Aug 16 2009
Tales of the Basset Hound - or is It Tails?
The royalty of the house, Miss Duchess, has a new tale to share. Actually this time it’s a tail. Her tail to be exact. Mid week last week, we noticed she had been chewing at the tip of her tail and upon closer examination we found what we thought was a gash because it was bleeding. On Friday, Rhoda and I loaded her up and took her to the vet. Good thing Rhoda knew where they were because I would have never found them! It amazes me when she goes places like this, full of other dogs and strange people she never barks once. Yet, she will sit inside my house and bark for hours at the gardener who is here 2 days every week!
The vet looked at the tail, asked if he could shave it, and then asked how old she was. The gash isn’t a gash at all. It is a skin tumor and he says they are common in older basset hounds. I never would have called her an older dog since she still has the energy of a puppy but she is six years old now. He would have removed it that day but the clinic is in the process of relocating so he felt it best to wait. He coated it in an ointment, gave us more for home and put her on an antibiotic. He also put one of those lovely cones around her neck to keep her from chewing at the bandage. She surely didn’t like that. It was tough getting her down the stairs with the cone around her neck. She kept banging it on the stairs and sending her head backwards. When we arrived home we took it off so she could eat and it has not been back on again. She doesn’t bother the tail. Maybe the cone was a significant warning for her!
We’ve been putting the ointment on but I dont think the swelling is down that much. If it goes away to where she wont chew it, it doesn’t have to be removed. Now that it has no furr around it I think she will be more inclined to chew on it once the bandage is gone and suspect we’ll be having it removed.
So this is today’s tail of the basset hound tale. She’s peacefully sleeping in front of the door. Most likely she’s anticipating the arrival of the gardener and waiting for her barking fest.
