Wednesday, March 17, 2010

A Tale Of A Tail


Does Noah look sad? He is.


This is how Noah should look. His tail curls over his back. In this breed we sometimes experience what is called 'swimmer's tail'. It's a tail sprain that often occurs after swimming. Several of my girls suffered swimmer's tail last summer after their trips to the lake. They use their tails as rudders and sometimes they overdo it. A couple days on a pain killer such as Rimadyl and the tail is flying again.

Last Friday I noticed that Noah's tail was drooping. I started him on Rimadyl even though he hadn't been swimming and expected that by Sunday or Monday at the latest, he'd be back to normal. Monday his tail was still drooping.


Today we paid an early morning visit to Dr B to see if Noah had a broken tail. The good news is it isn't fractured. The bad news is that it isn't working. There is some pain and we heard a popping noise when Dr B was examining it.


It's very possible that one of his sisters bit him on the tail. When they're racing, the girls will sometimes grab whoever is in the lead by the tail to slow them down. If one of them bit Noah and the tooth broke the skin between the joints, he could have an infection. It could be just a bad sprain.

Whatever it is, Noah is now on stronger doses of Rimadyl and some antibiotics. We'll also be applying moist heat to his tail for a while in the evenings. Dr B said not to expect his tail to be flying for up to six weeks as the joints need time to heal. We'll let you know when Noah is wagging again.

14 comments:

LizzieJane said...

Oh poor Noah. He looks so sad with his tail hanging down. I hope soon he will be on the mend.
x

Lapdog Creations said...

Poor Noah... hope you feel better soon!

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

OOoooooo Poor Boy. Noah, we hope to see your flag flying in the near future. Hope you feel better soon.

XXXOOO, Daisy, Kendra & Bella

gMarie said...

Oh Poor Noah!! I hope you have a Happy Tail again soon.

(FYI - My guys hate it when you grab them by the tail.) g

Heather and Kelly said...

I've had a dog with cold tail, but never had experience with "dead" tails besides that.
Hope Noah gets better soon!

Molly the Airedale said...

Oh no! We are sending you major AireZen, Noah! We hope your tail feels better soon!

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch

Terrie D. (StarSpry) said...

Poor Noah! I hope he feels better soon!

Rocky Creek Scotties and Rocky Creek Ramblings said...

Poor Noah. We hope it gets well soon.

Sam said...

Poor Noah! He does look sad. I know Noah's problem likely isn't regular swimmer's tail, but why exactly do they get it? Lots of breeds are water dogs, but I've only heard about it in PWDs.

Thor and Jack said...

Poor Noah! You look so sad! Hope you feels better soon!
Thor

Scrabblequeen said...

Oh no! I know how imporant a waving flag, er tail, is! Sure hope your's is waving happily soon Noalh.. Sasha and Misty

SissySees said...

Be well, Noah!! Fred had a tail incident as a young fellow... but Milk of Magnesia cleared him up. Hem.

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

Poor Noah - we hope the tail will mend. This makes TD a little nervous because he has a little monster here who grabs him by the tail a lot.

Woos - Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

Dianne said...

Poor Noah! Give him some chicken soup - it's good for what ails ya!
:-)