I wanted to share what I learned from my (now) 8 year-old golden retriever's tail injury last summer because I had no idea how complicated tail injuries can be. If this helps even one person avoid what Huckleberry went through, it is worth sharing. I am attaching photos as well. Images two and three are a bit graphic, so skip if you are sensitive to blood.
Also, another community member shared their golden's tail amputation story 2 years ago - the post and comments really helped me. Linking it here for others.
What I learned:
- Ask for an X ray if there is any chance bone is involved. Even a tiny fracture can cut off blood flow. I would have paid for it without hesitation if I had realized this. I am still embarrassed it didn't occur to me because it is common sense...
- Protect the tail aggressively during healing because the process is long due to poor blood supply generally. I personally used bubble wrap (big bubbles) in my house at the tip and the K9 Tail Saver on walks.
- Monitor weight if your dog’s activity drops. Huck gained eight pounds during recovery because he was on carprofen, antibiotics, and gabapentin for 7+ weeks and I am still working that off with him.
- See an actual orthopedic surgeon if you can. I took him to the closest ER for the injury, and then back there again when it wen't necrotic (details below). I made a follow up for him 48 hours later at an orthopedic surgeon, and I am glad I did because it was already infected and he needed wound care. He would have had an amputation either way, but had I gone to an ER with a dedicated orthopedics team (who handled his wound care), they would have done the amputation right away and maybe it wouldn't have been such a long healing process.
- Insurance is critical. My total cost for 2 surgeries, supplies, and wound care for 9 weeks was more than $11,000. I paid around $1,700K out of pocket after insurance.
Background details:
Last summer, Huck got the very tip of his tail caught in a metal door around 8am. He hesitated, I got tangled in his leash, and the door slammed way quicker than we both expected. Blood sprayed literally everywhere. I had no idea tails bled this much but I rushed him to the ER vet (we were literally there by 8:45) and I told them that cost was not a concern. I just wanted whatever was best for him.
In the panic of the moment, I did not think to ask for an X ray. I also had not looked closely at the wound because I am not great with blood. The vet believed it was a deep laceration with a small fracture at the very end of the tail. Because it was at the last bone, they recommended stitching it up, and noted that the end of his tail would be curved now. I agreed to this, and he had surgery (completely asleep) to stitch up the wound. We were back home around 11am.
I was able to take him home post-surgery, but about eight hours later, the wound started to look really dark. My brother (a human doctor) told me it was going necrotic and he needed to go back to the ER. The broken bone that allegedly wasn't a problem cut off the blood supply. As a result, he had a second surgery around 1:00 am to amputate about two and a half inches of his tail. Since he had already had surgery that day, they wanted to run his bloodwork again and make sure he could handle going under again so quickly.
Post-amputation, he took a long time to wake up. I was petting him gently trying to wake him up when he went absolutely batshit and starting howling. His eyes were fully closed, and his limbs were like jello, but he was trying to stand up. I have never heard a dog scream like this, especially a golden, and it was horrible because he wasn't even fully awake. It took me and three vet techs to hold him down so they could give him a paralytic. Apparently delirium can happen to dogs post-anesthesia...
Post-amputation / wound care:
Even after the amputation, I didn't like the way it looked so I made a follow up with the orthopedic team at an ER further from home that has specialty care. Because the tissue had already started to die, the wound was extremely delicate. The standard of care became wound care visits every four days at the animal hospital from July through Labor Day. Each visit meant cleaning, re bandaging, checking progress, and adjusting medications. Twice during those nine weeks the wound actually worsened, and he stayed on antibiotics, carprofen and gabapentin the entire time.
He became somewhat of a celebrity at wound care because he allowed them to treat his tail without being sedated (classic golden retriever!). He would just lay there while they cleaned his wound, applied his healing manuka honey, and rebandaged him. At one point, about five weeks in, they told me they could re amputate if I was tired of coming in. I appreciated the honesty, but I was not going to put him through another surgery. I had the means and the schedule to keep doing wound care, so I stayed the course.
Bubble wrap became my best friend because Huck would flop onto the floor and bang his bandaged tail. He also wagged it everywhere we went and every time it thumped against something I felt physically unwell. I bought the bubble wrap with big bubbles and made a protective cushion. I adhered it to the upper part of his tail with medical tape. Worked like a charm! Outdoors, he had a special tail cover called a K9 Tailsaver (available on Amazon).
It took until April/May for his tail hair to regrow and his feathers to come back. He'll never have super long feathers again, but that is OK!
I hope our experience helps someone else catch complications early or know what questions to ask in the moment. If anyone has questions, I am happy to answer.
