The American Beagler Forum

I have a question here! Friday I put a band on my males tail. It was fine up untill sunday three days later he bit the band off and has taken two more bands off since. The end of it is completely black excetp for maybe an 1/8 th or 1/4 ince after the band. Do you think I should just keep putting bands on it each time he takes it off untill the tail comes off or would I be fine to just leave it off since the end of the tail is black and starting to shrink. I'm going to start him on some pinicillin today just to make sure all goes ok. I also put some triple anitbotic oitment on it also. Just let me know what you guys think if I should keep putting bands on it untill he leaves it alone or it falls off. Thank ahead of time for the info.
Elliott

You COULD cut the black part off with really sharp scissors but you would have to leave a bit of dead tissue or risk getting into the still living tissue. This could cause some bleeding and pain for your beagle. If it were mine, I would DOUBLE band it this time - two bands right together. Hopefully, it would stay long enough that way. However, if he is able to chew through one or both of the bands, I would go ahead and cut off the dead part at that point. Some ignore the bands and others are very determined to remove them. One of my females chewed her tail off trying to remove a band. However, it healed up and looked nice once the hair came back.

Chuck Terry wrote:You COULD cut the black part off with really sharp scissors but you would have to leave a bit of dead tissue or risk getting into the still living tissue. This could cause some bleeding and pain for your beagle. If it were mine, I would DOUBLE band it this time - two bands right together. Hopefully, it would stay long enough that way. However, if he is able to chew through one or both of the bands, I would go ahead and cut off the dead part at that point. Some ignore the bands and others are very determined to remove them. One of my females chewed her tail off trying to remove a band. However, it healed up and looked nice once the hair came back.

Thanks for the reply! The part of the tail that I put the band on is completely dead now. I might do as you said and cut most of the dead tissue off with some scissors. If I do however, I'll leave a good half inch of dead tissue on so I don't run the risk of getting into live tissue and making it bleed. Thanks for the info.
Elliott

A good pair of Side Cutters works really good.

I have a pair of Gerber game shears that will cut through small bones like butter that I use. I would probably go ahead and cut a bit closer - leave maybe a quarter of an inch. It will end up where the living tissue stops either way but I like to get rid of the dead tissue ASAP!

mike crabtree wrote:A good pair of Side Cutters works really good.

Chuck Terry wrote:I have a pair of Gerber game shears that will cut through small bones like butter that I use. I would probably go ahead and cut a bit closer - leave maybe a quarter of an inch. It will end up where the living tissue stops either way but I like to get rid of the dead tissue ASAP!

Thanks for the tips guys! Last night I took and cut all but 1/2" or so of the dead tissue off. When I grabbed it half way through the dead part is detached from the end of the live tissue. I'm sure it will come off when I run him tonight. I took and soaked it in peroxide and put triple antibiotic ointment on it, but he just licked it off. All seems to be going well for just a week into it. I'm just really surprised that in less then two days it was dead and hard as a rock. Lucky me I guess.
Elliott