Lotus
03-04-2013, 10:50 AM
I have two dogs- a black lab and a German shorthair. Love them both so much- but they aren't the brightest..... for example, last week, my lab got a little cut on the end of her tail. So, she chewed it off. Yeah. I know all animals lick their wounds, but I've never had one actually lop off a body part. It was pretty horrifying at first, because I came home from work and there was blood all over the place- splashed on the walls, puddled on the floor ... My husband and I couldn't figure out what had happened- he had been there with the girls all night..... then Shelby walked by me and splashed blood all over me. We grabbed her and I put on a pressure bandage and called the vet. She said to keep it wrapped and come in if it hadn't stopped bleeding in a couple days. (since long tailed dogs tend to bang their happy ends into things, she said it could take a few days for it to totally stop bleeding
, which it did) Still, I had no idea what had happened to her and my husband was just as baffled. Finally after about three full days, the bleeding slowed to an ooze and I looked at it while changing bandages. It looked like she ad just kind of shaved off the skin on one side of the very tip. So I packed her up with more bacitracin and wrapped her up and la-tee-da. Then, about an hour later, I let the pups out to play in the fresh snow... and saw a tuft of black fur.... I picked it up... it was the last 3/4 inch of her tail. Bone and all. I felt rather sick- called the vet again.... she kind of laughed and said "well, has the bleeding stopped? Does she seem to be in pain? Because if it's clotted off and she's not messing with it or acting like she's really uncomfortable, she will be just fine. Just keep it clean and wrapped and call me if she gets a fever or is in pain,"
So, it's been 9 days now, and I'm happy to report she's healing really well. She looks a bit silly with a hot-pink tail wrap tho. Silly pup.
, which it did) Still, I had no idea what had happened to her and my husband was just as baffled. Finally after about three full days, the bleeding slowed to an ooze and I looked at it while changing bandages. It looked like she ad just kind of shaved off the skin on one side of the very tip. So I packed her up with more bacitracin and wrapped her up and la-tee-da. Then, about an hour later, I let the pups out to play in the fresh snow... and saw a tuft of black fur.... I picked it up... it was the last 3/4 inch of her tail. Bone and all. I felt rather sick- called the vet again.... she kind of laughed and said "well, has the bleeding stopped? Does she seem to be in pain? Because if it's clotted off and she's not messing with it or acting like she's really uncomfortable, she will be just fine. Just keep it clean and wrapped and call me if she gets a fever or is in pain,"
So, it's been 9 days now, and I'm happy to report she's healing really well. She looks a bit silly with a hot-pink tail wrap tho. Silly pup.