Infected tail Pocket

[GalesLovableBullie]

My Maxwell has a deep tail pocket. I do not want to have his tail amputated like my vet suggested. Aft his first infection a year ago, I cleaned it faithfully everyday atleast twice a day. It worked and we haven't had an issue until just about a month ago. This time it seems to be a little tougher to get it under control. Does anyone have the same problem with their bullie and if so do you have any suggestions other than surgery?

Thank you

GalesLovableBullie

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

and I'm sorry but I don't have experience with this. I know we have people here that do! Someone will be along shortly..I'm so glad you found us. Hang in there...

 

[Jack Daniels]

Luckily I havent had an issue with my Jack's tail pocket. I do wipe it clean daily with a wipey soaked in Witch Hazel as others here had recommended.

Your Vet didn't suggest another alternative to the surgery.?
I would think the infection would need to be under control BEFORE a surgery is done.

So i would suggest that once the infection goes away, try the witch hazel cleansing daily.
If in the future it would become infected yet again then you would at least feel confident that you did all you could.

Hope others can chime in and give you their 2 cents.

Good Luck & Let us know how it goes later.

 

[DoughnutsMom]

We'd had the same issue with our baby...deep pocket, daily cleanings, under control for a while, and then the worst infections out of nowhere. Do a word search on this site....there are quite a few bullie owners with great suggestions (desitin, cleansers, etc), but unfortunately none worked for us and we had to do the tail amp. The older Doughnut got, the deeper and tighter his tail became and the bacteria was getting in his paws and wrinkles. Even with daily cleanings all over, his problem became systemic. I hope you find a non-surgical solution, which is what I had hoped for. Our guy is much happier today, though, the process was so stressful for us

 

[GalesLovableBullie]

Thank you so much for your information. It just breaks my heart to even think of the possibility of having it done. If that is my last resort, was it a vey difficult procedure and recovery process. I would like to find a vet who has done a few and has knowledge of the procedure do you have any suggestions on where to find information on good veternarians. My vet said he will not even attempt to do Maxs surgery. Again thank you for any information that may be of help to us.

Gale

 

[GalesLovableBullie]

Hello and thank you for your suggestion on using witch hazel. Does it sting when you apply it and will it cause pain? I stress @ the thought of hurting him in any way. Even if it is to help him. My vet did recommend what I have been doing over the course of the year and that is to keep it clean and dry. I faithfully do the cleaning procedure twice a day. I have increased it during this last infection to four times to stay on top of it. Even that is not working. Ugh! Should I wait on trying the witch hazel aft I get the infection under control?
I want to thank you for taking the time to reply back. I sooo appreciate any new ideas I can use to help my guy out.

Thanks again

Gale

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Hello and thank you for your suggestion on using witch hazel. Does it sting when you apply it and will it cause pain? I stress @ the thought of hurting him in any way. Even if it is to help him. My vet did recommend what I have been doing over the course of the year and that is to keep it clean and dry. I faithfully do the cleaning procedure twice a day. I have increased it during this last infection to four times to stay on top of it. Even that is not working. Ugh! Should I wait on trying the witch hazel aft I get the infection under control? I want to thank you for taking the time to reply back. I sooo appreciate any new ideas I can use to help my guy out. Thanks againGale

Witch hazel doesn't sting AT ALL! It's a great cleanser because it's an astringent so it's naturally a drying agent. I use it to clean ears and on a Q tip to dry out his nope rope..plus it's very inexpensive!

 

[DoughnutsMom]

Thank you so much for your information. It just breaks my heart to even think of the possibility of having it done. If that is my last resort, was it a vey difficult procedure and recovery process. I would like to find a vet who has done a few and has knowledge of the procedure do you have any suggestions on where to find information on good veternarians. My vet said he will not even attempt to do Maxs surgery. Again thank you for any information that may be of help to us.Gale

Our vet is a bulldog specialist so it was routine for him and that made us feel a little better, but we were still nervous wrecks. They started Doughnut on oral antibiotics and a medicated iodine solution to wipe into his tail pocket 5 days before the surgery. On the day of we dropped him off late morning, balling of course, and our vet performed the surgery around 1p. We picked him up around 5p and he looked happier and in a lot less pain then when we dropped him off. My husband said he felt terrible that we hadn't done it sooner. Our vet sent us home with 2 types of pain meds (think strong tylenol and percocet), and we had to continue the antibiotics for another 5 days. He was off the stronger meds in about 4 days and I had him on the the lesser drugs for another 2. Also, we had to apply neosporin to the stitched area until the stitches were removed 10 days later. It has now been 3 1/2 months since the surgery and we no longer scoot our butt, lick our paws or get ear infections. Again, our vet does these on a routine basis and uses propofol as an anesthetic on bullies, so Doughnut wasn't even groggy when we picked him up. Plesse let me know if you have any questions. Lord knows I have been where you are.