10 Month old Boxer with injured tail!!!

[billiejo69]

I have a 10 month old female boxer who gets excited to easily and hits her tail on everything... we also had her in the kennel for a while when we would go to sleep or leave. Then the tip of her tail started bleeding. There was blood all over the walls from her hitting her tail on it. I cleaned it everyday, put triple antibiotic ointment on it, put a gauze on it, and wrapped it with vet tape and that other kind of tape that's really sticky that you use for animals. Well she always tried to chew it off but then after treating like that everyday it stopped bleeding and started to heal.. out of no where her tail starts bleeding again and this time its much worse it looks infected and its bleeding on the side of her tail this time... I ran out of the sticky tape but I have medical tape I put on it with gauze and the ointment. This morning she wouldn't stop wining I think it was because of her tail.. well I checked her tail and she chewed the tape off the top of her tail. So I went and cleaned it with rubbing alcohol because that's all I have till I go to the store today and damped some alcohol on a gauze and put it on her tail and then another piece of gauze on that one and then more medical tape over it. It seemed to help because she isn't whining right now.. I called the vet and they said amputating it would be the best thing. And that it would cost about $400-$500 to do it. Also my boyfriend said that he read somewhere amputating a body part can be worse because they might think its still there or something I don't exactly remember what he said!!!! Any helpful tips or ideas?

 

[GoldenChicks16]

This is exactly a place for help with a dog, but I will help you anyway. Can you post a picture of her tail? The best thing to do is clean her tail with hydrogen peroxide to get all of the germs and bacteria out from where shes been chewing on it so much. Wrap it up with the medical tape that you have and tape it. You need to get her a cone to go around her head to prevent her from chewing on it anymore. Surgery would be a plausible option and would keep her from injuring herself anymore. I promise it wont do more home that good. Dogs dont even really their tails are gone when they are shortened.

 

[billiejo69]

OK I will put a picture up of her tail once I get home its kind of hard to see because of her hair and I really don't want ro cut her tail she would be in so much pain

 

[luvmigrls]

If it were me, I would Google it. You might be surprized how many people have had the same question/issue. Just type your question as if asking someone. Keep in mind there are Vets that will charge a price but you should be able to find some credible information/links.

 

[Whoops]

Awww, poor puppy. My bc used to end up with a bloody tail when she rode in a crate in the car to doggy classes and such. She would be frustrated because she couldn't get the cars (blasted herding instincts) and chase her own tail. Because the cage restricted her movement, she would catch it. The only way I solved it was to stuff another dog in there with her so she couldn't spin, or cover the crate so she couldn't see the cars and get over-stimulated.

Short term, to heal the tail, put her in a cone and vetwrap it so she can't get to it. There are anti-itch antibiotic cremes available at pet stores. Clean with hydrogen peroxide twice a day and trim ALL the hair away from it. It looks funny, but hair grows back. Hair in wounds leads to irritation, infection, and slower healing. Let it dry off after cleaning before re-wrapping. Wrapping it wet will make bad things fester. Any chance it's actually a hot spot, but just on her tail instead of her body? Hot spots can be food or other allergies, and I believe Boxers are prone that way.

I would look into getting a larger crate, or a veri-kennel (plastic box) kind of crate so that it isn't so hard on her extremities, make a crate cover to help cut down on over-stimulation, and make her exhibit a calm behavior before fun stuff (sit politely to go out for a walk or go in the back yard to play, lie down before kennel door is open, sit politely for petting, limit roughhousing in the house because she will just wack it on furniture and stuff.)

Just my thoughts and suggestions as a fellow dog owner with no veterinary knowledge - take them or leave them as you judge appropriate for your situation. Good luck and enjoy your puppy. Boxers are fun dogs.