Wanted to apologize and say thank you
I'm so sorry it took so long to reply to your excellent advice. It seems that when I stepped on Pita's tail I tried to reverse time and lifted my leg in such a way that I tore the ligaments in my knee. Strangely enough, I didn't even feel it at the time because I was so concerned with taking care of him that I neglected my own pain. Due to the decreased mobility I could not get back on the computer to express how helpful you were.
The dust worked and I'm sure you were correct in stating that because I was panicking, so was Pita. I forced myself to calm down and left the dust-bath next to the bed. I was so relieved when I heard him scratching in it. It calmed both of us down.
The injury was not as bad as I feared. The hair on his tail tip is - was - so long I was afraid I had skinned half of his tail, but in reality it was less than half an inch. ( Not as bad, but still ouch!) The vet gave me antibiotics and believe it or not, we don't think he'll lose his tail tip. It seems to be healing well and he's more mobile than I am at this moment.
Again thank you. We're currently working on a better placement for his cage and changing the way we clean it to prevent further accidents.