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My dog has a red, bleeding bump on her tail from chewing. What to do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Great Dane | Female | unspayed | 2 years and 1 month old | 90 lbs

I've found a bump that appeared over night on my dogs tail. She has chewed at it. It's red and it has a little bit of blood on it. It's about the size of a quarter. It was not there earlier today.

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jeffrey Milner

Veterinarian

Published on August 21st, 2017

While it is nearly impossible to say what the original cause of this irritation was, Molly now has a full-fledged lick dermatitis lesion on her tail. The best things you can do are the following: -Clip the area surrounding the lesion so now hair is touching the affected part -Scrub the area with antiseptic like chlorhexidine or dilute betadine -Apply a triple antibiotic ointment and a topical steroid ointment -Put an e collar on her to prevent further mutilation of the area -Treat for fleas / ticks if she is not already on something for this, as this the most common cause for lesions on the hind end and tail If you believe there is truly a lump beneath that infected area, you should have it looked by your veterinarian once the area has healed up so that appropriate diagnostics can be made if necessary. Hope this helps!

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