Toenail pulled out

[wems2371]

I'm sure this has been asked before, but is there anything I need to watch for with a toenail that appears to have been pulled out. My 15.5 year old lab came in the house with a toenail cocked to one side and spotting some blood on the floor. I got the clippers thinking I'd have to cut her even shorter, and end up with more bleeding. When I had the toenail in my fingers, it ended up just being the hard hollow outersurface, and it was hanging by a thread. I yanked it off, and can't quite tell if the nail is broke flush or pulled out. Do you have to watch for infection with these things? The old girl doesn't get around very well as it is...

[Munster]

Have no idea about that, but made me wonder how Roxi was doing after this weekend?

[wems2371]

Yeah, toenail is probably not a big deal at all, but all this old girl needs is one more thing wrong.

Roxi looks good. Lame on Saturday on rear foot, but Clint put a lot of miles & hours on her Friday, scouting for ducks...and she hasn't gotten run like that all summer. Then oddly lame in front foot on Sunday. She looks fine today, and hopefully that will be the end of it.

[jlp8cornell]

Denise- I had this happen with my German Shepherd I had as a kid. The quick was exposed. I soaked his foot in a bath with a very small amount of anti-bacterial soap and then kept it wrapped. I had some kind of (very) non-stick dressing at the time that I put on it, then vetwrap. I kept it very clean bc of the concern of nail bed infections. Maybe the docs will weigh in but I would keep it clean and covered for now...

[Sharon]

This makes me remember the kids in Syria who are having heir fingernails pulled out to get their parents to talk. It's a sad world.

[wems2371]

Thanks Jen! I had forgotten I had a few spare cordura dog boots left too, so that's pretty handy.

[ultracarry]

This makes me remember the kids in Syria who are having heir fingernails pulled out to get their parents to talk. It's a sad world.

There are way worse things that are happening closer to your home......

[wems2371]

Update--Her foot possibly started to swell Sunday night, not sure, as the husband is the one that let her out of the kennel and brought her into the house...and he didn't notice. This morning I noticed that her whole foot was swollen pretty good. She vomited in the middle of the night, and pooped in the house this afternoon, both uncharacteristic for her--even at 15.5 yrs. In talking about all her troubles, my husband and I decided that this may be a sign and the right time. Upon taking her to the vet this afternoon, he informed me that it's not uncommon for old dogs to get tumors in their feet/toes, and thereby make the toenail fall apart or fracture like it did. Something to that effect anyway. He said we could try to treat it for possible infection and pain, but felt we had come to the right conclusion of setting her free. I'm holding an empty collar now...

[Chukar12]

My goodness,
that is hard...but on behalf of the dog bless you. You know they live every day without fear of what is next and pain and misery are far worse to them than moving on...I hope in time the peace comes and that the memories get you through.

Joe

[Bberry20]

sorry to hear, atleast she can run now without any pain.

[wems2371]

Thanks for the kind words. She was an old gal that was mostly deaf, and I know her vision wasn't right either. She had no muscle tone in her rear end anymore, and her hind legs bent in unatural ways when she sat or laid down. She was still getting around, and wanted to go everywhere we went, but falling more frequently. It's hard to know when the right time ever is, but the toe/foot thing, kind of became the catalyst for making the decision. I'm fortunate to have a compassionate veterinarian that said several times, that he felt we were making the right decision. That didn't stop the tears, but it helped us to feel like we were doing the right thing for her.