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If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

The doghouse

Happy tail syndrome bandage, treatment, etc.

16 replies

TheVanguardSix · 02/03/2018 16:36

Is it necessary for me to bring our dog to the vet?
He wags his tail SO much he is actually bleeding joy!

I have never dealt with Happy Tail Syndrome before, so this is a first. I was wondering if any other dog owners out there know about this and have experienced it. Advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

OP posts:

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RedHelenB · 02/03/2018 17:25

We're the same. Even wags when I accidentally kicked him and he skidded along the hall .

Nowthereistwo · 02/03/2018 17:27

It depends if it doesn't heal. My greyhound had to have her tail shortened as the tip died.

Floralnomad · 02/03/2018 17:30

We had a similar issue with an ear , small injury but kept rebleeding every time he shook his head . We did go to the vet immediately and had it glued and that didn’t work so they bandaged it and then we plastered / bandaged it for about a month eventually before it was finally ok to leave exposed . My house looked like a crime scene on several occasions with blood on the ceilings / walls .

BiteyShark · 02/03/2018 17:34

I think tails can be quite hard to heal. Personally I would take mine so they could clean it and dress it correctly if needed.

TheVanguardSix · 02/03/2018 18:22

Thank you so much for all of your advice! I'm so grateful! And I feel like such a terrible dog owner!
My house looked like a crime scene on several occasions with blood on the ceilings / walls. This, exactly! I feel the urge to pitch a forensic tent in several areas! It took me about a week to realise it was the dog's tail making our house look like a crime scene. I know that sounds silly, but I couldn't work out what the blood streaked walls/radiators were about.

Even wags when I accidentally kicked him and he skidded along the hall. We were jokingly wondering if we should be really horrible to him so he'll stop wagging! But he'd just keep on wagging through the cruelty.

OP posts:

Floralnomad · 02/03/2018 18:24

The other problem with tails , much like ears , is that even if they do lop a bit off and stitch it up the first shake or wag and you are back to square one .

Nowthereistwo · 04/03/2018 13:21

We asked the vet to give our greyhound a Dobermann length tail (when they were docked) for that very reason. Other hounds have been fine.

EeylopsOwlEmporium · 06/03/2018 14:18

I had exactly this problem with my greyhound from the day we brought him home. He got a tiny split at the end of his tail from wagging too hard against a wall. After a week and a half of bandaging it and blood splashed all over the house, I got home from work to discover he'd removed the dressing and the skin from the end of his tail, leaving the bone exposed. Took him to the vet who removed the last two vertebra (under GA) and sent us home with a small bandage on it. The next night he hit that on the wall and had so much blood pouring from the wound it was running down his legs and all over my car on the way to the emergency vet! They stapled it closed and he had another op the next day to remove half of the tail. They sent him home with a cut down piece of cling-film tube taped over the end of his stump to protect it. He wore that tube for the next two months until the hair grew back enough to protect it. I took that off about a fortnight ago and (so far, fingers crossed) everything has been fine.
So, my point is, tape a tube over it now and it should protect it enough to heal (I wish I'd known to do that the first day!). The end needs to be open to allow air to the wound.

Flowershower · 06/03/2018 14:28

We have this problem with our dog. What our vet advised if it wasn’t infected and just split was to dress it with Vaseline or similar to keep it moist (I use lanolin) and gauze or cotton wool and then tape over the top to stop the dressing coming off. The only tape I’ve found that stays on is duct tape. It takes a few layers of tape going up the tail overlapping with each other. I try to get some of his fur in each layer too. He chewed it at first but doesn’t anymore - I think the chewing initially was because his tail was sore rather than the tape. It does stay on for at least a few days but looks a bit daft though. We’re trying to keep it from bleeding for a couple of months to let it heal properly. The lanolin helps it heal and stops it getting soggy under the dressing. I can’t help thinking it would be easier to dock his tail but vet not keen at all.

Butteredparsn1ps · 30/03/2018 09:22

Watching with interest as we have had to take our black lab to the vet this week for exactly this.

Vet advised antibiotics, a buddy collar and leaving it open to the air. Which was working well until he went into the garden and came back with it opened up again. Sad face.

We're thinking of trying Eeylops cling-film tube idea, though DD has also suggested a hair doughnut - which could actually work quite well as a bumper.

BrownOwlsShinyToadstool · 03/04/2018 22:10

We had this with our greyhound. The vet dressed it and then covered with foam pipe lagging, more bandage and fabric dressing tape. Poor dog didn't know what to make of her newly enormous tail!

MiaowTheCat · 04/04/2018 10:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Butteredparsn1ps · 04/04/2018 10:55

Mmm we had considered pipe lagging! Glad to know we're not the only ones.

JulieValentine · 11/08/2019 16:02

A couple years ago our dog, Misty, got happy tail and we took her to the vet and he told us it wasn’t going to heal and she’d end up getting her tail docked. We went to a few websites and tried various bandages, but they all ended up falling off or getting chewed off by our dog. That’s why we developed the happy tail saver, it saved our dogs tail from being amputated, saving us hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. The happy tail saver will still allow let your dog wag their tail while they heal. it is guaranteed to stay on any dog.
Visit the link below to check it out.

happytailsaver.com/

JulieValentine · 11/08/2019 17:40

A couple years ago our dog, Misty, got happy tail and we took her to the vet and he told us it wasn’t going to heal and she’d end up getting her tail docked. We went to a few websites and tried various bandages, but they all ended up falling off or getting chewed off by our dog. That’s why we developed the happy tail saver, it saved our dogs tail from being amputated, saving us hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. The happy tail saver will still allow let your dog wag their tail while they heal. it is guaranteed to stay on any dog.
Visit the link below to check it out.

happytailsaver.com/

HeyYouWhatToDo · 14/08/2019 13:36

Our dog had "happy tail" our house looked like a murder scene, and me the murderer when he splattered blood across my face!!!

We bandaged over and over again, and then we noticed that his tail hung limp about half way down. Even with all the bleeding he was happily wagging and had ended up snapping his tail.

He ended up with his tail amputated and it's been the best thing. He had a few days of "what the hell where's it gone" but his little stump can wag happily without hitting things and bleeding and breaking.

It did cost close to £2000 to be done though (2x surgeries, all after care and anti biotics, pain killers) but insurance paid most of it

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