We have a Happy Tail!!! October 25, 2012

So, after 5 weeks of a whipping tail leaving massacre-type blood spatters on our walls and 4 weeks of infection and medication due to the initial tail amputation, I am happy to say it’s all over!!
Went to the wonderful Dr. Mary last Monday for a follow-up and when she removed the cute little cap and checked the stitches she declared Miss Stormy all healed.
No more meds, no more constant crating, no more isolation…our happy little pup is back in the fold.
And this whole experience didn’t change her personality one iota. She is still the happy-go-lucky, I-love-you-to-pieces puppy she was.
Once again, a special shout-out to Dr. Mary Phelps-Harrison and the rest of the staff at Long Island Animal Surgery for the wonderful job they did. I don’t know how I would have made it through this experience without them.

Happy Tail Surgery – Take Two October 12, 2012

Had to recut the tail.
Two vertabrae more taken off.
Surgery seemed to go well.
Wacky, innovative cap on her tail to protect it.

We are doping her up to the “nth degree”, keeping her in the crate as much as possible.
Follow-up went really well, seems to be healing clean.
Go back on Monday to check it all out.
Fingers crossed – cautiously optimistic.

Tail Update Update October 3, 2012

As Dan and Stormy snuggle in the bed, I’ll get up to speed on Stormy’s tail.
It has to be operated on again. They are taking it down another vertebrae and while she is sedated the surgeon will try to fashion some type of protection for her tail to stop her from banging it.
Please, for the sanity of our family, let this work. I don’t think any of us can take much more of this. Stormy, who craves nothing but attention, has been practically isolated from people for 3 weeks now and will be isolated for at least another 3 weeks. Dan, who wasn’t sure about taking her in the first place, is now angry because he acquiesced. I, because I’m a bleeding heart, am sick to my stomach constantly over the whole thing. And Colin, who shouldn’t even know any better, cries when we take her into the vet.
This whole experience has been just too much. And, trust me, I know there’s worse things that could happen but right now this little girl who has wormed her way (literally) into our hearts is the main concern in our lives and all we want is for her to be better and this latest extravaganza to be over.

all snuggled in with her “syringe protector”

Tail update October 1, 2012

Not good. Just came back from the emergency vet. The surgeon had put a small piece of skin on the tip of her tail which apparently died and fell off tonite, leaving a raw open wound. I was not comfortable leaving her like that so I took her to the emergency hospital. Thankfully, it looks like there is no infection in the tail itself but the next few weeks should be interesting since there is now nothing to protect this open wound. It’s wrapped and bandaged right now. I will be waiting at the surgeons office when they open tomorrow. And of course, I am stressed to the max over this. I just want to cry…don’t have the money for this at all…will never get another animal ever…I love this dog but I can’t do this anymore. 😦

Happy Tail? Not so much September 21, 2012

Why is this blog named “It’s Unusual”? Because these things only happen in my world.

Stormy (aka The Storm-meister) was diagnosed with “Happy Tail” a few weeks ago. What is happy tail you ask? Well, let me ‘splain:

Happy Tail is directly related to having the most ridiculously ecstatic dog known to mankind. A dog that has no enemies, will never guard our house and just wants to love and/or be loved by someone. A dog whose tail never stops wagging and wagging very enthusiastically. As a direct result of this enthusiastic wagging, said tail will eventually whack into something that will cut it open. Once cut, there is no way possible for it to heal. Why? Because it whips around so furiously that it is either going to slam into a wall or piece of furniture, or whip onto it’s own back so rapidly that it opens right up again. I cannot tell you how many times this dog would come out her crate clean and within seconds had covered her own body in stripes of blood. Our house looked like a set from “Dexter”.

So, off to the vet we went. And there we were educated on Happy Tail. Three vets:One diagnosis. The only solution? Remove most of the tail. Which is what we had to do. It was a terrible decision to have to make and it broke my heart. But, we had no other options. I had tried every possible method of protecting her tail and nothing, I mean nothing worked. So, on September 13 she had the surgery. And I was a mess. And she survived just fine. And she is totally none the worse for it.
The healing process has been a bit interesting. Oh, and stressful. Because I could find no information on how long it will take and what is involved. We are learning by trial. Wrapping the tail has been an adventure. First it was just a bandage, but she kept hitting it so hard that it would bleed. Then we had a bit of a vulgar bandage with a padded end (get the visual?). Now, we have an open ended syringe taped onto her tail like a reverse e-collar. Sedatives are our friend (for her, not us) and she has quite the resistance, but at least it calms her a little. We are 8 days into the process and she’s doing well. We should have another 7-10 days before she is considered “all better”.
Has any of this affected her personality in any way? Of course not!!! She still loves everyone (including the vet), still wants to kiss everyone up and still wags her tail ferociously. She’s more interested in controlling the toy and shoe population in this house than anything else.

And I wouldn’t trade her for the world.