Distressed about adult dog tail amputation

[Meredith_Clark]

I’m hoping to find some insight because I’m very torn.

Bella has what people call “happy tail”. Recently her tail got badly infected as a result of the wagging. My vet is wonderful and prescribed antibiotics, pain med. and a tranquilizer. She’s also been wearing the largest e-collar they make.

Last night, even with the e-collar on she managed to chew off her wrap. Today at the vet they re-wrapped it and he gave me some sort of cream to put on the bandage to make it taste badly.

The vet did tell me though that even if we get the infection to clear up and the tail to heal many dogs will just reopen it.

We talked about amputation as an option but i’m very torn on the idea. I don’t like, but don’t mind as much docking when they are puppies. But Bella’s had her tail all her life and it just feels uncomfortable to me to amputate it.

Any advice?

[Pancakes]

Pets have no concept of what they’re “supposed” to look like. They live in the here, and the now. They don’t understand that they’re missing a body part; they understand that they don’t have pain anymore. Amputation hang-ups are all in the minds of their owners; many people’s minds are changed when they see how well the animal is doing AFTER the procedure.

[lovey1121]

I’ve known 2 tail amputees-both for Happy Tail. Both are GREAT! She will never miss her tail or the pain she’s going through now.

[MyGiantPony]

I had a basset who got loose and into a paddock. One of the horses said OH SQUEAKY TOY, and basically amputated her tail with his hoof.

Rushed her to the vet, he docked her, and she continued to be the wonderful happy dog she always was…she just wiggled her butt instead of wagging her tail.

[seeuatx]

My Dalmatian has an amputated tail for exactly that reason. She cut it on a fence and despite best efforts it became infected and then went necrotic. I had no choice :no:

Some people are assholes and cop an attitude about her tail and how horrible Docking is, etc. I look them in the eye and calmly describe the sickening look of a necrotic tail end and how they didn’t get enough and more had to be taken off. That shuts them up really quick.

Noel has been fine without her tail. She has a 4-5 inch tail now, and wags that just as hard as she did when she had the whole thing. It’s no big deal for her.

[LauraKY]

My cocker (docked tail) had what we called “wiggle butt”. She wagged her butt and stub vigorously. I can’t see that it would be a problem.

[Alagirl]

@Meredith Clark;5624218

I’m hoping to find some insight because I’m very torn.

Bella has what people call “happy tail”. Recently her tail got badly infected as a result of the wagging. My vet is wonderful and prescribed antibiotics, pain med. and a tranquilizer. She’s also been wearing the largest e-collar they make.

Last night, even with the e-collar on she managed to chew off her wrap. Today at the vet they re-wrapped it and he gave me some sort of cream to put on the bandage to make it taste badly.

The vet did tell me though that even if we get the infection to clear up and the tail to heal many dogs will just reopen it.

We talked about amputation as an option but i’m very torn on the idea. I don’t like, but don’t mind as much docking when they are puppies. But Bella’s had her tail all her life and it just feels uncomfortable to me to amputate it.

Any advice?

Not a dog but a cat:

Tom got into fights with the neighbors. Somehow the base of the tail got infected.
Having it taken off was a non issue for the cat. I mourned his long fluffy striped tail for a while.

Point is, it’s a medical issue, not a cosmetic one. Tail injuries are a pain to deal with. In the end the tail might yet die off from the infection. Had a Great Dane who’s happy tail got infected. It was pretty gross.

The dog won’t miss the tail. heck, most dogs don’t miss a leg after a short period of healing and muscling up!

[My_Two_Cents]

We’ve had several kittens that frost bit their tails and the damaged part fell off. Most then were named “Bob”. They never seemed to notice. If it were a human with a finger amputated you wouldn’t (or most certainly shouldn’t) think differently of them. If it makes for a healthier dog I would amputate the tail and move on. There’s a difference between a vet doing it properly and putting it on a chopping block. There’s lots worse things that could happen.

[Mara]

[QUOTE=LauraKY;5624547]
My cocker (docked tail) had what we called “wiggle butt”. She wagged her butt and stub vigorously. I can’t see that it would be a problem.[/QUOTE]

My sister used to call my cocker’s docked tail his “pull tab”!:lol: And yeah, he could get a lot of mileage out of wagging his butt and stub.

[Marshfield]

It can be an incredibly tough injury to get healed; it just ends up subjected to so much repeat trauma. If it’s not healing, don’t feel bad about doing a partial amputation. And bizarrely enough, the dogs who get amputation because a tail injury wouldn’t heal seem to heal just fine from the amputations.

[Ghazzu]

Your baggage is not your dog’s.
You may feel terrible about it; he will likely feel more comfortable without an oozing and necrotic appendage.

[danceronice]

It’s not like you’re docking it just because you don’t like long tails. If it’s repeatedly infected, it’s like taking off a leg–our barn cat Tripod had a bite that turned necrotic when we got him and his left front LEG had to come off. He gets along just fine without it. Infections that go to the bone are nasty and hard to control, not to mention risky for turning systemic. The dog won’t care and if someone decides to lecture you about how eeeevil tail-docking is, I like seeuatx’s strategy–maybe get some pictures of advanced necrosis to show them. They’ll shut up.

[Nezzy]

Dogs deal with amputations very well. I would suggest you remove it, b/c it’s going to continue to cause her pain if she keeps it. Good Luck.

[chism]

One of my dogs absolutely HATED to go to the vet, He was a 120 lb Rhodesian Ridgeback so getting him through the door to the vet office was very challenging. During one visit, when I was at work, my husband carried him through the door and the weighted door closed on his the last 1 1/2 of his tail. We could not get it to heal no matter what we did and he just would not leave it alone. He also had Lymphoma at the time so it’s possible the Prednisone was delaying the healing We did not amputate it because he had a very short life expectancy at that point and was not a good candidate for surgery. The main point of all this babble is that I could tell that it hurt, A LOT. If I could have amputated it, I would have done it in a second because it was so obvious that it was painful. Just do it…you dog won’t even remember he had a tail and he’ll be a lot happier if he’s pain free.

[Big_Grey_hunter]

Your dog would rather be painfree then have a tail. He’ll never notice the difference

[FrenchFrytheEqHorse]

My pittie girl has happy tail, too. We managed to heal hers, but I work from home, and was able to watch her like a hawk. So far, so good, but if she injures it again, we will look into amputation.

[AlmostDun]

My dog breed’s standard requires docked tails. I dislike the practice and drove 8 hours to get a pup from a breeder which leaves the tails long. However, I wouldn’t feel the least bit guilty about having the vet take the tail off if the dog was suffering from injuries and infections. Medical need is different from cosmetic whim.

[Dry_Clean_Only]

Do it! Completely different procedure than a puppy tail dock. With general anesthesia and appropriate post-op analgesia you dog will probably be much more comfortable than with a nasty ‘happy tail’. Animals don’t have an emotional attachment to their limbs and IME do very well.