Broken Toe Nail Quick Exposed

[ash1]

Our little fella has just broken one of his toenails - sorry, claws!. It is split in half very close to the toe and the quick is exposed, it's causing him a bit of pain. Should we cut it off where it's broken (this will hurt, right through the quick), or leave it for the vet in the morning? (Our local vet is open for a couple of hours on Sunday mornings). If leave it for the vet, should we bandage it or just leave it?

Sorry to post in general, but not sure what to do and figure this will probably be the busiest place this time of night.

[kelpiecuddles]

Sascha completely ripped her nail off a while back leaving just the quick. Don't cut it as it will bleed like crazy! I would use a little bandaging tape to wrap around it and hold the nail together so it's less likely to get pulled apart and then put a sock over his foot. When it happened to Sascha I spoke to my neighbour who happens to be the head nurse at our local vet clinic and she agreed with me that there was nothing to be done but keep it clean, keep her quiet and wait for it to regrow...she wore an explorer sock for a week. if it's split right down the middle the vet may want to try to remove some of the claw but I wouldn't try anything yourself.

[Vehs]

I'd leave it for the vet but try to keep it clean. If you cut thru the quick it will be painful and there will be a bit of blood.

My boy ripped his toenail off hooning around the yard - I sprayed it off with the hose (there was blood everywhere) dried it off with paper towel and then put gauze and vet tape around it to keep it clean. It grew back a little crooked but it was fine. Just kept it clean and a few days without walks.

If it does keep bleeding or if you decide to cut it... you can use cornflour or cake soap to stop the bleeding if you don't have any stypic powder handy.

[harley]

My lab broke his toenail, exposing a large amount of the quick a week and a half ago. We didn't notice any blood and he had a scheduled vet visit the next day anyway. The vet said to give his foot salt water baths twice a day for about a week.

I had already given him a pain tablet prior to noticing his nail too so that would of helped him.

It looks pretty good now, so hopefully your little fella will be ok too.

Eta, yes, he missed out on some walks too

Edited January 11, 2014 by harley

[mixeduppup]

If you cut it you could cause a bit pf a phobia due to pain, the bleeding will stop eventually but if the vet does it they can stop the bleeding with the proper powder straight away. If you're concerned then take him in. My dogs have done this before. I just cut it off and applied pressure until the bleeding stops but if you're unsure or not confident then don't do it yourself.

Edited January 11, 2014 by mixeduppup

[2boxer]

I'd leave it alone and take her to the vet, they will prob remove the nail as leaving it broken will continue to cause her pain. My dogs have done it before and once removed they were very comfortable.

[ash1]

Thank you so much everyone, for your quick (pun unintentional!) responses.

We have bandaged it up and will take him up to the vet in the morning. When we discovered it I suggested cutting it off to hubby, as soon as I said it we both just grimaced at each other - guess we're a bit too sooky to manage that ourselves and nothing here to stop any resultant bleeding.

[poochmad]

I would put a bandage on it and take her to the vet.

A similar thing happened with our dog. We just took her to the vet where he cut it off and applied all the meds to stop it bleeding, put disinfectant on it and wrapped it up. The nail was fine and we had no trouble trimming her nail later (once it had grown back).

[tdierikx]

I had a Rottie boy who used to do that regularly... 4 times in 6 months was his record.

I used to put a piece of non-stick gauze over the toe, then pad with plenty of cotton wool, then bandage... until we could go to the vet and have it fixed up properly.

The padding from the cotton wool made it easier for him to bear weight on that foot until we could have him seen to.

T.

[ash1]

Thanks again everyone.

Just home from the vet, who did exactly what we contemplated doing last night - i.e., cut it off at the break, them gave him a shot of AB's to ward off infection. $86 later and a wee fella who is currently not talking to me (I held him whilst the vet snipped), all is well :)

[Rebanne]

Glad all is well. One of my dogs did this and I just cut it off above the break, out in the back yard. It did grow back in a bit crooked so had to keep an eye on it for extra nail trimming.

[Blakbelgian]

Glad your boy is feeling better now, he will forgive you once you feed him.

My boy when younger broke his nail, took him to the vet and they pulled it off and it has never grown back. Thats one less nail to trim. :)

BB

[tdierikx]

My boy cost me $235 each time he snagged his nails... and that was "mates rates" at the vet clinic. He was a 47kg Rottie and needed to be anaesthetised for the procedures, so I'm reckoning all I paid for were the out of pocket costs to my vet... *grin*

Glad your little man is going to be fine... can you pass on a cuddle from me please?

T.

[ash1]

Thanks guys, little fella has now forgiven me (yes, he decided to forgive me once food was forthcoming :laugh: ) and is currently lying asleep in my lap.

He's hobbling around a little bit (foot is bandaged), such a sooky boy, he's milking it for all he's worth as it is resulting in lots of treats and cuddles (tdierikx, your cuddle duly passed on :) - gee $86 now sounds like a positive bargain compared to your Rotti. Mind you the vet accidentally printed out my financial year to date of what I had spent since July and I just about fainted dead away )