Quote:
Originally Posted by Riley620
I noticed earlier today Roxy was not wagging her tail and it seems to be limp. From what I have read (so far) it can be anything from anal glands to a spinal injury. She is acting completely normal besides the no wagging. And she is showing no signs of pain, I checked her all over. I am hoping she just bruised it and if she has not improved by tomorrow I will take her to the vet. Any thoughts or experience with a tail injury?
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What kind of dog is Roxy?
Since it cleared up quickly and doesn't seem to have any other lingering issues almost certainly confirms it as Limber Tail (aka cold tail, dead tail, rudder tail, etc.). It is fairly common in sporting breeds and water dogs.
My dog had a spot of this earlier in the year. No recurrence yet, but dogs that get it once are likely to get it again.
The dog presents with a tail that is carried limp, sometimes the butt is tucked slightly. Usually very sensitive to manipulation of the tail or pelvic musculature. The owner will often come to the vet concerned that the dog has somehow broken the tail and the marker is that the owner can not remember any event that should have resulted in injury.
Most vets have never seen this or heard of it unless they have a lot of working waterdogs in their practice. The treatment is usually something for pain if the dog is particularly uncomfortable along with an anti-inflammatory (although the general wisdom seems to be that the dogs recover in about three days with or without treatment). If you got through this without spending $200 for the emergency vet, my hat is off to you because you did better than I...
Here is a brief from an article by a vet familiar with the syndrome...
WHAT ARE LIMBER
TAIL (COLD WATER
TAIL, FROZEN
TAIL, RUDDER
TAIL) SYNDROME, INFRASPINATUS
CONTRACTURE, AND GRACILIS MUSCLE
CONTRACTURE AND MASTICATORY MUSCLE MYOSITIS
T. Mark Neer DVM, Dipl. ACVIM
1. Limber
Tail Syndrome
A. History/Signalment
Breeds Commonly Affected: Labrador Retrievers, English Pointers, Foxhounds, English Setters, Beagles, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Flat-coated Retriever.
Therefore, usually seen in sporting breeds or athletic breeds, and many times those that are in the water a lot.
Age: Any age with a range of 6 months to 9 years; the most frequent age in Pointers is 2 years.
History: The typical history would go as follows: The dog is perfectly normal and then is taken out to the field or on a duck hunt and is worked very hard. Many times cold, wet weather or cage transport is also in the history. The day following the hard work-out the dog presents with a
tail which hangs down from the
tail base, or is held horizontally for 3 to 4 inches and then drops down. Owner believes the
tail is broken because the
tail is usually painful at the base and a normally stoic dog is now very uncomfortable. In Labrador retrievers, cases of limber
tail are frequently associated with heavy hunting, as well as swimming or bathing with water that is too cold or too warm.
Other Potential Contributing Factors
1.
Tail conformation - high tailed, active
tail 2. More frequent in males (sex pre-disposition?) 3. Inadequate nutrition 4. Underconditioning 5. Overtraining 6. Length of exercise? - some dogs have exercised for as short as 30 minutes, or as long as 6 hours.
Physical Examination Findings
1.
Tail is held limb and flaccid, dog will not wag
tail.
2.
Tail is tucked under pelvis.
3. Dorsal and ventral
tail muscles at
tail base are very painful. A stoic dog may attempt to bite when muscles are palpated.
4. If
tail is extended toward sacrum this elicits a painful reaction.
5. Temperature normal
Diagnostics
1. On day 1 or 2 of the problem the creatine kinase (CPK) may be elevated then its level declines.
2. If radiographs of
tail are taken, they will be normal.
Cause/Treatment/Prognosis
1. Cause unknown: Most likely a myositis or myopathy of
tail muscles secondary to excess activity when muscles are poorly conditioned. Similar to "delayed onset muscle soreness" in humans.
2. Treatment: Since all dogs will spontaneously recover in 10-14 days no treatment is really needed (Just Rest). Although, some owners believe that recovery time is shortened if anti-inflammatory drugs are begun as soon as condition is noted. Nonetheless, dogs are much improved in 3-4 days, with better
tail movement and less pain regardless of treatment, and then complete recovery is seen in 2 weeks.
3. Prognosis: Excellent, all dogs recover. It may recur in about _ of the dogs later in training.
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