Article by Diana Gorin

This post was inspired by our adorable patient, Odie, who came to us with a BAD case of Happy Tail! Some might call it.. an UnHappy Tail.

What is Happy Tail?

Happy Tail just means a dog caused an open wound to their tail from striking a surface (usually from wagging their tail, hence the name “Happy Tail”). It’s easy to do.. but hard to fix.

This is because the tail is so vascular, and some breeds (I’m looking at you Pit Bulls, Labs, Boxers & Dobermans with tails) whip their tail around constantly that the wound keeps reopening. Some people have described coming home to the aftermath of their pet’s “Happy Tail” incident as a “Murder Scene.”

What Do We Do About It?

After all methods at saving the tail are exhausted, a dog with Happy Tail may need to get their tail amputated, but we will do everything to prevent that from happening.

Our first course of action is always to clean the wound, and protect it from further damages. This means bandaging the tail (and changing those bandages every couple of days to prevent infection). However, the tail is a very small area to bandage and it is constantly moving… which makes the bandage situation a challenge sometimes.

Odie went through nine bandage changes and his wound still was not improving. At this point, our Veterinary Assistant, Alyssa, had a great idea. She thought we could wrap the tail with a syringe casing, and adhere it to the tail with bandage tape. This would enable the tail to still wiggle and move like a normal tail, but put it in a protective shell.

Results

Odie came back only 2 more times after this approach.

The first time was because he broke the syringe casing after… you guessed it… hitting his tail on something hard. But we were able to get him a new syringe casing, readhere it, and send him on his way again.

The second time was for his FINAL recheck with Dr. Coffey. She determined it was… drum roll please… 100% healed! Alyssa’s plan worked! We are so excited that this approach was able to save Odie’s tail, and maybe even be a method that other animal hospitals can use.

Odie is now a happy boy, with a happy tail, but not “Happy Tail.”

After we posted this story on our TikTok, many comments from other clinics also suggested using pool noodles in place of the syringe casing as well! 

For everything from wellness to surgery, acupuncture to urgent care, puppy visits to senior patients, Alicia Pet Care Center can take care of your babies. We are located in Mission Viejo, CA and have 9 wonderful doctors and a large, caring staff who would love to see your fur babies! If you would like to book an appointment our number is 949-768-1313 and we are open 7 am to 7pm Monday-Friday and 7 am to 3 pm on Saturdays.

What Makes us the Best for your Pets?

• Pet Boarding
• Grooming
• Laboratory Facilities

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