Hi everyone, I took Dexter to the vet this morning,I needed to check out his kennel cough vaccination for him to go to his classes next week.Whilst I was there I mentioned the bleeding tail tip and have had quite a shock......my vet has said that tail injuries however small can be serious and that is needs careful care....she's shaved it and it looks awful,its only the length of half my fingernail but its heavily scabbed....ive got to soak it for 10 minutes...twice a day ....then cream it and put a cone on him so he can't lick the cream off...the sooaking is not going to be easy....I'm trying to do it now while he is snoozing......today has been a nightmare,loads of visitors.....forget trying to practice any nice manners its all been about holding onto his tail so he can't break it open again.Has anyone else had this problem?im sure somebody mentioned a product that you can buy that is like a plastic syringe that can cover the tip,apologies I can't remember who :-[ my vet didn't know anything about it.....ive rung a few practices this pm in between visitors....not easy over the phone with most receptionists having English as their second language,no joy.I can't find anything when I am googling ......tomorrow I'm going to the pharmacies to see if I can find a large plastic syringe to protect it as a DIY splint.Its been breaking open for a week now....the 3rd episode in the time since we've had him :'( On a side note....I got another shock when we got called into the consultation room.Dexter turned into a big scaredy cat...I don't know who was more shocked me or the vet.He was like a different dog ....tongue flicking out,ears back,tail tucked,sat down and would not move.....we couldn't believe it,he always runs in like he owns the place .Of course there was a big enquiry with Chris about what happened on the last visit when I was away.......we can only think he remembers the injection he had.....he didn't see our usual vet who fusses him lovely.The other vet is a bit abrupt and his English isn't great.....there were no frills and I know Chris wouldn't have been making a big fuss of Dex as he would have been embarrassed of looking a bit wet .....I hope it's only that.Paulina has asked me to take him in for a few visits just to say hi and let them make a fuss of him.she was so upset when she saw his fear ,she had a little mourn of his puppyhood today too :'( ...he's 25.5 kgs.....and she said his teeth are peachy! thanks in advance if anyone has any advice or experience they have time to share xxx
Re: Help please Oh Angela, what a horrible day for you all, poor Dexter :'( :'( I`m sorry I havent any experience of this so cant offer advice, just support, just hate any of our dogs being unwell , gentle hug from me
Re: Help please This was Lochans reply in a post "Tail Tip Bleeding" in June [quote author=Lochan link=topic=1650.msg12068#msg12068 date=1370514863] Absolutely the best thing to be developed in years for these tail injuries is a product called "dog ends". I have tried bandaging, covering over with syringe casing, sticking pipe insulation over, etc etc and nothing stays on apart from these. Tail tip injuries being incredibly common in our happy, waggy labradors! [/quote] I found this by googling - dog ends bleeding tail - some other info there might help too http://www.bonovate.com/dogends xx
Re: Help please Jacqui you are a superstar ,(and also Lochan,thankyou )sorry I couldn't remember it was you that mentioned it....I'm on it right now!the vet said as long as I care for it carefully there shouldn't be any deterioration....she said in bad cases is can compromise blood flow which leads to necrosis ( if that's the right term) basically the tissue will die from the tip up.......and this can result in the dead tissue requiring amputation.Happy Tail syndrome doesn't sound so cute now does it Thankyou kate too x
Re: Help please Just thought Angela.... When I was trying to sort out some carpal pad abraisions ( : don't ask) It was suggested I use some antibiotic cream, and to apply it just before a walk so the dog is occupied in doing other things so not going to lick it right off. Not sure if thats a help at all.
Re: Help please Thanks Jacqui That's exactly what the vet said,it's had a good bathe tonight and when I applied the cream I just put my hand over his tail and he licked my hand not his tail...but I'll do it before his walks tomorrow.I've just tried to order the dog end product.....as usual credit card problems some companies don't like it being a UAE registered card.Ive emailed them to ask for them to contact me as I'll pay the extra cost to get them delivered here...so hopefully ill get them pretty quick...carpal pad abrasions sound ouch.....and tricky
Re: Help please So sorry to hear this - I hope you get the product and get it healed up. But again, your shared experience is invaluable. We've started taking Charlie out of his pen to say good morning as we noticed he whacked his tail on the metal pen bars....wouldn't have thought of it if you hadn't posted about Dex.
Re: Help please i am so sorry angela about your bad news,.......poor dexter, i would never of thought it would be so serious, i can only imagine how upset you was ........sending hugs
Re: Help please My Black Lab's tail often bleeds, once to my mortification all over a visitor's trousers! I was looking at her trousers and wondering why they had red stripes at 45degree angle! I then saw blood on the coffee table and realised that she was covered in blood and not stripes in the material. I often had blood on the doors and the walls but as he has got older it is getting much less. I don't think it is such a problem as it is in spaniels' tails. He does have a wee bald spot where he has damaged his tail but I have never felt the need to take him to the vet.
Re: Help please Thanks Stacia,I would never have thought of taking him in for it either...it was really just an extra whilst I was there for something else...I was glad I mentioned it though as it is getting worse .i wipe the cupboards and walls several times a day ,it can look a bit like a crime scene!glad you've survived it with no serious effects....I'm hoping for the same. Best wishes Angela
Re: Help please Do hope he is ok Angela... I seem to be having some memory of someone saying they had used superglue on their dog's tail... am I just making that up, or did I really read it on here???
Re: Help please Ah Dex matey. Poor mite. All from being a happy boy. Those dog end things look like the plastic mesh that is slipped over wine bottles to stop them shattering in transit. If you need a temporary measure do you think Dexter would tolerate a tube of some kind on his tail? Smarties, or kitchen roll tube, kept on with medical tape? Our labrador we had when my daughter was a baby hit his tail, and he wore baby tights over his bandage for a week, again secured with medical tape. Masking tape too, when the proper stuff ran out. Or a mini cone/edwardian collar the wrong way round, (you can make one out of a plastic bottle cut in half, tail goes through the bottle neck, and tapes on) so there was a corden around his tail tip to stop it getting bashed, and stop him getting to any cream etc. Mind any sharp edges of the plastic though of course, tape it too. I'm thinking out loud here, looking around the room for inspiration! Poor Dexter.
Re: Help please Super glue was originally designed to fix battlefield injuries so would probably work for dogs. I think I recall a spaniel friend having a vet equivalent. I'm on exmoor with terrible signal but will try and track it down. Poor Dexter hope it gets better soon
Re: Help please Angela, poor Dexter here's hoping his tail gets better really soon and is wagging at full speed. Helen x
Re: Help please Ok dog ends are ordered and being couriered over to me by Thursday in the meantime this is my solution...... DIY splint made from a plastic syringe and breathable medical tape http://www.flickr.com/photos/97066992@N03/sets/72157635250808017/ Initially it made him do this.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/97066992@N03/sets/72157635250439179/ But after a few mins of this he got tired being dizzy.... and he fell asleep and is snoozing contentedly: http://www.flickr.com/photos/97066992@N03/sets/72157635257742436/ I had to do something today....got 3 separate sets of visitors,all with swimming things,kids and stuff with them,couldn't sleep,last night for worrying about him bashing it and the resulting arterial spray across the kitchen cupboards....seriously it's that bad....with days like this we will never get it better,he'll remember it when he wakes up I'm sure but if can make it last until the last set of greetings are over....result!Please just get better tail! X
Re: Help please It's my cleaning lady calling and chuckling at him in the background!not me!I could cry!although it was quite funny when he wobbled and didn't know what had happened!x
Re: Help please Aww poor Dexter! Even I told Karl about Happy Tail Syndrome and thought how sweet is that! (Love the pictures by the way!) Hopefully the Dog End work and the cut heals! Try not to worry (Rich coming from me!) Give it a few days after Thursday and hopefully things improve
Re: Help please Barley has cut the end of his tail off before, we don't know how he done it but he did. Luckily he is not a very waggy dog so it was quite easy for us. The vet bandaged it up with lots of tape and let it heal by itself no interfering with creams and that, just gave him some antibiotics and that was it, the nurse who took the bandage was swearing a lot because he has such a furry tail and the vet who put it on put soooooooo much tape on it was all stuck to his fur, in the end it had to be cut off with his tail fur, poor boy, he looked ridiculous, and to make it even worse the first vet who bandaged it up used a pink bandage, really pink with barley, he got some very 'nice(rude)' comments from people when out on walks
Re: Help please Can't actually believe that the DIY splint has stayed on for 7 hours....he has bothered it but ive distracted him,it still feels so secure I could be tempted to leave it on tonight ....but he could chew it up,then he's got a little tube of plastic in his bed with him.....not good!talked myself out of it.....but I know he will break it open in the morning when we come down to him so glad it's worked this afternoon,been so much going on in the house ..I've felt sick every time I've heard the syringe whack a hard surface....cringe!
