Guest cosmogrey Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Hello everyone! I just adopted my Luke last August, and as a first-time dog owner (we used to have family dogs, I never had my own) I can say that I couldn't have picked a better dog to begin with! I have noticed though, for about 2 weeks now that Luke's nails appear to be brittle. I was trimming them this morning and some of the nails practically pulverized when I tried cutting them. I use a guillotine-type nail clipper. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated! BTW this is a great forum, apologize if this topic was posted before (I didn't find any new ones though) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAVED2 Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Ask a vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaGreys Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Congratulations on the adoption, he's a handsome boy! One thing that may help is to add fish oil to his diet, that really helps with nails. Quote Missing my little Misty who took a huge piece of my heart with her on 5/2/09, and Ekko, on 6/28/12 For the sick, the lost, and the homeless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joejoesmom Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 I am not saying that this is the problem, just something to watch for: There is an autoimmune disease that causes nail problems. The nails will bleed, fall off, and when they grow back are usually deformed. They tend to be crumbly. The quicks are very short. The disease is called Symmetrical Lupoid Onychodystrophy, or SLO. Without treatment, the pattern repeats. Greyhounds are one of the breeds that are more prone to develop this disease. SLO does not decrease the lifespan nor does it cause more serious illnesses. It is usually well controlled with dietary supplements and medication. That being said, it is probably just dietary related. As chudshome said, add fish oil to the diet. You might also want to add some vitamin E. If you notice that the nails bleed and fall off, I would suspect SLO. Not all vets are familiar with this (it is fairly uncommon except in just a few breeds). Suzanne Stack has some info on this on the website. There is also a Yahoo Group for SLO. Hope this info helps. p.s. I have a foster hound. We suspected SLO. It turns out that all of his symptoms (nearly classic SLO) are due to a food allergy. Go figure .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliforniaGreys Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 I use EicosaDerm, which is the Omega 3 fatty acids and also contains vitamin E Quote Missing my little Misty who took a huge piece of my heart with her on 5/2/09, and Ekko, on 6/28/12 For the sick, the lost, and the homeless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cosmogrey Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Thank you so much for all the insights! I have seen one whole nail on his dog bed, so it probably fell off. No spontaneous bleeding though; the only time I noticed some nail bleeding was when I trimmed his nails for the first time, and I cut too close to the quick. I do hope it's not SLO. It might be from an allergy. I suspect he has a chicken allergy, because he started having diarrhea after I topped his kibble with chicken stew. Once I switched to beef his poo was good and solid (which reminds me, I really enjoyed following the turd thread!) Again, I appreciate the input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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