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Gryffin Injured His Tail


Guest GryffinSong

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Guest GryffinSong

As if Gryffin doesn't have enough problems with osteosarcoma, today he caught his tail in the storm door and tore it open. It closed too fast and caught his tail as he was coming in from the back yard. It bled like the dickens!!! I think I've got the bleeding stopped, and have wrapped it with gauze and vet wrap. He looks pretty funny with a big blue blob of vet wrap near the end of his tail!

 

I'll check under the wrappings in a bit. I think he can do without stitches, but am not quite certain yet. Why does this stuff always happen after hours when the emergency vet is your only option? :blink:

 

Poor guy can't catch a break. I guess the good news is that with all the pain killers he's on for the osteo it probably doesn't hurt too much. :blink:

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Guest Energy11

Sorry to hear about this, and YES, these thing ALWAYS seem to happen when the vets are closed. I have a million things in my "bags of tricks," be we are extra careful on nights and weekends!

 

Here is something from our first aid presentation from last year's Mt. Hounds, that I hope can help:

 

Injuries to the tail:

 

Ah ... "Happy Tails!" ... What, "pain in the tail!" If your dog hits its tail against the wall, or wherever, there WILL BE lots of bleeding. The tail, too, is an extremity, loaded with capillaries, which means lots of blood. DO NOT to be alarmed if it is just a cut, or scrape. Hold pressure on the area with your hands, and a towel, until the bleeding stops. If the bleeding does NOT stop, you CAN use Kwik Stop. Apply this to the injury, dress it with an antibacterial ointment of your choice (* I prefer Trypzyme-V), and cover it with a large Band Aid or other non-stick dressing. IF you can see BONE through the tail, this is a fractured tail, and needs to be vetted ASAP. You CAN stabilize the tail, by cutting a piece of cardboard, use a toilet paper or paper towel roll, cradling the tail inside, and wrap with either, vet wrap, or just masking of duct tape.

 

Hopefully, it will be something simple. Usually, if it just the end of the tail, it will be okay. Good luck, lots of love and tons or prayers! Dee and The Five

 

 

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I've use a hair roller held on with vet wrap for cuts on the tail. Worked pretty well.

 

Dee is right about seeing the vet though if it's more than a cut. Our Cullen fractured the tip of his tail in a dog door, we thought. It was at a right angle. He needed to have it bandaged and rechecked weekly by the vet. It healed well. The odd part about it all is that it never bled; it just broke.

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Guest GryffinSong

Hi all,

 

He's doing well this morning. The bandage fell off early this morning and I slathered it with antibiotic gel. I'm sure its not broken. Just torn down through several layers of skin.

 

As for his osteo, he's doing as well as can be expected. I replaced his pain patch yesterday, so he's feeling pretty good today. I felt really sorry for him though. It was really difficult to get the pain patch off, and it left a red, irritated patch on his skin. Then he injured his tail a couple hours later. Poor guy can't catch a break.

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I wouldn't use an antibiotic gel. When Rascal broke his tail, and the skin was open with a cut, I just did some water therapy a couple times a day. Basically washcloth soaked in hot water, dribble water over tail injury site, put a couple towels underneath to catch the water. then clean non-stick bandage and wrap with vet wrap.

 

the wound closed really fast! the broken tail healed eventually too!

 

good luck.

lorinda, mom to the ever revolving door of Foster greyhounds

Always in my heart: Teala (LC Sweet Dream) , Pepton, Darbee-Do (Hey Barb) , Rascal (Abitta Rascal), Power (Beyond the Power), and the miracle boy LAZER (2/21/14), Spirit (Bitter Almonds) 8/14

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