Cat's tail fell off.

Dr. Marie replied:

Oh, poor Skittles. It sounds like he has been through a lot!

I have had several cases where a cat's tail fell off. In one case, the cat had no symptoms whatsoever of problems. The owner came home one day, opened her front door and lo and behold, there was a tail waiting for her. The cat was totally fine and it was a complete mystery as to why it came off.

In Skittles case, we know that the tail was severely damaged. What you are describing with the skin dying off sounds like the tail was undergoing something called necrosis. This is where the blood supply to the tail is damaged and basically the tissue just dies. Unfortunately it probably was quite a painful process for him. He probably feels better now that it is off.

My main concern though is that he is probably dealing with infection. If there is a wound there still, or any sort of open, red area then he really really does need to see a vet. It should be less expensive now that he doesn't need amputation surgery. But most likely he will need some antibiotics. For something like this it is unlikely that a cream or topical antibiotic is going to work. Most likely the vet will need to prescribe an oral antibiotic to give him. They may also prescribe some pain reliever if they feel this is still an issue for him.

It's really hard for me to advise you on what you can do at home. I think if there is any way at all for you to get him in to a vet that really is the best thing. Now, if you said that he had no wound at all, no redness, wasn't trying to get at it and was eating really well then I would say that you could just see how things go. But otherwise, a vet visit is best. If we wait too long and there is infection it could end up affecting his spinal cord and he could get a nasty meningitis or even a blood borne infection which could be fatal.

I really hope he feels better soon!


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