Belle is eating the tip of her tail

[Teddybearlover]

Good morning everyone, I am trying to see if any one has had a similar situation where their dog started to eat the tip of the tail. Today when I took Belle outside to use the bathroom she stopped and started chewing at the tip of her tail. She has never done this before, I did take her to the vet for scratching and she said she can't find anything so my next thing is an allergy test. Could this be whatever has her itching or something more serious that I need to be checking for. Thank you in advance for any help or insight.

[Teddybearlover]

The antibiotics worked, she was able to keep her tail. We just had to keep the cone on for about a week so she couldn't get to the bandage and give her body time to start healing. Thank you for all your help.

[Margot49]

I truly hope this helps but you just may need to consider the amputation route.
Please keep us updated!
Thanks

[Teddybearlover]

I have been applying the hydrocortisone spray with aloe to Belles tail and I haven't seen any red so I thought her tail had healed. But today my son called me at work to say she was chewing on her tail again so I called the Vet. They worked her in and said she has a big scab on her tail that was getting infected so they put her on an antibiotic called Clavamox for 28 days and the bandaged her tail. I have to take her back on Monday to be rechecked so they can see if the antibiotics help any. She did tell me if it doesn't heal that the next step would be to consider amputating the end of the tail where the infection is so fingers crossed-everything will work out as her pain threshold is not very good, as demonstrated from her spay surgery.  Thank you for helping me and Belle.  

[Margot49]

Sounds like your Vet is being pretty thorough.
Well, something jumped out at me in your post; the broken tail.  I say that as I helped with Greyhound Rescue for some years and not unusual to see these dogs with tail injuries or injuries due to Happy Tail, which there is nothing happy about.  If the tail was broken, this could certainly be causing the chewing issue, especially if there was nerve damage.  This continuous chewing can also lead to infection.  Don't cringe, but often the best solution is to amputate part of the tail below that break.  I have seen this done to a fair number if dogs and they did just fine.  Of course, there is expected to be a period of discomfort, which the Vet coukd prescribe something for, and the healing time.
If it were something systemic, I would expect more areas would be affected other then just the tail.  
You can try the food route and maybe try feeding a grain free food or the Pro Plan salmon food.
You might try soaking it a couple of times a day in Luke warm water with some Epsom salts added.
You might want to look up the broken tail and mention it to your Vet.  Try searching "dogs tail chewing", Happy Tail, etc.
Gosh, good luck and please do come back to update.

[Teddybearlover]

Hi Margot, the Vet did check the anal glands and said everything looked good. She scraped her coat in the areas where she scratches the most with a razor blade to the skin as well as plucking the hair to the root to get a sample twice but said they both came back clear.

I sprayed hydrocortisone spray with Aloe on the tip of her tail so she has somewhat stopped chewing on it. I'm not sure if its because of the taste or if it helped. I did not mention before but the very tip of her tail is broke (has been since before I bought her) the vet wasn't worried since she didn't seem to have a sensitivity to touch when she reached for it. She did check her skin and I had her coat cut for the summer. So it's very easier to see, and she said she couldn't find anything. I have her on Heartgard plus monthly heart worm treatments and Nexgard chewables for fleas and ticks.

I have her on Royal Canine puppy, but have recently started adding in purina pro plan puppy small breed chicken and rice formula to see how she likes it since I am trying to figure out what to feed her since she will be 10 months at the end of this month.

Thank you for replying and helping me try to find an answer.

[Margot49]

I love the iPad!!!  
Sorry, we're the anal glands checked?

[Margot49]

First question is, what food are you feeding?
Have you checked her thoroughly for  fleas or ticks?  Get a fine toothed comb and slowly backcomb the hair to check for fleas or flea dirt.  Some dogs can be very sensitive to even a singke flea.
I assume the Vet did so, but we're the analysis glands checked?
Have you used any topical preventative on her for fleas and ticks? Is she on Heartworm meds and, if so, which one and for how long?  Have you used any chemicals on the grass or in the house?
Are you sure she didn't smack it on something?  There is a condition called Happy Tail.  Check to see if it is sore or irritated.  If so, you can try putting some Neosporin on it and try gauze and Vet wrap but you have to wrap pretty far up.  
It could be habit or boredom.  Is she doing this at other times?
Wish I could be more specific but you may have to go down a list of possibilities to try to determine the cause.
Please come back and update.  Good luck.