What would you do if your dogs tail needed to be amputated? (vet, surgery) - - City-Data Forum

wolfeyes · 11-26-2007, 01:49 PM

We have two Great Danes..one has a very happy tail the other doesn't.

What would you do if... You left your dog boarded in kennel which is your vet office for a week and the dogs tail for the second time was ripped opened on the tip due to her happy tail?

We have left them in boarding several times and the first time we let this slide because her tail healed..this time the tip of her tail is dying and they will more than likely have to amputate, (the end of her tail feels broken and has an infection).

They know that she is very happy with her tail and they usually put some type of padding on her tail so she doesn't hurt it but this time they didn't... they say this happens all the time with other dogs.. Shouldn't they do something by padding the walls in the kennels so this doesn't keep happening.

Now the question is.. If they have to amputate should the vet be responsible for half or all of the bill or should we not worry about this anymore and let it slide again, since it happened when we had them boarded??

Racelady88 · 11-26-2007, 02:55 PM

A couple of months ago I slammed my dog's tail in the car door. They had to amputate a portion of her tail. I was mortified. It has healed completely now, and my dog is none the worse for the wear. She used to chase her tail & be able to catch it, but it is now too short. Other than that we have no issues.

As far as expecting your vet to share the cost for the surgery I suppose it would not hurt to bring up the possibility. However, you knew your dog was prone to this type of injury and you chose to board at the same place. If my dog injured herself in any way while staying somewhere I would absolutely not return her to that same place. You made that choice for your dog, and if you did not leave specific instruction for them to wrap the tail you can not place the blame on them. JMHO.

Honeycrisp · 11-26-2007, 04:15 PM

It wouldn't hurt to ask if they'd cover some of the surgery but as it was a pre-existing condition (although it sounds like it may have happened originally while being boarded), realistically they may not feel liable (it may have happened at home too). B/c they're your vet though, they may want to maintain good relations and may kick in some of it though or give you a lower rate, it w/b nice if they'd pay all but it's probably involved surgery and that might be a stretch, JMO. Keep us posted and good luck to your pooch.

wolfeyes · 11-26-2007, 04:53 PM

Thanks.....
We left instructions for them to wrap her tail since we knew this could happen again, and they clearly didn't do it. The first time this happened was when we boarded them there the second time.. they explained to us what happened of course because we had questions about why her tail was wrapped.. and everytime after that we have told them to make sure her tail was wrapped at all times, but for some reason this time they just didn't comply with what we instructed. This past time when we picked them up it was like "Oh yea she whacked her tail again and it has been bleeding so we wrapped it.. hope it heals"..But this time it looked like she broke the end of her tail because it was swollen and seemed to be causing her pain.. so I called them and they said give it a week to heal, and took her in today and well now they are saying it is dying their going to probably have to amputate.. This is why I feel it is only fair they at least pay half or something. We have been taking our dogs there for the past 6 years and have never had any issuse with them until now.

AnyDayNow · 11-26-2007, 05:05 PM

Sorry, I don't fault the facility for the tail. One of mine had it and all the wrapping we did didn't stop the problem. (And she is an indoor girl so it wasn't as if she was beating bricks with her tail or anything.) Her tail did fine after the dead portion was removed and it hasn't occurred again. (Actually, I was more traumatized about the surgery than she was! She was a nervous girl before the surgery so I expected her to be upset, but she showed no trauma whatsoever from the surgery or from having part of her tail amputated. In fact, she was even happy to see the vet the next visit.)

Good luck to your dog with the surgery. Be careful of that infection.

Hmmm....I see that you posted while I had the window pulled up. You are thinking that the injury was preventable? Your dog doesn't hit its tail against the wall or floor at home?

wolfeyes · 11-26-2007, 05:22 PM

Of course she does.. but when we left them for boarding her tail WAS NOT injured at all! Where they stay in the boarding area there is cement walls and partial chain length walls and doors.. and they told us she injured her tail while she was there.. they always always check them prior to boarding them so if there was any injuries they could write it down. I am sure she will do well without that part of her tail.. On top of all this she has an infection in her tail where it is ripped and they have her on antibiotics. I am not saying the place is bad or else we would never be taking them there... I am saying they should take some responsibility due this happened while she was boarded!

chick · 11-26-2007, 05:29 PM

Oh this would be very upsetting to me. I do everything to be cautious with their braids (tails) I have seen a number of Malinois with amputations (on TV and pictures) and currently my dogs farther is having braid problems.

I suggested soft pipe insulation and gauze wrapping the tail to the leg so it can't swing.

Racelady88 · 11-26-2007, 05:40 PM

Since you requested that the tail be protected and it was not done then your vet clearly must take responsibility for the injury. Mine would, without being asked.

AnyDayNow · 11-26-2007, 05:52 PM

Chick, how do you keep the dog from chewing through the soft pipe insulation?

riveree · 11-26-2007, 05:55 PM

So the question is ethical - does the vet have some, all or none of the responsibility for this happening?

I would say "all" is out because everyone involved knew this could be a possibility, so the responsibility is shared ("some").

In hindsight, if you could do it over, you probably would have 1) wrapped the tail yourself or insisted that the vet wrap it - not assume it would be taken care of, and 2) inspect the kennel yourself for rough metal, see if there could be an accomodation for a temporary padding of the walls, etc.

I guess if it were me, I'd question how responsible I feel. Then I'd ask myself if it's worth it to bring up the issue of money prior to my dog's surgery - I would not want any harsh feelings as my dog is going into surgery.

Even if your vet discounted the surgery - would you really want to board your dog at a place where she had been injured twice? I'm saying - is the money really going to make a difference or would you still feel some resentment towards them?

I used to board 2 of my dogs at a place I thought was fantastic. We had boarded them 4 or 5 times with no issues. The last time we boarded them we had many issues - they did not give my dog his heart and thyroid medications, he ended up with hot spots from them leaving him wet and soapy after a grooming, etc. I tried speaking with the owner and he gave me a mouthful of lies and excuses when all I wanted was an assurance that he'd get to the bottom of it and that it would never happen again. I paid for the boarding in full because they did board my dog - I used that service.

So, I don't board my dogs there anymore. There are other boarding facilities out there......there are other vets out there

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