Dear Dr. John,

My male White Husky is almost 14. About two weeks ago, I noticed that he started reaching for his rear end a lot and seemed painful and uncomfortable. I looked, and the entire area was swollen and irritated, and the hair was black. I contacted my vet. He pointed out to me that since the dog was not neutered, and based on appearance, that there was a high likelihood my dog had a benign tumor in the area that had also become infected. What causes that?

He also said that the typical cure was to neuter the dog and possibly surgically reduce the swollen area as needed. Does it make sense to operate on a dog at such an advanced age? My dog was given an antibiotic and anti-inflammatory medication, both by injection and pills. R.M.

Dear R.M.,

The scenario you describe suggests that your dog may have a perineal adenoma. The classic signs are licking the area and scooting, straining to defecate, bloody bowel movements, and smell. One of the secondary reasons we neuter male dogs is to prevent perineal tumors.

Neutering a dog reduces testosterone levels which come from production of this hormone in the testes. Benign adenomas such as you describe develop in unneutered dogs and are testosterone sensitive. That is why neutering is suggested to reduce the size of the swelling by tumor regression and to alleviate your dog’s discomfort. Local surgical debridement and growth removals are also done as needed. Alternatively, drugs can be given to block hormone receptors, but it is less commonly done and is case dependent.

If your dog is otherwise healthy, I would suggest full bloodwork first, then I would proceed with neutering your dog, despite his age. For now, I am hoping that the antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications might have somewhat of a beneficial effect but it’s only putting a temporary Band-Aid™ on the real problem. Surgery will stop further development into possibly even a malignancy. I would work with your veterinarian to pursue the best course of action.

Dr. John de Jong is President of the World Veterinary Association. He owns and operates the Boston Mobile Veterinary Clinic and can be reached at 781-899-9994.