broken tailbone?

My dog, Oreo, is having a LOT of pain when he poops. We took him to the Vet yesterday. He had to stay overnight. They gave him an enema, etc. They said his system is Ok, but he may have a few cracked vertebrae in his tailbone. He holds his tail straight down, and yelps in pain when he lifts his tail, or if the vet tried to lift it. What would cause this? They didn't take x-rays or anything, but suspect that's what's going on. Is there anything else that could be wrong? We feel so bad for him, because he just cries out in pain. They gave us pain medication to give to him for now. Is there anything else we should be looking in to?

First of all WELCOME TO PET TALK!!!


The first thing I would do is have x-rays taken to make sure it is a broken tailbone to make sure!
I hope things work out! PLEASE keep us posted!

We took Oreo to the Vet for x-rays today. The vertebtrae in his tail bones don't have any space between a couple of them, and there is a bone spur growing out of one of these areas. Apparently he injured it sometime, but we don't know how or when. But they increased his pain medication to twice a day. That should help. He was just getting it in the morning, and when he went out to poop in the morning before the medicine took effect, and again in the evenings after is was wearing off, he was in a lot of pain.

Anyway, at least now we know for sure what's wrong, and it will just take time now to heal on it's own.

Thanks.

Soapets

Eventually it will calcify, and the pain will go away. You didn't mention the pain medication being used. If it's rimadyl, then stay alert for liver problems (e.g. anorexia, nausea), and notify the Vet immediately if they occur. Other NSAIDs such as Deramaxx, and Metacam tend to be more kind towards the liver, but can still cause problems.

Since the pain is severe, hopefully they have prescribed Torbutrol short term.

Thanks for the info. The pain med is Dermaxx 25 mg bid. It seems to help some. How long does it take for the calcification to occur, and for him to stop feeling the discomfort?

Soapets

and most of the pain will be gone. Possibly a couple of months before all sensitivity is gone.

If you go past a month on the Deramaxx, ask the Vets to perform a blood liver profile to check for raised enzyme levels. Deramaxx tends to be much better and safer to the liver than Rimadyl. But with prolonged usuage it can start to get the ole liver. Symptoms again would include anorexia, nausea, and vomiting. If these occur stop the Deramaxx administration, and consult with your Vet. Usually 3-7 days rest from it allows the dog's liver to recover (Rimadyl can cause permanent damage). Then one can use a lower dose of Deramaxx ( or every other day) to avoid problems there after.

Chances are you will be done with the Deramaxx in a month.

Oreo seems to be doing some better today. Hopefully his tail bones are healing! Either that, or the pain medication is working a little better since it was increased to twice a day. He's wagging his tail a little more today, too.

Thanks for your responses.

Soapets

Thanks for the information, Dragondawg. I must have been posting my update on Oreo the same time you were posting your message. It is helpful to know about these things. I will watch for the things you mentioned.

Thanks again.

Soapets

Oreo is still having some pain, but the medication seems to ease it some. We are still trying to figure out how he could have injured himself at the base of his tail...................

Oreo is a very unique dog. His mother was a Chocolate Lab, and his father was a Beagle, so we call him our "Chocolate Beagle."
We named him Oreo because of his color, and we thought it was a cute name. He is very dark brown, almost black, except for a few white spots, one of which is on his chest. When someone asks where all of the white "frosting" is, we just tell them he licked most of it off! He is larger than a Beagle, but smaller than a Lab. He has Beagle ears and barks like a Beagle. But he has a Lab's appetite! And if/when he gets loose outside, he follows his nose wherever it goes.

Anyway, I just wanted to write down a little more information about him in general.

when my beloved and deceased Daisy was just a puppy, she was behaving like a bad puppy wanting to jump out the door after me when I went to get out of the car. As I slammed the door in disgust and starting to walk away I heard this yelping. I looked back at the car, and (OUCH) part of the tail was sticking out the closed door!

Fortunately she suffered no ill effects from her mean daddy dog, and held her tail up high proudly for the 10+ years that followed. It took me years to get over that guilt trip. :(

Oreo is doing quite a bit better. He is still having some discomfort, but not nearly as much as a week ago. We've backed off on the pain medication, and he just whimpered a little bit earlier today when he went out to "do his duty", but yesterday he didn't have any pain medication and didn't seem to whimper or yelp at all.

Is it better to go ahead and give him another pain pill since he whimpered some the last time he went out today, or is it better NOT to give it to him, since he's obviously not in nearly as much pain as he was when all of this started? Is the reason he didn't whimper or yelp yesterday because some of the medication was still in his system, whereas today it has mostly worn off?

We want to do what is BEST for him!

I would continue with the pain meds that your vet perscribed, he is obviously experiencing some pain. Dogs are also not usually prone to cry unless something hurts very bad :(, so I'd just keep him on it as long as your vet says, unless it seems like all of his pain is gone. I'm glad he feels better ;)