riverlab

My sister-in-law's yellow lab hurt his tail yesterday. He just hangs it there now and trys to lick it. We called the vet and they said it was either a broke tail or what they call "drop tail"

I have heard of this but can't find anything about it. Can anyone help?

evcvet

Dear Riverlab: "drop tail, flaccid tail or cold tail" refer to a condition reported among sporting dog trainers and vets in which the tail drops from the horizontal holding position and appears in studies to be due to injury of the muscles of the tail. In most cases the tail will return to normal with rest, and some say that use of antiinflammatory like Rimadyl will shorten recovery. In most cases affected dogs will recover with rest in 8-14 days. The cause in unknown, factors like cold,wet weather, hard work out, poor conditioning have been attributed to the condition. Slightly elevated muscle enzymes have been shown in affected dogs and a local myositis is suspected. The tail may be painful. There are other conditions that can cause a dropped tail, so a vet exam is in order.