Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Happy Tail Syndrome
Yes, it exists. Even the vet said it did. I'd noticed Coda had been losing hair on the tip of her tail, and was worried it was mange... again. But she hadn't been scratching or chewing on it, so all was well! Until New Mexico. We got there, and Coda got so into the local art scene she decided to join in the fun! We were finding blood spatter as high up as some of the picture frames. When we finally identified the problem, Bob was a great sport and (multiple times) bandaged Coda's tail. She looked hilarious, as you can see below. Apparently, Happy Tail Syndrome is when a dog wags their tail SO MUCH and hits it on things SO OFTEN that it damages the hair follicles. This in turns creates very dry skin in that location. So dry, it ends up cracking and bleeding! And because Coda can't stop wagging her tail (she is a VERY happy dog!), she contributed to Mom and Bob's home with her own modern artwork. Don't worry, we cleaned it all up. But still. HAPPY TAIL SYNDROME?!?!?! Thankfully she's no longer a "mangy mutt".
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5 comments:
that is really funny...i was wondering what that was on her tail :) thanks for the explanation!
Dogs are so weird. Indy now has weird circles (one on each side of her hips) where she is losing hair for some reason. It doesn't bother her, so the vet said to just monitor it to make sure they spots don't get bigger or start to hurt/itch. Weird! At least she's not bleeding everywhere, like Coda. :)
Coda's got those too, just above her "elbows" on her from legs. The vet said they were calluses. Be thankful they're not bleeding. =) Though the blood has quit running for now. YAY! I can clean my walls!
i just discovered happy tail, not so happy. it's a bloody mess. roscoe is a happy rescue and can't stop waggin. any suggestions on the best way to wrap the tail? thanks
If you go against the grain of the hair and start wrapping next to the skin, then let a little hair in, wrap, hair, wrap, until you reach the end of the tail (not a lot of wrapping - maybe 3-4") that works pretty well. You're essentially "braiding" the tape into the tail. Sucks to take off (lots of hair comes with it), but the wrapping stays on like no other, allowing the tail to heal. Good luck!
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