[Dailydrool] Tail lump removal

[Tim Mayer]

Carol,

My boy Dexter also had a lump on his tail abscess and the emergency vets
said amputate. My regular vet also said to amputate. I called three others
and got the same message. But one of them said to bring him in and let them
take a look.

That vet also said the easiest, safest option was to amputate. But I nearly
broke down in tears...Dexter's tail is magnificent and I didn't want to
lose most of it. (He wouldn't care, but I sure did.)

So she took the dog back to their best surgeon, and he said it was less
than a 50% chance to save the tail if he only removed the lump, but if I
wanted to try it this way, he was willing, BUT with the warning that it may
not heal and would still need amputation later.

He took the skin off more than three inches long, and over half-way
around the tail. There was no skin to stitch back together: they bandaged
him up and the skin had to grow back "granularly" - it slowly grew back
from the cut edges towards the middle.

I had to take him back every three or four days for about six weeks to get
checked and have the bandages changed. Halfway through this process, the
healing STOPPED and the skin started dying - necrosis. Panic. The vet said
they would try one last thing - they put him on prednisone, and that
re-started the healing process.

Now, 18 months later, he still has a bald spot where the skin was removed
because the hair follicles did not grow back with the new skin. But the
heavy overcoat above the surgery has covered the scarred area, and unless
you knew to look for it, you can't tell.

So that's my story. As hard as it was, I am much happier. But the problem
is finding a vet and surgeon willing to do this kind of thing.
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