Happy Tail Poll

[Guest Yankeegreyhound]

Sara had a bad case of happy tail when we got her. The vet gave us some sort of antibiotic powder and we taped a plastic curler around her tail. It worked well but she kept re-opening it because of the hallway in our house. The hall looked like a murder had occurred there!!! We used the curler trick several times and we had to be careful when we came home and we got her into an open area so she could wag her tail more easily. We've since moved from that house into one where she can wag her tail all she wants when we come home. She has broken the wound up once or twice since then but it's not so bad.

[fourofem]

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<br />Just curious, why are there "pooping issues" with an amputated tail?<br />

<br />With House, his would have been amputated almost at the base of his tail. According to my vet, he would have lost a lot of his bowel control.<br />

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That is so interesting. I will keep that in mind if I ever need to get one amputated! It's amazing how everything works together in sync.

 

 

I think when you're only talking several inches or even half the tail, it's not an issue. Lizzie has about half of hers and the only funny thing about her is that her tail kind of vibrates when she poops. The fact that House's mess was so far up his tail it could have been an issue. I'm just glad we were able to get it healed.

[Guest CharlEYp]

Hey,

We adopted our dog from a kennels and was warned that he had happy tail from where he tail was scrapping the kennel wall.

 

I'd never seen it bleed during my time there but when we got him home he knocked the tip and got blood up the walls.

Since them we've wrapped it in Vetwrap and dry tissue after washing it with warm water. We are now applying a powdered antiseptic too just to be safe.

We're having to chnage the bandages twice daily and he waggs them off.

 

It's only a small scrape and the bleeding stops within a second or two but it's looking very callused.

I was hoping the hard skin would eventually mean that the tip is toughened but i'd rather get some expert advice.

For those that had dogs with happy tail that healed, did they appear callused?

[Guest Snazzy_Chloe]

Good info - I just got a dog with happy tail, vet recommended cutting a syringe per above post (this no padding?). I searched Greytalk and opted for the pipe insulation route as my wife had no hair curler foam that I could use. It has been three weeks and it has come off every 4-5 days which is not bad - at first it was every 12 hours. I think sometimes he steps on the pipe insulation when getting up from the dog pillow which tears the tape and pulls it off. I think I will give it another week and then try removing it as it was just the tip that was bleeding and it was scabbed over pretty quickly. I really think the pipe insulation helps as it definately provides padding, plus it adds a little weight that slows down the tail a little. I think the trick is for me to learn when and where the wagging starts so I can be there to hold the tail or move him to a better position where he won't be hitting anything. Usually now it is when company comes over-and the front door is a good area for him to wag in. We shall see how this progresses-luckily we are home with him all the time so he is not home alone where it could turn into a real disaster.

[silverfish]

I dunno about 75% losing their tail, I think it depends on so many factors ... makes me wonder if the vets who say that just give up when they needn't!

 

Having said that, you do need to be diligent about protecting the wound, and keeping it covered - and protected - for long enough, or it will open up again. And again. And again. And each time it gets re-injured, you risk losing a bit more blood supply, and without a good blood supply, nothing will heal well.

 

Also, there's happy tail, and there's happy tail. True 'happy tail' is a simple split which comes from wagging hard against an unforgiving surface, which is what my Renie had a couple of times. But some people call any tail injury 'happy tail', including having it shut in a door. Nothing much happy about that, and it's a different injury: a crushing one. Bone can be fractured, nerves can be severed, in fact the end of the tail can be hanging by a strip of tissue or even found lying on the floor on the other side of the door.

 

Accidents happen. But you can't really get a true picture from a poll covering all tail injuries, because, yes, I'd try for a couple of months to heal a split, but quite frankly, if there was bone and/or nerve damage, I might opt to amputate on the spot. Depends on the damage, depends on the dog, depends on how high the injury is.