kattlsutherland
New member
Hi all,
I'm new to the forum And I'm really looking for some advice regarding tail amputation because I'm very unsure what to do.
My beautiful, healthy bulldog boy, Bruiser, is 6 months old and is having a really tough time with his very tight tail. It is very inverted and causing him a lot of discomfort, mostly in the evenings, he will spin on his bum and try to get to it to bite it. Of course I have researched this procedure a lot, and read experiences of people who have had this operation done on their Bulldogs and every person has said its the best thing they've ever done. However.. I have two main issues which I would really like people's thoughts on as I feel Bruisers situation is a little different to the other bulldogs I've read about.
Firstly, Bruisers tail pocket is not, and never has been infected. Everyone who's had this done has said their bulldog was suffering from constant infections. Bruisers tail pocket is so clean - no odours or redness or discharge or mess. We had always been aware of tail pockets in Bulldogs before we got one and we clean it and dry it daily. The only thing we get come off it is lots of hair, which makes me think that it is making him really itchy. Despite no infections I have to re-emphasise it is VERY tight, and obviously causing him a lot of discomfort.
My second issue is the, what I feel is utter rubbish, that our local vet fed us when we took him yesterday to get her opinion. We are lucky enough to have bought Bruiser from the most fantastic breeder who I still speak to nearly every day and have become good friends with her, and she cares so much about her pups. She sees a vet an hour and a half away who knows a lot about Bulldogs and is really good with them. She took Bruiser to see him a couple of months ago and he said the tail was tight but not the worst he'd seen. He said amputation was an option but as he didn't think it was that bad he would try to maintain it with cleaning daily with salt water. We have done this religiously since he said about it, but of course he doesn't see how much it upsets Bruiser at home, and it has only bothered him more and more as the weeks go by. So we thought we'd take him to our local vets to get another opinion. She was barely interested in the reason why we were there and just wanted to tell us how 'deformed' Bulldogs were and lecture us for buying one when I told her I'd researched the breed for months before buying one ("and you STILL bought one after reading about them?" Were her words) In fact his tail was the last thing she (barely) looked at, after poking round in his face folds which I told her were fine and never caused any problems as I always keep them clean and dry, and telling us he would get cysts in his paws because Bulldogs are so deformed what I wanted was her opinion on whether we should go ahead and consider amputating it, but she said it was a terrible idea and that he was likely to get nerve damage and be left incontinent. She expressed his anal glands to see if that would help (it hasn't) and said she could actually feel his tail pushing against her finger when she inserted it into his anus. Which says to me that it's extremely inverted. She then called me again today to give me a price for the procedure (not that I would ever take him there now) and has now suggested it could be mange!! I will tell you now that Bruiser has the most wonderful skin and coat and he does NOT have mange. I feed him a natural diet and I'm forever packing my shopping trolley full of vitamin rich foods for healthy skin and his breeders vet commented on how fantastic his coat is. From what I have read online, it is actually a low risk procedure, even if it is a major one, so I'd really like someone to tell me if she is talking a load of rubbish or not? I left the practice feeling very upset and even further from the answer to Bruiser's tail problem all she wanted to do was be negative about the breed, and us for buying one, and suggested every ridiculous thing it could be rather than the fact that his tail is clearly inverted and very tight.
Unfortunately, the vet my breeder uses is on long term sick until at least July, but we don't want to make Bruiser wait that long. We can't bear to see him in discomfort and not being able to help him. There is another vet there who is also quite good with Bulldogs, who she is taking Bruiser to see next Friday to get a third opinion and we will try and make our decision from that. But anyone who has had this done, or can offer some advice re what I've said, I would really appreciate it thank you x
I'm new to the forum And I'm really looking for some advice regarding tail amputation because I'm very unsure what to do.
My beautiful, healthy bulldog boy, Bruiser, is 6 months old and is having a really tough time with his very tight tail. It is very inverted and causing him a lot of discomfort, mostly in the evenings, he will spin on his bum and try to get to it to bite it. Of course I have researched this procedure a lot, and read experiences of people who have had this operation done on their Bulldogs and every person has said its the best thing they've ever done. However.. I have two main issues which I would really like people's thoughts on as I feel Bruisers situation is a little different to the other bulldogs I've read about.
Firstly, Bruisers tail pocket is not, and never has been infected. Everyone who's had this done has said their bulldog was suffering from constant infections. Bruisers tail pocket is so clean - no odours or redness or discharge or mess. We had always been aware of tail pockets in Bulldogs before we got one and we clean it and dry it daily. The only thing we get come off it is lots of hair, which makes me think that it is making him really itchy. Despite no infections I have to re-emphasise it is VERY tight, and obviously causing him a lot of discomfort.
My second issue is the, what I feel is utter rubbish, that our local vet fed us when we took him yesterday to get her opinion. We are lucky enough to have bought Bruiser from the most fantastic breeder who I still speak to nearly every day and have become good friends with her, and she cares so much about her pups. She sees a vet an hour and a half away who knows a lot about Bulldogs and is really good with them. She took Bruiser to see him a couple of months ago and he said the tail was tight but not the worst he'd seen. He said amputation was an option but as he didn't think it was that bad he would try to maintain it with cleaning daily with salt water. We have done this religiously since he said about it, but of course he doesn't see how much it upsets Bruiser at home, and it has only bothered him more and more as the weeks go by. So we thought we'd take him to our local vets to get another opinion. She was barely interested in the reason why we were there and just wanted to tell us how 'deformed' Bulldogs were and lecture us for buying one when I told her I'd researched the breed for months before buying one ("and you STILL bought one after reading about them?" Were her words) In fact his tail was the last thing she (barely) looked at, after poking round in his face folds which I told her were fine and never caused any problems as I always keep them clean and dry, and telling us he would get cysts in his paws because Bulldogs are so deformed what I wanted was her opinion on whether we should go ahead and consider amputating it, but she said it was a terrible idea and that he was likely to get nerve damage and be left incontinent. She expressed his anal glands to see if that would help (it hasn't) and said she could actually feel his tail pushing against her finger when she inserted it into his anus. Which says to me that it's extremely inverted. She then called me again today to give me a price for the procedure (not that I would ever take him there now) and has now suggested it could be mange!! I will tell you now that Bruiser has the most wonderful skin and coat and he does NOT have mange. I feed him a natural diet and I'm forever packing my shopping trolley full of vitamin rich foods for healthy skin and his breeders vet commented on how fantastic his coat is. From what I have read online, it is actually a low risk procedure, even if it is a major one, so I'd really like someone to tell me if she is talking a load of rubbish or not? I left the practice feeling very upset and even further from the answer to Bruiser's tail problem all she wanted to do was be negative about the breed, and us for buying one, and suggested every ridiculous thing it could be rather than the fact that his tail is clearly inverted and very tight.
Unfortunately, the vet my breeder uses is on long term sick until at least July, but we don't want to make Bruiser wait that long. We can't bear to see him in discomfort and not being able to help him. There is another vet there who is also quite good with Bulldogs, who she is taking Bruiser to see next Friday to get a third opinion and we will try and make our decision from that. But anyone who has had this done, or can offer some advice re what I've said, I would really appreciate it thank you x