Smashed Nail

[ChristineX]

Hi,

Duke has done it again, this time he has managed to smash one of his front nails. While its all hanging together, the nail is bent halfway down, with large and jagged cracks and obviously painful.

Any recommendations as to how I can manage this until it heals? Its not bleeding, and as my bed is clear of blood spots, I think he's managed to avoid damaging the vein in the nail itself (yes, he sleeps on the bed).

I do wish he was more like Kate. Once she got thru her adolescence, she stopped hurting herself!

ChristineX

[Rottifan]

Ouch - I've heard of people using araldite to smooth out the rough bits on a nail so that it grows out from the sheath together and doesnt catch on anything else in the meantime....although i've never tried it myself or had the need to! If you can cut the nail short (condies crystals, cornflour or soap can seal the bleeding on the nail if you cut the quik) and use the araldite to smooth down and seal the rough bits along the side of the nail it could do the trick....Good luck!

[ChristineX]

Hi Rottifan,

I wound up taking him to the vets as it was obviously causing a lot of pain.

We spent about 45 min with the vet, with both a vet nurse and myself hanging on to Duke so the vet could clipper the hair away and trim the nail and check things out (this is probably the closest Duke has ever come to biting someone, by the way. I think it hurt).

His nail by this time was at a 90 degree angle about a third of the way from the nail bed. Because the vet can't be certain that the nail is still intact under the nail bed - he's on antibiotics but we decided to skip the GA and surgery as there was that element of doubt (and she knows I will bring him promptly back in if anything is wrong).

The aryldite sounds like a good idea - Duke is relentless in pursuing cats/prowlers and noises at night - which is probably how he injured the nail in the first place. Right - trip to Bunnings coming up!

This has not slowed him down in any aspect of course. 2.30 am he caught something - either a pigeon or a bat and I am so not going to have a good look in case it's something I don't want to know about. He was willing to swap for a handfull of good-o's so what ever it was is now binned.

This year - I think the longest he has been between vet visits was 4 weeks. And apart from the 6 weeks post vaccination reaction, it's all been trauma caused by him not slowing down a fraction!

[Fordogs]

Did your vet leave it hanging?

Normally they would RIP it off. YES it is very painful and unless it has been removed Duke will feel pain every time he moves that foot. It should be ripped off, I know that it will be painful, but atleast it will be over and done with and in a day or 2 all will be forgotten.

[all that glitters]

This has not slowed him down in any aspect of course. 2.30 am he caught something - either a pigeon or a bat and I am so not going to have a good look in case it's something I don't want to know about. He was willing to swap for a handfull of good-o's so what ever it was is now binned.

Sorry this made me giggle! hehe

Did your vet leave it hanging?

Normally they would RIP it off. YES it is very painful and unless it has been removed Duke will feel pain every time he moves that foot. It should be ripped off, I know that it will be painful, but atleast it will be over and done with and in a day or 2 all will be forgotten.

OMG that sounds barbaric don't they sedate them or anything?? If a doctor tried to rip my nail off without some sort of anesthetic I would go ape!

[ChristineX]

No pain relief, but it was very carefully clipped back until there were no hanging at odd angle bits. No ripping either - I think with cracks reaching to the nail bed, probably a bit dangerous, too.

As it was, this was the first time Duke has had to be restrained by two people for a third to work on. I think, if this everhappens again, I will ask for a pain killer beforehand. (for Duke, I'm sure I will be okay!)

Hey, I just noticed, the swelling on the toe/nailbed has gone down!

[Fordogs]

Yes, they could just give the dog a sedative or better still a whiff of gas and pull the nail off, all over & done with very quickly, still sore for a day or 2 but heals faster.