Wet Tail

I didn't share this little story in my last post because I felt it deserved a post of its own. While we were in Maine, Scout developed limber tail syndrome. It is also known as wet tail, cold water tail, limp tail syndrome, broken tail, dead tail or broken wag.

Commonly seen in large active dogs, this condition often appears suddenly after vigorous exercise or activity. The exact cause is unknown but is thought that the muscles that "run" the tail become overworked or injured, resulting in pain and inability/reluctance to move the tail.

Scout was acting a little weird Sunday after his Dog Day of Fun. He had been active for about 9 hours, most of it swimming. He wouldn't sit down but would instead circle around a few times and then lay on his side. He didn't cry or whine, but was a little "off." When I woke up Monday I recalled a story from an old coworker of mine had once told me about her Rhodesian Ridgeback having something called limp tail. I called Justin who remembered something like what I described from his vet tech days. He looked it up and we diagnosed Scout with Wet Tail. He had exercised too much!

It was actually quite pitiful, a dog who couldn't wag his tail. It just hung there, limp and flaccid. The cure is rest and he was back to normal in a couple of days. I didn't get any pictures of him, but here are a few I found on the internet. Too sad.