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Why is my blue heeler licking his anus, drooling, and face swollen?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Blue Heeler | Male | unneutered

Hi. My 7yr old male blue heeler keeps biting and licking his anus almost to the point that it seems as though he is trying to eat it. It now looks sore. He has been doing this for some time now. He has been wormed. About a week or so ago his face and neck has become swollen. He has a lot of saliva and drool especially when he eats or drinks. He still eats, drinks, barks. Cannot afford to go to the vet atm. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated please. We are very concerned.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on September 9th, 2018

This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

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