missing cat tail

I am very confused about something. Dot, one of my kitty cafe cats came up at feeding time. HALF HIS TAIL IS MISSING! He used to have this nice long tail with a dot on the end, hince his name, but it looked like something cut half his tail off. It wasnt bleeding or anything, looked like when you get a puppy's tail docked. I called my usual vet and he was out and still hasnt called back, so i called one in the phonebook. His advice was to watch it and if it wasnt sore or infected that it would be ok. He said maybe it got something wrapped around it that cut off the siculation? But i have seen dot everyday for the last week at least and never noticed anything, and i am always looking for signs of trouble. I thought about catching him and putting the antibacterial spray i use on cuts, but he is NOT social and would probably eat my hands and arms. Last time i had to catch him after he was attacked by the neighbors dogs he scratched and bit me. Any ideas or adivice? Has anyone else seen a cats tail fall off??

i will try to post picts when he comes back up for feeding, probably tomorrow, he wasnt on the porch when i found my camera.

Oh my. So he is a semiferal? These are usually tough guys, survivors as they are.
He will thus heal by himself with any luck.

It must be your hope as you cant catch him conveniently...

Here are the best picts i could get this morning. Dot doesnt like to hold still so they are a bit blurry.

Something like fishing line or a rubber band can sink down into the fur next to the skin and cut off circulation and you'd never see it.

Granted likely not a rubber band since it's not easily handled, but it could be any number of things really.

Mabye a dog bit it off and he stopped bleeding before you saw it.

You did say he had a run in with your neighbors dog before.

yea the neighbors dogs about killed him two or three times now. Poor guy has bad luck. He was back outside when i got home tonight and seams to be doing fine, the end of the tail isnt red anymore, its kinda brownish but not bleeding or oozing or anything. my mom suggested maybe he got it slammed in a door or ran over, but i dont see that causing it to fall or break off. who knows?

I had one that lost a tail!! It was keeping warm in the car engine and the fan cut it off! It looked a lot like that only worse, and the kitty is now like 14 years old! (my moms kitty!) It ended up getting gang green in there and having to have the tail nub removed, but that kittys tail was cut down way farther than that!! We ended up having to put baby gowns on her so she wouldn't keep licking it! SO CUTE!! She got so use to the gowns that one day when we were doing laundry she found a gown and brought it to us!!

I hope Dot does well! Maybe a new name is in order since his dot is gone! Like.... STUMP!!!

Originally Posted by glitch

I had one that lost a tail!! It was keeping warm in the car engine and the fan cut it off! It looked a lot like that only worse, and the kitty is now like 14 years old! (my moms kitty!) It ended up getting gang green in there and having to have the tail nub removed, but that kittys tail was cut down way farther than that!! We ended up having to put baby gowns on her so she wouldn't keep licking it!

SO CUTE!! She got so use to the gowns that one day when we were doing laundry she found a gown and brought it to us!!

I hope Dot does well! Maybe a new name is in order since his dot is gone! Like.... STUMP!!!

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LOL, stump, i like that, stump it shall be from now on! Poor guy, he is doing fine, i am just so confused, i can NOT figure out how he lost his tail! I guess thats just one of life's mysteries, how stump lost his tail. I have heard of kittens loosing their mittens but not their tails!