Tail Chewing

[alongado]

My girl has always chewed her tail,is there anyway i can get her to stop? As its ruining her beautiful tail

[Emma]

Sometimes tail chewing can be caused by anxiety/stress, sometimes it can be a sign of an allergy (is she itchy at all? Any marks anywhere?), constant chewing can be an indicator that they're in pain/discomfort, but sometimes they do it just because they're bored and they can.

If its just a boredom thing distract her when she starts doing it. Have heard other people talk about spraying "bitter apple spray" to deter chewing but I've not personally done it like this and I'd reccomended checking the bottle first to see if it's suitable to be used in this way. If its habit formed then the key is going to be breaking the cycle, which is where the distraction technique comes into play. In the small term it's going to be hard work but in the long term you'll reap the benefits.

[Removed #5]

While Emma's response encapsulates everything I've seen ( just did a Google for this ) I'll point you toward a couple of links that you might find informative.

 

WebMD is always a useful site, it tends to be one of the first I go to for unusual behaviour or symptoms.

 

VetInfo is another that often takes a look at things, somewhat, "outside the box"

 

Neither of these say a whole lot that Emma didn't (with the possible exception of fleas, etc) but reading them might give you some ideas.