P.O. Box 987
Valley Forge, PA 19482
(267) 249-5762
Non-Profit Corporation.
Dr. Anna Edling, Veterinarian Horsham Veterinary Hospital Horsham, PA Dr. Edling graduated from University of Pennsylvania in 1982, and has been in private small animal practice for 32 years. She owns multiple pets and also is a ferret specialist |
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That Bloody Torn Nail Fluffy has torn off a nail. She is lame, doesn’t want to touch her foot to the ground and it won’t stop bleeding. What’s the best thing to do? Sometimes the nail comes all the way off and you’re left with a bloody stub. If the dog will let you touch it, you can try applying cornstarch, flour, or use a styptic pencil. I had one client who never cooked, so didn’t have these items. She used a store-bought cake mix in desperation. Many of these dogs do end up at the Veterinary office because they won’t stop bleeding. Or the nail is broken but didn’t come all the way off. These dogs are in a lot of discomfort, because every time they take a step the nail moves. Or it hits objects when they are walking. We will remove the nail quickly by cutting or pulling it off. We sometimes need to stop bleeding with epinephrine injected locally, or cautery. I bandage all of them to protect the stub from further trauma. The owner can remove that in a couple of days and apply two or three layers of children’s socks to protect it for 10-14 days until the area hardens. Most of these nails will grow back normally after 2-3 months. I always put them on antibiotics. If the nail bed gets infected it can be very difficult to clear up, or can lead to infection of the adjacent bone. If your dog breaks off nails quite often or breaks several nails around the same time, there may be an underlying problem with the growth of the nail. In that case, Fluffy needs to be checked by your Veterinarian. |
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©2003-2009 The Animal Welfare Project P.O. Box 987 Valley Forge, PA 19482 (267) 249-5762 Duplication prohibited without written permission. |