jadesmomma

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Sep 30, 2011
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Grays Harbor County, Washington
Bulldog(s) Names
Jade
My 5 year old Jade has a deep tail pocket with the tail growing almost into the side of her butt. I can measure about 3 inches to where to tail grows sideways under the skin but in the pocket. It's so tight and deep I can't ever get it 100% clean. We keep getting irritation after infection and back and forth. This time it's so gooed up, raw and bleeding she won't even let me even touch it. She's running around trying to escape her butt and doing circles. Giving her pain meds until vet. Next step vet again. Thoughts on tail amputation? Pros and cons? Thanks everyone.
 

ddnene

EBN's SWEETHEART aka our little GOOB
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Jun 19, 2013
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Willow (2015) Walter (2014-22) Winston (2012-13) Wellie (2012-13) Bella (2007-13)
Here is a great article regarding care for tail pockets...
English Bulldog News Forums - English Bulldog: What is a Tail Pocket?

I'm also going to tag some members that have dealt w/tail amputations... My Willow has a tight corkscrew tail, so I just make sure to clean it out w/a baby wipe once a week. If it gets really bad I will add some diaper rash ointment, or witch hazel on a cotton pad. Sounds like your girl has an infection, and needs to see the vet.
 

helsonwheels

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Jan 10, 2016
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Nyala, Jake (R.I.P. Duke)
Nyala has a tail pocket issue too. Nyala did exactly what you just described with your dog. Same thing. I wasn't going deep enough. Thought I was. I went to the vet and her tail pocket is extremely tight. Vet gave me Surolan. She said only put a couple drops and NOT to use it everyday as Nyala's body will get use to it. Took a week and she was fine. I wear gloves for sure and I clean her tail pocket every 2nd day. Once I was gone for a few days and no ine cleaned it of course! Nyala got another irritation and bleed. So I cleaned it and took 3 days all was clean. But this time I use an essential oil mix every 2nd day and she's been fine for months.


15 drops Lavender 15 drops Geranium 15 drops Frankincense 15 drops Basil 10 drops Arborvitae Fractionated coconut oil to fill the bottle about 3/4 of the way full. Shake bottle well before using. I also did add Witch Hazel to the mixture but that is ONLY for hrt tail pocket. For ear maintenance I do NOT add witch hazel.

I can swear this works and keeps everything at bay. But you need to really put gloves on an go deeply in the tail. Yes it is a good 3in deep. I do it cause women's fingers are smaller. You can use a Q-Tip but the longer ones. I do the mixture on Nyala once every 10 days and use a baby unscented wipe which I dipped straight into Witch Hazel to clean her tail every 2-3 days. Oh and you know what? After cleaning the tail for months, the tail pocket is easier to clean.... like it opened up on its own just a tad.

If you cant do it fir now cause its too raw, go to the vet let them clean it properly and you continue after that.
 

1Chumly

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Feb 19, 2015
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Buster 2013-2023 Monty 6/2010 - 1/2020 Chumly 2002-2014
We are going through this as well. See my post "Bald Bum"! As hard as we tried to keep it clean, the infections kept coming back. The reconstructive surgery really helped but his tail is so tight it is hard to get up there to clean it really well. Hopefully this last tweak has taken care of it. If not, I think it will be amputation which we have been trying to avoid.
Monty's tail Jan 2017.jpg
 

Hankster

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Aug 27, 2016
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hank
Is this something that you know they're going to have a problem with by a certain age? I keep hoping we're getting past the age of tail pocket concerns... Hanks almost a year...
 

helsonwheels

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Jan 10, 2016
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Alberta
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Nyala, Jake (R.I.P. Duke)
We are going through this as well. See my post "Bald Bum"! As hard as we tried to keep it clean, the infections kept coming back. The reconstructive surgery really helped but his tail is so tight it is hard to get up there to clean it really well. Hopefully this last tweak has taken care of it. If not, I think it will be amputation which we have been trying to avoid.
View attachment 103664

Awwwwa poor thing. Looks so painful. How is he doing?
[MENTION=16280]Hankster[/MENTION] you cant start thinking like that. Not all bullies will be going through this. A lot dont.
 

1Chumly

Well-known member
Feb 19, 2015
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Houston, TX
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From England
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Buster 2013-2023 Monty 6/2010 - 1/2020 Chumly 2002-2014
Awwwwa poor thing. Looks so painful. How is he doing?
[MENTION=16280]Hankster[/MENTION] you cant start thinking like that. Not all bullies will be going through this. A lot dont.

Thank you. He is doing very well. It doesn't seem to bother him at all but we will see how he does when he finishes his pain pills today. The tail doesn't appear to be as low down now but it is hard to tell without his fur. It was a problem before because it kind of pressed down over his anus and made it messy, as you can imagine! His previous owners said their vet (not a bully vet) recommended amputation but our bully vet doesn't like to do that unless absolutely necessary. I should add for the OP that when he originally restructured the tail pocket, he did remove a small portion of his tail too.

Hankster, I agree with Helene. It also depends on what type of tail they have. I think the problems we are having is more the exception, not the rule.
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Jul 28, 2011
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Gilbertsville, PA
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Chelios (Frenchie), Nitschke (2004-2011) Banks (2005-2014) and Lambeau (2014-2024)
My 5 year old Jade has a deep tail pocket with the tail growing almost into the side of her butt. I can measure about 3 inches to where to tail grows sideways under the skin but in the pocket. It's so tight and deep I can't ever get it 100% clean. We keep getting irritation after infection and back and forth. This time it's so gooed up, raw and bleeding she won't even let me even touch it. She's running around trying to escape her butt and doing circles. Giving her pain meds until vet. Next step vet again. Thoughts on tail amputation? Pros and cons? Thanks everyone.

I had two bullies with tail pocket issues.... Banks was a more of an 'extra skin' issue so we were able to maintain her area by daily cleaning and diet. Lambeau, we had to amputate his tail as the pocket was deep, but at around 8 months we realized the tail was growing back into him. He had a very bad infection that showed up over night, once we cleared it up we had the surgery scheduled and it was the best decision for him.
[MENTION=16280]Hankster[/MENTION] -- we have had three bulldogs and one Frenchie... they are all different, it depends on the type of tail and how it is growing. Nitschke and Cheli did/do not even need a cleaning, but Banks was daily and Lambeau we had to amputate.
 

Hankster

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Aug 27, 2016
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hank
I hope your bAbies doing better... Ohhhhhh our hearts just pain for them.... AND,,, thanks for the insight from all :)
 
OP
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jadesmomma

New member
Sep 30, 2011
19
0
Grays Harbor County, Washington
Bulldog(s) Names
Jade
  • Thread Starter
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We went to the vet and they will take a good look in 2 weeks on what they can do after the infection clears and not raw. They definitely think she needs to have it amputated since about 95% of her tail is inside the pocket behind skin since the tail grows sideways in it. If the vet doesn't think they can properly amputate they will be referring us to a specialist in 2 weeks. The vet said for how tight and deep it will be a ritual of going to the vet for this that in the long run it will be better for her health and our pocket books ��
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Jul 28, 2011
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Gilbertsville, PA
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Chelios (Frenchie), Nitschke (2004-2011) Banks (2005-2014) and Lambeau (2014-2024)
How did your baby do after the amputation? Any pros or cons since this is the way we will be going?

No cons at all... pros are no infections or daily cleaning. Recovery was good, we had to keep him confined in a pen for two days, but other than that he was fully back to his normal clown, puppy energy within 48 hours of coming home.
 

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