When tail amputation is required in dogs

Tail amputation in dogs and cats involves surgically removing part or all of the tail, for a variety of reasons: severe wounds, tumors and infection.

(We will not talk about tail docking in this article, as it is a controversial topic and is considered unethical by the American Veterinary Medical Association.)

Multiple types of wounds can affect the tail:

• Bite wounds
• Self-trauma (compulsive chewing or extreme wagging)
• Crushing injuries and fractures (e.g., the tail gets caught in a door)
• Nerve injuries (e.g., the tail gets caught under the tire of a moving vehicle)

The tail is the end part of the spine, so it is full of nerves, and all of these injuries can cause a significant amount of pain. When the wounds cannot be repaired or will not heal, or when the bandage stubbornly falls off, or when a dog wags his tail so hard that the tail keeps getting re-injured, then we may have to resort to tail amputation.

Tumors: A Special Case

Tumors of the tail are rare, but they can lead to a challenging surgery. When we try to remove a tumor, there is very little extra skin to stitch up and close the area. Obviously, the larger the tumor, the harder it is to close the skin.

Ironically, it almost doesn’t matter if the tumor is benign (good) or malignant (bad). It may simply be impossible to close the skin nicely. So in some cases, we may have to sacrifice part of the tail to get rid of the tumor. How much of tail needs to be removed completely depends on the location of the mass.

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Is this dog a racist?

Several years ago, my veterinarian gave my husband and me advice on how to raise our pit bull puppy to be friendly.

He told us that it was very important to let the puppy mingle with adults, children and people of color. Even though I had often been around dogs that reacted differently to people of color, it had never crossed my mind that, maybe, dogs could be racist.

Dr. Nicholas Dodman, a professor at Tuft University School of Veterinary Medicine, says, “Any behavioralist knows that dogs don’t like subsets of people.” Subsets cover a wide range — adults, children, men, men with beards, people of various ethnicities. (Dodman has written several books on animal behavior, so I assume he knows his stuff.)

If you want to get technical, dogs aren’t really “racist,” per se. What we sometimes observe is more like cause-and-effect conditioning. But it can certainly feel like racism.

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Does secondhand smoke harm pets? Yes, it does.

Over the past few decades, there has been a shift from the casual smoking days of older times to banning smoking in public areas, health awareness advertisements and free smoking-cessation campaigns around the globe.

These campaigns continue because people still smoke — but have you ever asked yourself, “Does secondhand smoke harm pets?” According to researchers and veterinarians, the answer is yes.

The Centers for Disease Control reports that secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, 70 of which can cause cancer. Smoking has been linked to lung cancer, heart disease, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), asthma and many more conditions. If secondhand smoke has that kind of effect on humans, what do you think it will do to your pet? Pets breathe oxygen just as we do, but they are susceptible to more carcinogens in other ways.

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Every spring, my emergency calls escalate. Among cats, the most common complaint has to do with kitty playing too rough with the neighbors. It’s cat abscess season!

A cat abscess is the name for an infection that festers under the skin and breaks open. Most of these abscesses are from cat fights. Although I see abscesses all year long, they are more prevalent when more cats are going outside. In the spring, I think these cats are playing “Wild Kingdom.” Winter is for hibernating by the fire. Spring is time for sniffing out the new fur on the block. And some of that fur don’t want to be sniffed, if you get my meaning.

Cats are very territorial. In the nice weather, if more cats are populating a set area, there are bound to be fights. Of course, there is always the unwanted foreigner who strays into your neighborhood (thus, the name!) and fights with the homeboys.

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This is Luke, before and after his summer cut.

Two of my dogs are Lagotto Romagnolos. Lagottos have hair, not fur, and it grows into ringlets.

There are considerable upsides to hair versus fur. They don’t shed. People who are affected with fur allergies can often tolerate a Lagotto. The downside of a hair coat is it becomes a veritable dust mop, which means frequent trips to the groomer for a bath and haircut.

These dogs are still pretty rare in North America, so many groomers are not familiar with the breed standard. The Lagotto is a working dog, and the coat is supposed to look “rustic.” You don’t brush the coat; you finger-comb it into curls. If the hair isn’t too out of control, I can scissor-cut it into a neat trim.

So for the summer ‘do (which pretty much means shearing), I thought I would tackle clipping my dogs’ coat. I could save some money and stress on the animals, because they aren’t too keen on going to the groomer.

First step: the right tools.

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Tail Docking: Necessary or cruel?

Plenty of controversy surrounds tail docking of cats and dogs. While there may have been reasons in the past for the procedure, those are considered by many to be outdated and cruel.

Some tail dockings are still being performed today even though a number of organizations and countries have banned the practice.

What Is Tail Docking?

Tail docking is the amputation of all or a portion of the tail, which is most commonly seen in dogs. Methods vary depending on the person performing the procedure.

Normally, puppies are docked by placing a band at a certain location on the dog’s tail within hours or a few days of birth. The band restricts the blood flow, and the remaining portion will fall off in a few days from the lack of blood flow.

Other methods include surgical removal.

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Rachael Ray’s star was launched in 2001, with a half-hour show on the Food Network. Fast-forward a little more than a decade, and now she has not one but three TV shows, including a daytime talk show, bestselling cookbooks, her own lifestyle magazine and a line of pet food products (called Nutrish) created solely for the purpose of raising money for at-risk animals.

She has partnered with the ASPCA for this year’s $100K Challenge, a three-month-long competition among shelters all over the country to increase pet adoptions. This year, more than $500,000 in prizes are being given away, which means countless animal lives saved. Two paws up!

In an exclusive interview with Pets Adviser, Rachael talks about her pampered pit bull Isaboo, her dogged charity work and why ignorance makes her unhappy.

Oh, and there’s this — she also confesses that she has actually eaten dog food.

My Interview With Rachael Ray

Your dog, Isaboo, must be one of the most well-fed pooches on the planet. If only we all had a personal cook like you! What kind of stuff do you make for her, and is it the same food you cook for yourself, or is it a dog-friendlier version?

We always make a dog-friendly version of whatever we’re having as a family. So she eats what we eat, but I adapt it so that it’s, you know, not too spicy and not too greasy or whatever.

And whenever she has a burger patty, I put a lot of parsley in it to keep her from eating the plants. If she’s not getting enough greens in her diet, she has a tendency to eat the plants. So that always tells me to add more parsley to her diet.

We like Nutrish, compared with other grocery store brands. Tell us a little about why you decided to put your name on this product.

Nutrish is made to human standards. There’s nothing in that bag I wouldn’t eat myself, and I literally have tried the kibble myself.

It’s very, very high-quality food at a fair price, and it’s a great way [for us] to generate income. It’s the same model we used for our efforts to help kids. We just made dedicated product within each of our product lines and said all of this will generate the money for that. So it was a great business model and has been very successful for Yum-O!, and I wanted to do that for animals as well because I’m a pit bull owner, and I’m an animal advocate, and my mom has 15 rescue cats of her own!

You give away not just “a portion” of proceeds, but ALL of your proceeds from Nutrish…

Every nickle!

Why did you decide to give it all?

Because that’s why we started selling the dog food. It was a way to generate income for animals in need. I mean, that was always the concept.

That’s awesome to hear. So, Rachael, how do you respond to knee-jerk reactions from people who point to isolated acts of aggression as an excuse to try to ban pit bulls or other specific breeds?

Ignorance always makes me sad.

Can you elaborate on that a little bit?

I mean, I think that people that are pit bull haters don’t understand that you can’t have a human that’s born evil. There’s no such thing as an animal that’s more evil than the next — it’s silly. If you treat creatures with love and respect, that’s what will reflect back at you. Any dog can be driven to be violent in nature, because, you know, they’ve been mistreated. And I think that my original statement stands. I feel sad for people that are ignorant about pit bulls or any other animal.

What does it mean to you to be a pet owner, and where does your endless passion for animals come from?

I can’t even put into words how much I love Isaboo and what she brings to my quality of life every day. And that’s why I’m an animal advocate.

If you’re looking to adopt a dog you can bring along with you during your morning jogs in the park, have no fear. Quite a few dog breeds would be perfect for that.

But the best dog breeds for joggers may depend on how far you jog, and in what kind of weather. Let’s just say you don’t want to take a French bulldog out with you for a 10-mile run in the middle of July.