Hope I am putting this in the right place! (Tail amputation)

[Ditavon77]

Hey everyone! My name is Erika and I am new to this community. I have a 5 year old English Bulldog named Thor. We have had him since he was about 10 weeks old. About 2 weeks ago, we took him to the vet to have his tail looked at, as we were dealing with his very first tail infection. It was pretty bad. The vet, who has experience with this specific breed took one look at Thor and stated that he was definitely a perfect candidate for tail amputation surgery (as that is something that we had inquired about, since Thor's tail was a VERY tight corkscrew with very little wiggle room for us to ever get it 100% clean.) So, we get his antibiotics and some Betadine to flush out the area, and are told to call in a few days to set up the surgery.
Well, the surgery was done late Friday night, He got through it with absolutely no complications. We brought him home Saturday around 6pm. Yesterday afternoon, he started having some seepage from part of the incision site (his was like an upside down T). Called the vet and they said to go ahead and bring him in so that they could take a look at him. The vet took him back and then came back out 10 minutes later saying that this was completely normal, and to just gently pat the area with a cold wet cloth a few times a day to keep it clean.
I can't help but still feel worried about this, even after being told by the vet that he was fine. For anyone out there who has had this surgery with their dog, did y'all have any issues like this? if so, what did you do for it? Other than some blood dripping every now and then, he is acting totally normal. Almost like he didn't even have surgery. (Although, I am pretty sure that Fentanyl patch has a lot to do with it)
I do have some pictures that I can post if anyone needs to see. One right after we brought him home and then one I just took a little while ago that shows the leaking from the bottom of one of the incision sites.) Just let me know, and I can post them.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Hankster]

Welcome! and no experience with this but I know others have. I would go ahead and post pictures as I'm sure that would help Glad there were no problems, boy can these guys cause us worries...

 

[Lalaloopsie]

Don't worry, wound must have some discharge, it can't be 100 percent dry. Tissues were cut and they won't heal overnight. This is normal healing. It would be suspicious if there were nothing, it would mean stuff is accumulating somewhere inside wound and can cause bad infection. Just check the discharge, for couple of days it will be bloody, then less blood, more transparent. It mustn't be yellow or green, putrid. Did vet recommend any antiseptic for you to wipe stitches and area 1-2 times a day? Hydrogen peroxide or betadine or just vodka? I would use something to sanitize stitches and area.

 

[2BullyMama]

Hi ya and welcome to EBN!

My boy, Lambeau, had his tail removed, and we did have some 'seepage' for a day or two, just wiped him with a clean warm cloth. After about 4-5 days he was good to go without any issues. And, like your Thor, he was acting like nothing ever happen the day after surgery.

Hope he heals up quick... let us know if you have any other questions. There are a few others that have experience and can help

 

[Dollys Owner]

I would say to pat the stitches themselves with a dry cloth, and the area around the stitches with a wet cloth,

 

[Hankster]

if it were me, I would spray a bit of colloidal silver on it

 

[oscarmayer]

This sounds completely normal to me...seepage for a few days(up to 7) is OK. We've done several tail amputations and they are far from simple surgery. The procedure requires going deep into the body cavity and will take a long time to completely heal. The fact that your bully acts like it isn't hurting is probably because it isn't so much. I'm surprised that he got a patch...Fentanyl is powerful stuff and application and removal of a patch should be done with gloved hands. None of our tail amps have ever needed a one. Maybe this amputation was more invasive than most. Give him time to heal and measure healing in terms of weeks, not days.

 

[versicolor]

My first bulldog years ago had this done. It is perfectly normal. If it were me I wouldn't fuss with it too much. It will heal. Just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get infected and he will be fine.

 

[Ditavon77]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I am just being a worried Bulldog mama.
The seepage seems to have lessened, and it seems to be more transparent than before. We took him to the vet a couple of nights ago to have them remove the fentanyl patch, and one of the vets that was on duty took a look at him and said that everything appeared to look normal. Hearing that was a definite relief. He is still acting 100% normal, and doesn't seem to be in very much pain, if any. I am including a picture (a before surgery and the day after surgery when we brought him home) It looks a little messy, as we hadn't had a chance to clean around it just yet. His surgery was a tad more invasive than normal, according to the vet that was initially scheduled to do the surgery. According to what she told us, the end of his tail was attached to the last part of his vertebrae. Neither she, nor the 3 other vets that were there that day felt comfortable enough to do the procedure, as none of them had done one that extreme before. Luckily for us, another vet that they had on staff HAD done surgeries like this before, so he was more than willing to do it for us.

 

[2BullyMama]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I am just being a worried Bulldog mama.
The seepage seems to have lessened, and it seems to be more transparent than before. We took him to the vet a couple of nights ago to have them remove the fentanyl patch, and one of the vets that was on duty took a look at him and said that everything appeared to look normal. Hearing that was a definite relief. He is still acting 100% normal, and doesn't seem to be in very much pain, if any. I am including a picture (a before surgery and the day after surgery when we brought him home) It looks a little messy, as we hadn't had a chance to clean around it just yet. His surgery was a tad more invasive than normal, according to the vet that was initially scheduled to do the surgery. According to what she told us, the end of his tail was attached to the last part of his vertebrae. Neither she, nor the 3 other vets that were there that day felt comfortable enough to do the procedure, as none of them had done one that extreme before. Luckily for us, another vet that they had on staff HAD done surgeries like this before, so he was more than willing to do it for us. View attachment 105014

Wow, he had a deep one for sure.... so glad he is healing up. keep us posted