Springer Spaniel split end of tail

[Midgie15]

Hi all,

We have a 9 month old Springer spaniel with a very waggy tail! Last night she split the end of her tail open so i washed it and made sure it was all clean, only this morning she has gone into the garden and hit it against the fence which has caused it to open up again.

Is there anything I can do to stop it constantly reopening? DP reckons the vet will want to dock it but I really am hoping there is another way round!!

I did think about a good layer of vetwrap? But any suggestions would be brilliant!

I wouldn't have thought any vet would dock a tail unless it was totally necessary so do not avoid going to the vets for that reason. If you are in the uk they can only dock tails of certain working puppies before 5 days old if I remember correctly otherwise it is a GA which no vet wants to do unless necessary and would only dock it if there was no other option so give you DH head a wobble.

You could try and bandage it but if it was my dog I would take it to the vets to make sure it isn't an issue with infection etc and get them to dress it properly to avoid it reopening.

Sorry DP not DH

Definitely take to the vet. Is it bleeding? You'll end up with blood spraying everywhere from all the wagging.

The vet will more than likely glue it or tape it to stop it reopening while it heals.

We have had this with both of our cockers at the exact same age, it is a pain! First thing to know it will take at least 10 weeks to heal so you need to be patient. Some people use a syringe with the end cut off to protect the end of the tail so it is a tube and that blue sticky bandage that sticks to itself to bandage the whole tail. We tried that but ours kept wagging it off. Ours used to be shut in his crate at night and when we went out which we stopped as when we went to let him out be would wag his tail and reopen it wacking it on the cage sides. I know some people put padding like pipe lagging on corners if there is particular place they keep opening it up on like one particular corner in the kitchen or something. Keep an eye on them to see if they are chewing on it, one of ours did and one didn't for the one that did we had to put a cone on him whenever he wasn't supervised. We also had to get him an extra large cone as he has a very long tail and he could get his tail in the cone with the normal one and still nibble it. It does take a lot of patience and stock up on spray sugar soap to clean up your walls with! Obviously if you have it docked you are still going to have to deal with a similar wound which takes a long time to heal.
Good luck!

Try Vetzyme anti bacterial powder. It's magical stuff and will heal the wound quickly.
And no to docking tail. And vet probably won't do anything other than prescribe some antibiotics. (Which he will need if the wound is infected!)

We had the same problem with our cocker spaniel at the same age. We were advised by our vet to put the end of the tail in salt water regularly (2-3times daily) and this prevented any infection, we also trimmed the hair around so that didn't harbour any infection either. We did end up with blood everywhere from time to time but after a few weeks it healed over and fortunately we never had the problem again, she is 4 now and the end is completely healed but a strange colour! Good luck x

Thanks everyone.

I will definitely take her to the vets tomorrow morning. Maybe I could vet wrap just to keep it clean for the minute?

It's not bleeding anymore but there is dried blood in her fur.

And I will definitely be giving DP a head wobble do thank you for reassuring me re the docking .

Off to try and find somewhere with some Vetzyme and maybe a syringe, thanks for all the suggestions!

A friends dog damaged the end of his tail, because of all the wagging and bumping against things it kept opening the wound. It got infected and because the tail is part of the spine (apparently?) had to have some docked off. Then the whole cycle started again and it got infected again, so more tail had to be taken off and eventually it healed. It took months and two operations. The vet was very concerned because of the spine/nerves etc.
Please go to the vet.

Our last Labrador had this problem. Vet was reluctant to shorten her tail and suggested the sticks/pens used to stop shaving nicks, available in Boots. However they never worked for very long, I would spend weeks cleaning down kitchen cupboards.
Eventually out of desperation I sprayed the end of her tail with liquid plaster ( by Elastoplast or Boots own) and it worked. Disgusting taste stopped her licking it off and it protected it from further damage. Vet noticed the residue on her tail when she was in for her booster and thought it was a great idea.