Dog tail injuries can be very painful and even lead to permanent paralysis of the tail. Dog tails are vulnerable to injury from fights, chewing, being caught in doors and stepped on. Strenuous wagging against doors and furniture can damage the tail. Here are some tips to help you prevent dog tail injuries in your home.
Be Careful Around Doors
Dog tail injuries are likely to occur whenever your dog enters or exits a door to your home or car. When taking your dog in and out, take care that your dog's tail clears any doors before you allow them to close. Take even more care when your gets in and out of the car. A car door can cause a lot of damage to a dog's tail.
Treat Parasites and Other Skin Irritations
Many dog tail injuries are the result of your dog chewing and biting his own tail. Dogs might do this because to relieve the irritation caused by flea and tick bites. Allergies might cause irritation and itchiness on the skin of your dog's tail. Dogs might even chew and bite their own tails when aggravated by tumors or growths of the skin that might appear on the tail.
Chewing and biting the tail can cause wounds and infection. Keep your dog free of parasites and treat any allergies that might be causing skin irritation to keep your dog from biting and chewing his tail.
Be Alert for Other Causes of Dog Injury
Be careful you or someone in your household doesn't accidentally injure your dog's tail by stepping on it. Stepping on a dog's tail can lead to serious injury, and even fracture of the spinal vertebrae in the tail.
Try to keep your dog out of fights, as they can lead to tail injury. If your dog's tail becomes bitten or otherwise injured during a fight, watch for inflammation, soreness and other signs of infection.
Coping with Dog Tail Injuries
Dog tail injuries symptoms vary depending on the severity of the injury. A mild injury to your dog's tail may result in swelling and soreness to that area of the tail; dogs may bruise or sprain their tails by wagging them hard against walls, furniture and other hard objects. If you think your dog has bruised or strained his tail, feel for pain or swelling at the point of injury; a small dose of aspirin can relieve his pain.
If your dog sustains a break to the tail, then the tail will become droopy at the point of the break. If the break occurs near the base of the tail, the dog's whole tail may droop. Pain in the tail may cause your dog to move slowly and cautiously.
Injury to the nerves at the base of the tail can sometimes lead to fecal incontinence, or to a permanent tail droop that makes it difficult for the dog to relieve himself.