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Happy Tail!

Our poor Bess has happy tail. The sad thing is that when we first brought her home her tail was under her tummy for over a week. Eight months on and she is a happy dog who wags her tail constantly. Recently her tail has started to open when she has hit it on something and bleed so much the house looks like a crime scene. She has been to see the vet on the three occasions this has happened and I have been told that amputation could be the way forward. It has happened again today. Has anyone experienced this and if so can you please give me some advice.

Re: Happy Tail!

Hi Guys
We had this with Jade. She had injured her tail at the kennels and despite many visits to the vets, the end of her tail started to die off. So we agreed to amputation. Tails are notoriously difficult to heal in Greyhounds and Lurchers, because they are so thin. She had about 3/4 of the tail removed to ensure that the wound was at a wider part of the tail which would have a better blood supply for healing.
She has never looked back, she is still a waggy tail dog, just that its a waggy stump now, but at least she cant damage herself.
So I would say go for it, if it keeps happening its best in the long run.

As for the crime scene, more like chain saw massacre in our hallway lol
Regards
Kaz Brundell and stumpy Jade lol

Re: Happy Tail!

Thank you so much for your reply. I have a feeling it is going to come to amputation but it just seems such a severe thing to do, however, if it is in her best interest it might be what we have to do. I have seen a few greyhounds with stumpy tails and they seem happy enough. She will always be beautiful with or without her tail. Thanks again.

Re: Happy Tail!

I remember reading somewhere that a Greyhound with a bleeding tail that needed protection after an injury.
There owner used foam pipe lagging on the tail on top of the bandage which would help keep the tail from bending along with added protection for the tail.

As you say sometimes amputation is needed as the wound gets infected and just will not heal.

Hope that is useful to you on what is a common Greyhound C.S.I. scene.

Good Luck

George

Re: Happy Tail!

Hi Guys,
My Gordon had a tail amputation just before Christmas 2015. A few issues keeping his bandage attached for the first few days, but he has never had any bother since then. He had about 3/4 of his tail removed too but is still as handsome as any other hound out there, and has even won Best Male at a couple of Greyhound shows!
He gets lots of positive attention because of (what the kids call) his "butt stump" and can still wag it like crazy when the need is there :)
Fiona
p.s it's also much easier checking he's safe before closing any doors/car boots!

Re: Happy Tail!

I meant to update this a couple of weeks ago. The good news is Bess did not have to have her tail amputated. The vet actually phoned me while she under anaesthetic and said he would like to try something called a 'Dog End". It is a light plastic flexible mesh that slides easily onto her tail. It is secured over the wound top and bottom with Elastoplast. It allows the wound to breathe and I have to say since she has been wearing it she has been wagging her tail and banging it off walls and radiators and it has never opened the wound. She doesn't mind wearing it because it is so much more lighter than a bandage. So far so good. I have to say though it was not the tip of her tail that is so much harder to heal and the mesh would have nothing to be secured to. Bess's wound was about a quarter way up her tail.

Re: Happy Tail!

That's terrific news and I'm sure Celia and Jimmy will be chasing it up with their vet for some of the kennel dogs. I shall certainly mention it to my vet as well, as the view tends to be that part-amputation is the best solution. Well done waggy Bess!

Re: Happy Tail!

Thanks Marion,

There is a website called bonovate.com where happy tail owners can buy their own Dog Ends.
I've only used two so far and I change the tape every two or three days.