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Let me set the scene for you:
Blood was splattered everywhere-it was smeared across every appliance, on the floor, the cabinet doors, my pants, my hands. Little droplets here and there, large swatches across slick surfaces. Everywhere I looked there was more of it. Every time I thought I was done cleaning up I found some more. Welcome to Happy Tail.
Happy tail gets its name from the source of the condition: dogs that are happy wag their tails. Sometimes they wag them a lot. Unfortunately, should happy tail occur, the condition is simple but annoying to deal with. What happens is that the constantly wagging tail hits things and eventually breaks open the tip of the tail causing it to bleed. Since these dogs are ardent waggers, their continued wagging sends sprays of blood all over the place. (Seriously-I found some blood droplets on the top of our water heater.)
My boy definitely wags all the time, so it wan't unexpected when happy tail hit. Happy tail in and of itself isn't that bad. All that needs to be done is the injury cleaned, padded, and wrapped so that it can heal. Though the injury can heal, it is likely that the dog will develop happy tail again as he or she is unlikely to suddenly stop being an enthusiastic wagger. So why was it such a pain for me? The answer is that it was very difficult for me to keep a bandage on the end of his tail. For one, the force of the wagging alone can fling wrappings off. For two, some dogs will pull them off. For three, the wrapping cannot be too tight because that can lead to cutting off circulation. Because there is very little to keep the wrapping in place, it can be very hard to keep a wrapping on.
For what it's worth, the injury didn't seem to be bother my Radium, though he doesn't have to clean up the blood that gets everywhere either. It is amazing just how much a little nick on a tail can bleed. However, for us, the healing process wasn't going as well as we hoped, so we went back to the vet to discuss our options.
Happy tail can become a serious condition if the raw break gets infected or if the injury happens repeatedly. One solution for dogs that continually get happy tail is amputation of part of the tail. While drastic, this can have positive results. The entire tail does not need to be removed in most cases, but even if it is, there are rarely any ill effects from the removal. Removal turned out to be the right option for us, and now Radium wags his butt instead of his tail.
If your dog has happy tail, make sure to clean and properly care for it, and take your dog to the vet if the condition is repeated or the area becomes infected.
-Corrie Golando
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