Bullie with infected tail

Submitted by MINDY on February 19, 2012 - 11:26am

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She has the cork screw type, its pulled really close to her.

we had to go out of town for a funeral for a week and we came home to one of our girls smelling like rot!

I plan to bathe her really well and clean her up but around her tail is swollen, and is badly infected

she is going to the vet on tuesday but until then what can I do to get her some help?

the smell and the slime tells me it is badly infected and I do not want to make this harder for my girl can anyone offer some help?

thanks so much

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Good Times

Will she let you touch it?

Submitted by Kathy Chester N... on February 19, 2012 - 1:54pm.

If so, try to get her in the bath or shower and gently get some shampoo in there with your finger and then rinse it well and dry with a cotton square or thin soft cloth. Once it's dry, gold bond powder will help. I use Malaseb shampoo in tail pockets, but if you don't have that, even peroxide would help get the gunk out. You can also buy those ketchup bottles with the pointy ends that you can use to squirt water or shampoo and water into the pocket. I use one of those to get the gold bond powder into Newman's pocket, you can usually find them at dollar stores.

I would not get her wet

Submitted by Deb and MacKenz... on February 19, 2012 - 4:09pm.

it is way to difficult to get them dry. I would go get some Vetricyn, spray on a cosmetic pad and try to clean around and under her tail. If she won't let you near her tail then see if you can at least spray underneath and around. This will help until you can get her into the vets. You should be able to find Vetricyn at any farm supply store. Unlikely you will find it at Petco or Petsmart.

It's really bad...shameful bad

Submitted by MINDY on February 20, 2012 - 2:05am.

I have a bottle of the vetricyn,

It could not have gotten this bad in a week, and I clean her tail out twice a week minimum.

I think her socket is deeper than her tail will let me get.

Has anyone had a tail amputated? is it worth the risk?

thank you for you help guys, she is sleeping like....welll like herself!

at least for the moment.

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Good Times

Gizmo's tail is amputated - risky yes -worth it? case by case

Submitted by RARett on February 20, 2012 - 5:34am.

Gizmo's tailpocket was on the extreme side - very deep, I'm taking up to my third knuckle deep - and we tried everything we could- but it was smelly and antibiotics after antibiotics - she wouldnt even let us near it towards the end - Our bully doc, (older Gentleman) referred us to a surgery center, but the more he thought about this case, the more he wanted to do it himself, because of the complications - He actually went a few sections into her body to take out the tail, and then did a 'butt lift' to pull the skin out and remove the pocket - she had a tight inverted corkscrew tail. -

would I recommend the surgery - in an extreme case YES, Gizmo's personality is so much more pleasent and comfortable because her bum isnt hurting her.

As you know all surgeries are risky - but find a good Vet who specializes in bullies and has done this type of surgery before -

here is gizmo Post surgery, with her 2 little drain tubes in - (The day or day after we brought her home)

Here is Gizmo a year later.

Cost $1500-$3500 < -- Vet was $1500, surgery Center was $3500 THANK YOU DOCTOR BESTE !

Rick

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Last steps taken May 26, 2014 -- Been rolling along ever since . . . .

poor thing...but glad it was

Submitted by Pegsy on February 20, 2012 - 1:50pm.

poor thing...but glad it was a good decision...archie didn't have a tail either

and either i was lucky but up until i had him i hadn't expereinced any heath issues

except once when he had a mild irritation under his folds...

No regrets here

Submitted by alisonjmorgan on February 20, 2012 - 10:51am.

Matilda is 8 and had her tail amputated at the same time she was spayed,she was only 7 months old. She also had an inverted very tight screw tail and she was miserable and I have neve regretted the decision to have it removed.

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Alison and my little girl Matilda

Tail Amputation

Submitted by Deb and MacKenz... on February 20, 2012 - 12:05pm.

I believe as the others have said that in extreme cases it is best to have the tail removed. The quaility of life is so much better afterwards. Any surgery has risk, so you have to way the risk to reward. If the pocket is extremely deep with an inverted tail that has grown inside the body then I definitely wouold consider the surgery. Find a great surgeon.

It could have gotten that bad in a week. I bathed Kohl once and didn't get his tail dry enough and I had a horrible mess just 2 days later and he doesn't have a tail pocket or inverted tail, just a little tight. I did have some antibiotics that I put him on. So it is amazing how fast the infection can take over because it is a warm damp environment. Also likely she had some anxiety with you being gone and that can cause the body to do stange things.

Poor thing, your vet will help you get it undercontrol.