susan,

if he's been chewing his tail for a while already, he might have broken the skin causing it to itch, hence the chewing now? Have you checked his skin? If its inflamed, it might pay to pop back to the vets and see if a steroid shampoo / lotion / jab etc is needed.

my girl had anal gland problems a while ago and she chewed the back of her leg-presumably because she couldn't quite reach under her tail. She broke her skin, and kept on chewing despite the glands being emptied-presumably because it was sore / itchy.....Then it got infected slightly, so she ended up with antibiotics and steroids. She stopped chewing the same day the steroid jab was given. Its like a vicious circle. Its probabaly like being midge bitten-you end up scratching the itch....more itching....more scratching...then you take the top of the bite....its sore, then it itches when it scabs, so you scrach it.....etc etc

nicola x

Thanks Munkeemojo, he's going back the vet tomorrow, he hasn't broken the skin though, it's just confusing, thanks very much for your help though much apprieciated.

warm regards Susan

Might be partly habit - my Yankee chewed his paws as a puppy, we changed his diet which helped a bit, and stopped him whenever we caught him doing it, and eventually he mostly stopped.

Thanks guys.

Warm regards Susan

Junior has a bald spot on his tail and I believe it is  Tail Gland Hyperplasia, he does not chew his tail since Bostons have very small tails.