Broken Tail

[Seraphina]

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I have just heard that one puppy from my last litter broke her tail. The owner went out for couple of hours and when she got home she found her with broken tail. The vet ex-rayed it and wanted to umputate it straight a way. In the end he agreed to pin it at great expense, but warned that if the pin does not hold the tail will have to come off.

The puppy is 1000km from here so I could not look at it, but in the photo the tail looks straight and I would have thought that with just a strapping and collar to stop her from taking the bandage off it should have been OK.

The pup (10 weeks old) was left with couple of other dogs, but I still cannot underxtand how could tail get broken without a considerable force, and there are no teethmarks that i can see.

Has anybody had experience with Whippets breaking their tail?

 

[Whippets Rule]

my whippet boy Badger broke his tail as a pup,about a week after we got him. He broke it about two inches from the tail tip.

Our boxer dog (RIP) was being a bit over enthusiastic and he jumped and landed on the end of the tail and it broke.

Badger didn't have his tail removed or pinned, he had it bandaged for ten days and some pain relief for the first five days. The tail didn't seem to bother him and didn't swell hugely but perhaps that's because it was the tip of his tail. Due to never keeping his tail still, he ended up with a permanent kink.

From your picture that tail does look nasty and I'd suspect it is a very bad break. The vet is right in thinking about removal if it can't be stabilised....if I remember correctly a break low down on the tail can interefere with blood supply and nerves to the rest of the tail etc and removal of the tail will save the pup from long term problems. Also you have to consider if the break is severe and the tail end up permanently limp, the dog could be unable to lift his tail when needing a poo etc which again leads to permanent problems. Most responsible vets won't amputate unless absolutely necessary so the break must be bad....poor pup.

I don't think necessarily that it needed huge force to break a tail, sometimes just the wrong angle and snap!!

 

[Hula]

Many years ago my afghan hound broke her tail playing in the snow .

At the time the treatment was to apply a plaster of paris .

This healed well but we all had bruises from being whacked when she wagged her tail (w00t)

 

[Seraphina]

Thanks, hope it will be OK.

Few years ago i managed to slam door on one of my pups tail. That is a problem having blue and black dogs, in dark you cannot see them; I am for ever tripping over them. Anyway, i was carrying something, did not realised the pup was following me, and just kicked the door shut behind me, it shut on the poor baby's tail; to my amazement it was not broken, it did not swell, but was bit bruised. That is why i wondered what sort of force would be needed to break tail so close to the body.

 

[mydannyboy]

I have just heard that one puppy from my last litter broke her tail. The owner went out for couple of hours and when she got home she found her with broken tail. The vet ex-rayed it and wanted to umputate it straight a way. In the end he agreed to pin it at great expense, but warned that if the pin does not hold the tail will have to come off.
The puppy is 1000km from here so I could not look at it, but in the photo the tail looks straight and I would have thought that with just a strapping and collar to stop her from taking the bandage off it should have been OK.

The pup (10 weeks old) was left with couple of other dogs, but I still cannot underxtand how could tail get broken without a considerable force, and there are no teethmarks that i can see.

Has anybody had experience with Whippets breaking their tail?

Hi there

When Barney was 9 months old in a freak accident of him just wagging his tail enthusiastically we believe he hit the tip of his tail against a cupboard. The tail split open and bled like crazy. The vet was going to stitch it under anaesthetic but the X-ray showed he had shattered the bone at the tip so they amputated the last 2 inches of his tail. The accident happened so easily it was literally freak.

 

[maggiemay2]

my maggie broke her tail when she wa a pup, she had it trapped in a shutting door. her break was about 2 inches from the end and she didnt have it amputated, it just healed with a kink in it. its never affected her in anyway.

Good advice Whippets Rule

 

[Paws123]

A basic hair roller is very handy to place around the break and then taped on so it allows ventilation to the damaged area (, also used a small section of hose pipe opened up before)...leave the roller dressing on for about 3 weeks and the break should heal great... at such a young age the break would heal very fast due to growth development

However if the broken bone has pieced the skin veterinary help would be advisable as this would leave the wound open to infection

 

[Dotty&Duke]

No experience with this sort of thing, just wanted to say, I hope the puppy is feeling better soon poor little thing :huggles: must ave been really painful :sweating: xx

 

[wild whippies]

Agree with Whippets Rule.

Tail breaks we've had have been at the tip. One of which was with an old bitch who literally dashed off infront of me on a path then came back with her tail broken. I haven't a clue how it happened but her along with others have just been splinted because they've been at the end of their tails.

I know of a whip in non-peds who also had their tail trapped in a door (low down towards the spine) and again amputation was recommended, probably for the reasons WR mentions as they're complications I've heard before.