Tag Archives: tails

Chaotic Cat Chronicles: The Tales Their Tails Tell

An inadvertent side affect of the personal pet therapy project has been that my mom is paying attention to Murphy, Tabby, and Mr. Meow’s mannerisms. And remembering them from day to day. For instance, she’s beginning to recognize that when Murph lets out a certain bark and rushes to the window a rabbit’s surely in the yard. When he growls another way and rushes to the window a dog must be going past. Then there’s his whine and anxious face pressed in front of ours when he’s ready to go for a walk. But the cats intrigue her the most … Continue reading →

Tail Wag Injuries

My brother’s dog Lily Biscuits is an American Staffordshire Terrier, one of several breeds you may know better as pit bulls. Lily lost half her tail to an injury that never healed — but that doesn’t stop her from wagging her thump-a-stump when she’s happy! A tail wag injury can be a serious issue — it can lead to infection and in cases like Lily’s, gangrene and amputation. Very large dogs with long tails, like pit bulls, Labradors, and Irish wolfhounds can be prone to injuries inflicted by a vigorous wagging. The tail bangs into furniture, walls, or other objects … Continue reading →

What is Tail Docking?

You’ve probably seen dogs with wiggly little nubs instead of long tails — Cocker Spaniels, Boxers, Rottweiliers, and many other breeds. Most of them weren’t born that way. Tail docking is a surgical procedure often performed on puppies to remove most of the tail. Puppies can have their tails docked up to eight days of age, but the procedure is most often performed on puppies between two and five days old. The puppy will be placed on his back and an incision will be made near the base of the tail. At this point, the tail is mostly cartilage, not … Continue reading →