My little girl Kes, who is about 2 yrs old now, for as long as I can
remember, had a squared-off look to the end of her tail.  I thought that
one of her brother or sisters was chewing the hair off the end, or that my
daughter cut the fur off the end!  After constant denial, insulting looks
and eye-rolling on the part of my 13 year old daughter, I took a closer
inspection.  I noticed that the underside of her tail was also sparse with
fur, and I noticed some pores were blackened.  So, just for the heck of it,
I brought her over to the bathroom sink, and washed her tail several times
with some anti-bacterial soap we use on our hands.  After 2 evenings of
this, I let it go..  a week later, her tail is gorgeous, her fur is soft,
and the darkened pores are gone.  And to think my poor Kes went around
looking like that for almost 2 years!
 
-Celia
(Jake, Kes, Dax and Odo (bean)... the dancing machine.)
 
PS : always make sure to wash all soap out of the fuzzy's fur thoroughly!
[Posted in FML issue 2456]