The Tale of Luca’s Tail

[F, Calla & Luca]

On Wednesday evening, while just lying on the bed with me Luca yelped once, and sat up looking frightened. He slept through the night but he seemed somewhat restless and clingy. He kept lying practically on top of me. By Thursday I could see he was walking in an abnormal manner with his tail low and almost tucked under him. I checked him over and when I ran my hand down his tail he jumped when I got near the last third. I hoped it was a sprain. He was pretty subdued and not himself. He did urinate and defecate. But then he did not eat his dinner, having skipped breakfast which is not unusual for him. I got him to eat some chicken breast and some kibble by 1 AM. I was now worried his tail was seriously injured, perhaps broken.

So first thing Friday we went to the vet. She told me people often think tails are broken but they rarely are. And she wondered if he had “cold tail”. But although the doodles went to the groomer Wednesday it was only for their nails. As the vet clipped away the hair on his tail, we could see the skin was raw and it looked awful. She thought Luca may have been chewing on his tail but he has never done this. Then she got a little farther up and we could see the break. OMD.  So the tail was cleaned up and some silvadene cream was applied and he was bandaged. We got anti-inflammatory and antibiotics pills too. And that alone seemed to give him some relief because by the evening, when my son who is one of Luca’s favorite people arrived, he was back to normal, having already eaten a huge bowl of kibble.

The mystery is how this happened. It certainly didn’t happen when I was there since Luca carries on if anything happens, even if it’s just that his ball is stuck where he can’t get it. That leaves the groomer’s, which is a zoo.  I left the dogs for less than an hour. Could his tail gotten caught in a door or something? Could a dog have grabbed him and he struggled to get free? There were a couple of big dogs there. I called the groomer and she said nothing happened. But the doodles won’t be going back. Could it have happened when he was in the yard? I heard nothing and he showed no signs when I let him in any time.

I waited to post until today since there was a possibility that if things looked bad that Luca would have to have the end of his tail removed. But today I redid his bandages. When I went to remove them it was very difficult  : ) I had put packing tape over them to keep him and the weather out. Luca had only tried halfheartedly to remove them himself. I was anxious not to hurt him but not a whimper was heard. It’s hard to lie on a dog and remove bandages, and put new bandages on. The tail is still very red but does not look necrotic or infected. The area of the break is not really swollen anymore. So Luca will be bandaged a while and he will look like a rat tailed boy for some time. It could have been worse. At least now Luca is holding his tail high. I prefer my wrap that blends with the rest of him.

[BG and Gavin]

Oh poor Luca!  I hope it heals quickly and he is back to wagging it with vigor. 

[Donna K & Quincy]

Oh Luca, you poor guy! I'm glad to hear that it is looking better and that it's not bothering him too much. I know your mom had us looking for color in Feb but I don't think a bright green tail bandage is what she had in mind. Feel better soon buddy.

The weird injuries and boo boos that our doodle get know no bounds. :<(

[F, Calla & Luca]

Well, Luca managed to unbandage his tail in record time. I guess the vet is better at this than me. Tail bandages are notorious for coming off : ( So for tonight I think I will leave it alone and see if I think I need to tackle it in the morning.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

If you do have to rewrap it, a little tip that worked for us when we were having to wrap Sophie's leg for a whole month, was we sprayed it very lightly with bitter apple and she never touched it again.  Before that it seemed we turned our back for 2 seconds and she would have it off.  Worked great!  Didn't even have to use that much.

So sorry to hear this happened.  Wonder if you could break one by stepping on it?  I'm not sure how fragile they are.  Someone could have stepped on him at the groomers since you said they don't use crates!

[F, Calla & Luca]

I have no idea how much it takes to break a tail either. Thanks for the tip.

[Donna K & Quincy]

I just did a little research and apparently it is quite easy for a dog to get a broken tail, anything from it being grabbed to falling on it the wrong way. Does Calla ever grab his tail when they are wrestling?

[F, Calla & Luca]

She some tips nips it gently to get things started but I don't think tails get grabbed once war breaks out but go know. Although the net says broken tails are common, the vet said that wasn't so.

[Adina P]

Poor little guy!  I closed the car door on Rosco's tail once years ago...scared me so bad and I felt terrible for hours later.  Thankfully it was fine.  Get better soon tail!

[Sheila & Finnley]

Oh dear, poor Luca ! Lots of stuff can go on at a very busy, sometimes overbooked groomer.

(Ginny that was in no way a dig at you, I hope you know that !)

Dogs will be dogs, and stuff can happen very quickly. The important thing is that you got Luca to the vet and he is on the road to recovery ! That first bandage looks like some kind of a rocket, LOL, and F, your bandage looks like Luca lost his cotton candy !

Hope you heal quickly Luca !

 

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Poor baby- so sorry for the owie

The first bandage does look like a green rocket tail!  

Feel better fast puppy!  

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy &amp; Pippa]

Oh poor Luca. I am so glad he is healing well and  he looks so happy! It sure would be a shame to have to cut off part of that gorgeous Doodle tail!

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

F, I was sorry to hear about Luca's tail mishap but glad he is on the mend.  The "camo" bandage is much better that the green cone.  That one makes Luca look like he is sprouting foliage.  : )

My first and only experience with a groomer was a disaster.  I took Cole' for a bath and told her I had just done his nails, not to touch them.  He was there all day and when I got him back there was a lot of red in his black hair which made me think she didn't rinse all of the shampoo out.  And, I was never again able to do his nails without muzzling him.  The groomer had clipped every nail and I guess she quicked them.  Haley has never been to a groomer and will never go to one.