Tail injury and treatment options

Yesterday one of my cats (Sekhmet) got her tail caught in the door. The door caught the very tip and was not broken; however, the last inch or so of her tail was denuded -- even, apparently, of flesh.

I took her to the vet, of course, who trimmed the fur and initially recommended amputating the last inch or so. When I balked, she said she could try to bandage the wound instead and see what would happen. Since she seemed eager to go this route, and I wasn't eager to see the tip of my cat's tail gone, we bandaged the tail and went home. But now I am having second thoughts.

The vet thinks either the skin will regrow on that spot or, perhaps more likely, the end of the tail will dry up and drop off. She's had an antibiotic shot and is on oral antibiotics, and after an initial violent attack on the bandage she's done nothing but lick it. But I don't want to put more of Sekhmet's tail at risk.

What are the risks of this mode of treatment? And does anyone have suggestions for bandage care? This is the first time I've ever had to care for an injured cat, and I'm very anxious and concerned.

Thanks!

You need one of the cone things, but that might not work. If theres a chance it will dry up and fall off, it may be better to have it amputated, coz at least that way the vet can make it look pretty.

Thanks, Diego. Since she's not doing much to the bandage (it survived the night intact) I think the E-collar would just stress her out more. That's also another concern I have with the surgery. Since it's difficult to explain to a cat what is going on, I'd prefer to take the less stressful route. I'm just not sure what that is.

If the injury is severe enough that your vet wants to amputate, I would listen to him/her. If there is nerve damage, that part of the tail will die off soon anyway. If it gets infected then the damage can spread. Mostly, tail breaks are slow to heal depending on the amount of nerve damage incurred.

There does not appear to be an actual break, she just managed to tear the skin of the end of the tail. And amputation was the initial suggestion, but once I mentioned bandaging she seemed eager to give that a try instead. Kind of mixed messages there. She certainly didn't try to persuade me, but I've never worked with this vet before.

I forgot to ask is she also on pain killers? I imagine that the pain would be rather excruciating.

No, she's not on pain killers. I would think the pain would be awful, too, but she's acting more or less normally -- eating, insisting on getting in the way. She gallops down the hall where she was injured (probably doesn't know what "bit" her) and is irritated that there's something heavy hanging on her tail, but otherwise seems fine.

She actually didn't make much noise when it happened -- much less than she's made when we've accidentally stepped on a tail. I'm hoping all this means that the injury looked worse than it actually was.

A followup here in case someone with a similar problem finds this through a search:

I just called the vet to ask a few questions about the treatment -- more or less what I asked here. Since Sekhmet is being a smart cat and leaving the bandage alone, the vet thinks there's a good chance the tail will heal just fine and that we're not putting the rest of the tail in danger by choosing this treatment option.

For her part, Sekhmet seems pretty much back to normal -- staring out windows, leaping on top of things, complaining about there not being any food in her food bowl, trying to get between me and the computer monitor.

I'll update this thread again on Tuesday for posterity assuming nothing bad happens.

My cat also lost the very tip of his tail in the cat door. Appox 1 inch of the bone was showing. I took him to the vet and the vet said that if the bone is exposed it could die and the infection spread to the rest of the tail and on up to the rest of his body. Luckily it was a clean "break" and the vet only went up to the very next joint and took the damaged part off from there. BAMBAM had to wear the surgical collar for 5 days because he did try chewing his stitches out. After about an hour he seemed to have adjusted to the collar unlike a dog that just barges into and through things. He would stop and backup and go around. I am not saying he didn't hate the collar he did (it made him itch like mad he was always begging to be scratched). I would say there was significant pain the first night or two. He was restless and kept flicking his tail. All in all I think he is adjusting fine and will never miss the 1 1/2 inches of tail. I realize that all cats are different and some adjust to the collar easier than others but after I saw that inch of bone sticking out I knew that was for the best. I posted this in case someone else has this experience and needs to know what to do. Hope this helps someone someday!!!

I hope that Sekhmet's tail heals fine...sounds like she's being very 'mature' about the situation!! I'm glad she's not chewing on the bandage..perhaps she knows that it's doing her some good!

Keep us posted!

My Daughters cats Tail IsHanging Down, Fur Is Gone, Exposing Bone, I Called2 Vets Today, They Said They Couldn't See Him Today, Can Some One Please Help Us.

Call another clinic or an emergency clinic. If finances are tight then check out care credit.

Take him to the ER vet! Poor baby has to be in pain.