Sam's Tail

[minnow]

When I had Sam out for playtime today, I noticed that her tail is all beaten up - it looks like bite marks or some sort of a rash to me. No one else has anything like this on their tails, and Sam's paws and ears are clear and free of irritation. What's going on here? Is my poor little shy Sam getting bullied? Is it something else? What can I do?

Here's a photo, you can click on it to go to the flickr page which has higher resolution available:

 

[lj]

What is with today? I woke up to the same thing. One of my guy's tail is beat up too....Must be wacky Wednesday huh?

If my two cents count for anything, it doesn't look like teeth marks...more like bumps.

 

[user 78]

Is she itching at all? It could be from mites, it could be from dry skin.. It doesn't look like anyone went after her tail, more like little red bumps randomly placed. You can treat her with Revolution and see if they go away with that. You can try rubbing some Vitamin E cream [check with your vet before applying to make sure it's safe] into her tail to see if it's just dry skin. Should start to clear up after a couple of treatments. If it is dry skin, adding a little olive oil to their diet once a month or so can help drastically. Just put a tiny bit on a small piece of bread and give ti to them.

 

[minnow]

I just treated for mites about a week ago, and no-one else has tail bumpies like this, so I guess I'll have to see about giving her some supplemental olive oil. It just looks like it would hurt so much, with all those little scabbies.

Would cocoa butter be safe to put on her tail? I have a jar of Palmer's, and the only questionably safe ingredient I can see is fragrance... Along those lines, I also have a tube of A+D ointment... time to read ingredients, and if all checks out do a teensy test spot on the tip of her tail.

 

[user 78]

So long as she's not fussing about her tail, I wouldn't worry about her being in any discomfort just yet.

I'm not sure about cocoa butter or A+D ointment. You should be able to just call your vet and ask them, not have to take anyone in. Just ask if it's safe is a small amount is ingested.