Dog nail half split - how to treat/repair?

[AnimalsAll]

Hi all,

 

Our 48kg, 5yo fosterdog of 2mths, has a new split in one of his outside front paw nails, that runs from the tip about halfway to the base. It hasn't bled. He's a very sensitive dog who suffered significant violent trauma from humans pre-rescue, so is distrustful once his fear is triggered. Any vet treatment is likely to raise his baseline anxiety, which has really lowered in our care, so we're keen to avoid vet IF safe to do so.

 

Please see 2 photos, attached, taken before & after we managed to trim the nail tip, yesterday. This required his 2 trusted carers; nail clipper; muzzle (he's fully trained for); nil force & lots of treats. He growled & momentarily air-snapped shortly after the single clip, but recovered well, with limited apparent impact on baseline anxiety.

 

We're painting or briefly soaking the cracked nail in 1:10 diluted Bettadine, to try to keep bacteria from colonising the crack & reaching the quick. He's been licking the nail/paw occasionally, but we discourage/distract him from this & it's not been too frequent, so far. I think an Elizabethan collar will significantly raise his anxiety & he'll paw at it with damaged nail (he has history of removing one after de-sexing). Likewise, I think an adhesive dog bandage on his paw would soon be torn off, potentially damaging the cracked nail further. Also, just putting bandage on will likely require force or sedation, both of which we hope to avoid.

 

We hadn't tried to trim or file his nails, yet, because we're still building his trust in having his paws touched & handled. He's particularly sensitive about having his paws, tail, ears & mouth touched.

 

I've read that human split nails can have the crack temporarily covered (until they grow out) by means of fine gauze (teabag paper) coated in nail varnish. I've researched non-toxic nail varnish for dogs, but am concerned it may still irritate quick if this is exposed through crack. I also fear dog may chew treatment off.

 

Another forum site offered the idea of supergluing the crack to prevent further splitting. But again, I'd be concerned about toxic chemicals, possible irritation of the quick & ingestion if he chews the glue off. I'm also unsure if keratin nails form a strong bond with superglue, or if glue will hold on a fine joint like this crack.

 

So am wondering if any readers have had any comparable experiences; know of any safe repair/binding method; or other useful ideas?

 

Thanks

[Deeds]

Can you give him a tranquilliser before you take him to the Vet.  Your dog may require antibiotics at the very least.

A similar incident with the nail on the front paw happened with my Giant recently.  We took him to the Vet who operated and stitched the split skin.  He had a bandage with a sock over it for quite a few weeks.  He could still walk but was limited to restricted daily walking.

And because the nail is so sensitive they don't like it being touched.  I always gave my dog  a mild sedative (Trazadone) prior to visits.

[tdierikx]

Pretty sure that any vet looking at that nail will want to remove the entire nail surgically under an anaesthetic, which will result in him requiring the foot to be bandaged and protected while the new nail grows in, including regular bandage changes and vet revisits to check healing. I had a Rotti boy who'd do the same thing on a regular basis (clumsy boy) - he was also anxious, but only when confined in small spaces, so I used to have to be with him for his pre-anaesthetic, and post surgical recovery, before taking him home once he could stand... so he never had to go in the vet cages.

 

You might be able to get a vet to make a housecall if that would be more comfortable for your boy - how is he with visitors? The vet could bring injectible sedation if that would make it easier to look at and possibly treat the issue at home, maybe a dremel might allow better access and drainage of the split while the rest of the nail grows out.

 

Good luck...

 

T.

[Rebanne]

I'd leave it be. 

[AnimalsAll]

Many thanks to all 3 responders (plus others who read my post, looked at photos, but felt they had no value to add). 

I thought I'd send a 3wk update, both for responders and in case others experience similar situations in future.

Please see attached photos - first taken just before 2nd nail clipping (2 nights ago), 2nd & 3rd photos taken today.

After the first clipping of the damaged nail 3 weeks ago, our big, sensitive boy thankfully stopped licking his toenail, and hasn't done so, since (that we've seen). We had to ease off on the dilute Bettadine dabs (soaks became impossible, faster) as it seemed more distressing to him than potentially helpful in stemming infecfion.

We decided (after reading responses) not to seek a vet opinion unless and until any signs of infection appeared, and to monitor closely for these.

He'd already proven that two types of sedative/pain relief (clonidine at max dose/kg and pregabolin - used both before and after a surgery to remove his large teeth likely broken by violent humans pre-rescue - had little effect on stemming his anxious/defensive responses. In fact, Clonidine seems to make him more (not less) irritable and distrustful - his behaviour has improved as we wean him off it.

My experience with this boy and another dog is that trauma anxiety of the kind triggered by flashbacks to real trauma suffered in the past (much like PTSD in humans) is not really treatable with Clonidine. Whereas, perpetual high baseline anxiety, where a dog is hypervigilant and therefore overstimulated rather than relaxed by exercise in nature; is responsive to Clonidine for the time it is needed to reduce the baseline anxiety and desensitise to calm outdoor walks.

Anyway, luckily, no symptoms of infection have yet arisen...

But we did discover, over time, that his nail hasn't just cracked once, but twice - once on either side of the centre. The area around each crack has also grown more brittle - a white hair got caught between the cracks as seen in photo 1 - and we discovered bruising around his nailbed on the inside edge.

Fortunately, his nail grew but the cracks in it didn't lengthen. So, 2 nights ago I chose to cut the tip as short as I felt was possible while avoiding any bleeding and any substantial pain. He was both muzzled and asleep (after a meal) when I cut the nail, this time. He awoke with a start on my cut and emitted a slightly delayed snarl of defence.  He was suspicious & growled at me for a while after, but by yesterday, he'd kindly forgiven me.

He's never limped on this cracked nail nor cried in pain (lying on his side with sore paw in air) as he regularly does for (apparently) jarred ankles, which spontaneously recover.

The shorter cut of his damaged nail is intended to reduce upward pressure on  the cracks as he walks, and should increase the structural integrity of the damaged nail as it (hopefully) grows out. But we're aware this cut also raises risk of infection by reducing the external barrier to his nerve/blood supply from below. So we're reinstatimg dilute Bettadine dabs, for now.

All further advice welcome. Fingers crossed infection can be avoided and damaged nail grow out with ~2-3weekly trims.

 

[Boronia]

Try this next time you need to clip/examine/fiddle around with his nail. It should help. It worked well on one on my Westies who was very afraid of storms

You can get it on-line or at Petbarn  (linkie here)