Knee-high massacre - what to do?!

[ladybee28]

Poor pup has cut the end of her tail somehow.

Despite the wound, she is still gloriously thrilled about everything in the world and is whipping blood all over the walls at knee height.

My house looks like a Tarantino movie with a cast of only garden gnomes.

I've washed the wound and tried to put a plaster on it, but Little Miss Cheerful wagged it off within 3.5 seconds (turns out plasters and fur aren't designed for one another) and I scared the proverbial shite out of DP when he came in from work and saw me with forensic-style spatter patterns on my face, arms, and white t-shirt.

DP wants to shut her in the bathroom until she chills out enough to stay still and let it stop bleeding, but we live in a hot country and the bathroom has no windows - it'll be pretty intense in there for someone wearing a full fur coat....

Any advice on how to stem the bleeding of a labrador's joywhip?

[LEMtheoriginal]

If its bleeding enough to spay the walls and not stopping then maybe you should take her to the vets?

However if i am over dramatising and its just a few spatters then id suggest a cold compress and leave it uncovered.

[CMOTDibbler]

Get a couple of clean cotton socks, nest one inside the other (so its a double sock), then pull it over the tail and then put bands of tape at intervals down it. Pulled right up, it should stay on

[ladybee28]

@LEMtheoriginal I was on the verge of a vet trip until I actually saw the cut - I think it's more velocity than severity, if that makes sense? When she stays still it doesn't bleed much at all, it's just that she wags so intensely she flings it everywhere!

@CMOTDibbler that's a genius idea – maybe cold compress and then socks?

[IntensiveCareBear]

Cornstarch can help stop bleeding.

Do you have any rubber gloves from hair dye kits? Could you use a finger from one of those?

[LEMtheoriginal]

Yes sounds like a plan. Ideally youll want to keep it dry and take care that the socks dont stick to the cut when the blood dries.

[NarcolepticOuchMouse]

Cornstarch as suggested and then you can get pet bandages from Pets At Home that are kind of elastic and moldable. I'd fasten one round (not too tight) and see how she gets on with it.

[IloveCheese11]

Our dog used to do this. Knee high blood splatters everywhere. He just wagged his long tail so hard against walls etc that it split. Numerous vet trips and bandaging but never solved the problem. The only thing they could suggest was amputating the end. He was a crossbreed but apparently similar breeds would usually have their tails docked.

[Floralnomad]

You have my sympathy . Our dog nicked the tip of his ear on a rosebush and despite having it glued twice at the vets it bled on and off for a week every time he shook his head until we came up with a plaster arrangement that would stay on . Our house also looked like a crime scene and the blood got everywhere including ceilings .

[CMOTDibbler]

The ear thing is awful. DDog took the end of his ear off and dressings wouldn't stay on and we ended up taping his ear to his head with a snood over the top, but it went everywhere before that

[Nesssie]

Ahh happy tail syndrome! I never thought such a little cut could make so much blood get so far!

I ended up taping a sock on the end, then loosely tying the tail to his back leg (luckily he had a long tail). I made such an effort to keep him calm and immobile for as long as possible as I would have been devastated if his beautiful waggy tail had to be amputated.

[ThisIsTheNational]

Do keep an eye on though. Our lovely lurcher lost his tail after some over enthusiastic wagging meant he had a tiny, tiny (half a centimetre) cut on his tail. He'd managed to damage some nerves, and it went gangrenous. He wags his stump now, but it isn't the same.

[ladybee28]

@Nesssie that did make me laugh - poor pup must have been so confused!

And oh, @ThisIsTheNational, that's so sad . I'll be sure to keep an eye on her over the next few days; thanks for the nudge to be extra careful.

[Nesssie]

He still tried to wag but it just made his whole back end and legs wobble! He was so gangly and awkward too which made it hilarious to watch!

[DogInATent]

"maybe cold compress and then socks?"

Use a condom instead of socks - less mass hanging on the tail. But you'll still need to tape at intervals for it to stay on. Actually, thinking about this some more... drop a tampon in the bottom of the condom and use that as the dressing.

#weirdshitthatjustmightwork