"Dead tail"

Fred has it. Oh he is so woe. He cried and cried and cried last night. Vets this morning and he has anti inflammatories. Everything is pointing to 'dead tail'. Doesn't help that he's such a diva (read baby).

Sad brown baby.

Poor guy I assume that's the same as Swimmer's Tail, yes? I hope he recovers quickly, any idea what triggered it?

Awwww. Poor Fred!!

Is it the same as Swimmers Tail? I think it's such a weird phenomenon. Jack would get it once in a while after a weekend at the family cabin.

Oh, poor Fred! My first Lab had it once. Back then (mid 1970's) we had no idea what it was, and assumed he got his tie out wrapped around his tail. We went with our gut, tho, and gave him aspirin for a couple of days.


I'm pretty sure "Dead Tail", "Swimmers Tail" and "Cold Tail" are all the same thing.

He went diving in a bog yesterday and had a bath (bog water stinks) but it was really warm. He did get a chill after his bath (he always does) so had his pj's on plus a coat lol. It wasn't cold, it's unseasonably warm. Really haven't got a clue. He was so sad last night, if a dog could sob, he was sobbing!!

He'll let me touch his tail as he trusts me, but it's still sore and carried like a 'pump handle'.

I'm not used to a dog that suffers. You could pretty much saw one of Bodhi's legs off and she'd carry on regardless, she's a tank lol

Awwww poor dude. One of the dogs at work has gotten this a couple of times and it seems to be pretty uncomfortable. Hope Fred recovers quickly!!!

Oh no. Poor Freddy.

Here's to a quick recovery. Sending vibes your way.

I think another "cause" is over use. It was July when my black Lab got it, and he hadn't been swimming/hosed off, etc before hand.

ETA- yep, it's a sprain.

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/8_1/features/15685-1.html

I have been reliably informed that Fred has got his wag back!

Poor kid. Up here we call that "rudder tail."

Glad he's feeling better!

Learned something new. I thought this was when they lost feeling in their tails.

Glad to hear he has his wag back. Hope he feels 100% soon!

Oh he can definitely feel it!!! It's looking better. Still a little 'pump handle' but not nearly as bad. He's wagging it and I can touch it now with no problems!! So bizarre he was in so much pain and now it's almost gone just as quick!!

I'm glad he's feeling better! Dead tail is a problem I'm not familiar with since my guys have no tails.

But here's a real question though...could that be addressed and maybe treated with chiropractic visits?? Is there something out of alignment in the lower spine or tail?

:banana:



Good question! I don't think so, to as it involves muscle, not joints.

Why I was asking was our chiropractor has been very, very involved with solving the soft tissue injury that Lars had in his shoulder. We've been seeing her weekly since the end of June to help with healing Lars' soft tissue injury. His issue wasn't a joint problem but she is still helping in his recovery.

My friend's pit mix had a problem with weave poles in agility...avoiding them or popping out. No other symptoms of back/pelvic problems...and the chiropractor (we see the same one) made a couple of weeks of adjustments. Her weave poles came back...and she hasn't had a problem since.

I have to smile at having a chiropractor for your dogs.... We have no such thing here lol you'd have to be referred to a specialist vet, they're usually only in the large (and very expensive) animal hospitals, and they are usually attached to universities. We saw an orthopaedic vet when Fred needed his op, but that was a specialist referral.

Our vet mainly deals with pets and sheep

And omg the iPad has changed the keyboard and it's well annoying!!!!!!!!!

It's often an overuse/weekend warrior thing. At least when I've seen it.