Docked puppy tail bone exposed: Is it healing or needs more vet care?

The part may be getting infected. A check up, appropriate disinfection and possibly antibiotics (oral, topical or in a shampoo formulation) are needed to solve the problem. Disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

The skin will probably not grow back and the tail will probably go through a process of necrosis, which may put his life in danger. i strongly recommend taking him to the vet, the tip of the tail will probably need to be amputated.

That looks pretty irritated/infected. I would bring the puppy back to the vet that performed the procedure to have it reclosed and medication given as needed. Keeping the mom from licking the tails and disturbing sutures with the use of an Elizabethan (cone) collar or other means is best to prevent infection and opening of the suture sites.

Aww poor Beau! The good news is that this tail looks pretty good to me. I can’t say for certain without looking at it but this could be normal healthy granulation tissue filling in his wound/surgery site. It could possibly be a small suture reaction or incision infection. If you can keep Beau from licking it (E collar), you can apply a triple antibiotic cream (Neosporin, etc) once or twice daily. Do not bandage the tail. Best of luck and hope this helps!

I want to thank you very much for providing us such good pictures. Judging by them, I believe your dog either has an infection, immune allergic disease, a cyst-like growth, etc Unfortunately, any topical medication such as the one you’re applying will not be effective against any of these diseases. You do need to schedule an appointment with your regular veterinarian as soon as possible to have a thorough physical examination performed. The vet may also want to do x-rays, a biopsy, skin culture, etc. to the affected area. Most likely, you will get treatment in the form of injectable or oral medications as well as topicals. You will also probably be given a coon to keep your dog from traumatizing and licking the area. Thank you very much for using our consultation service. I hope I have provided you some help today.

Oh poor pup! She definitely needs to see a vet, but here's what you can do in the meantime. 1) Rinse the tail with warm water (no soap or antiseptics) for five minutes. 2) Apply some antibacterial cream (like neosporin) to the wound and try to tape a bandage over the area. If you are able to keep the bandage on, then repeat the above daily. If you cannot keep the bandage on, then rinse the area three times a day if possible. Don't be surprised if a lot of that brown scab stuff comes out with the rinsing and bandage. It's actually good to remove that stuff gently. Just avoid scrubbing or picking at the scabs. I hope that helps and Cali gets better soon.

It sounds like he has a degloving injury to his tail. If there is bone showing, then he needs to see a vet right away. This can easily get infected, and he will need antibiotics to prevent it. In a degloving injury of a rat's tail, the skin and tissue do not grow back, and the bone showing may need to be removed surgically. This will be painful to him as well, and he will need pain medications for it. I would take him into a vet now.