Jump to content

Nail Bed Infections


Guest RedTigerJazz

Recommended Posts

Guest RedTigerJazz

Anyone ever deal with them? How bad are they? Can they be cleared up with just antibiotics or did you have to do something special with the foot?

 

Thanks.

 

~Lisa~

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gee had one that I was able to clear up with antibiotics.

 

You can also soak in Epsom salts to help in healing.

Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel

Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I imagine DesiRayMom will respond. She has a grey that has toenail bed infections. They can be a bear to clear up. There may be some underlying cause such as an allergy or an immune mediated disease.

 

You should buy some chlorhexidine soap (often you have to ask a pharmacist for it but there is no prescription necessary) or some ketochlor shampoo from your vet. I think this works better than epsom salts. Soak the affected paws for at least 5 minutes daily. If your dog won't put his paws in buckets, you can fill a heavy duty baggie and hold it tightly (or try a rubber band). I wrap some gauze around the leg to absorb any leaks.

 

It can also help if you put plastic bags on his paws (with rubber bands) whenever he goes out to do business. Be sure to remove them as soon as he comes in. If you want to cover his paws when he is inside be sure to use something that breathes, like a thin baby sock.

 

You will also need oral antibiotics. Cephalexin is available free (with a script) at Giant Eagle stores in Ohio. If you don't have a similar program, it is on the $4 formulary at Kroger and perhaps a store in your area.

 

You might also need some gentamicin spray and/or a fungicide spray -- depending on the type of infection. The vet will instruct you on that.

 

You will also need to keep him from licking. A turnout muzzle with a stool guard works well. If he doesn't lick them until they are wet, the baby sock will also work.

 

Jane

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest RedTigerJazz

Thanks for the greyt info, Jane.

 

We do have them (2 pups) on Cephalexin & are doing the Epsom salt soaks. Also using stool guards in the muzzles to prevent licking. Although they both almost immediately stopped messing with their toes as soon as we put them on the antibiotics so hopefully that's all that we'll need to do. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup, Jane was right. Here I am. DesiRay has had miserable problems with nail bed infections. We thought at first it was SLO, but he's never lost a nail, just yuck oozing from around the nailbeds of 3 toes. We treated with several protocols from SLO research

(antibiotics of several different kinds, Niacinamide, Chlorphenarmine, massive doses of Omega 3 fatty acids) for several months with

no noticable improvement.

 

The only definitive diagnosis for SLO is a biopsy, which means cutting off a toe & sending for a pathology report....which I did not

want to do. So we took a culture of the ooziness (is that a real word?) and it came back staph......resistant to Cephalexin.

 

I also switched his food to grain-free (duck & potato) and he's doing much better. My vet & I agree that this infection is secondary to an immune issue, as one protocol we tried was Prednisone, which worked wonderfully, but made DesiRay & I both miserable.

 

So I feel like this is something I'll have to deal with for his lifetime, sometimes better, sometimes worse.

 

He wore a child's sock in the house (some medical tape around the top to keep it up) and a bootie when he went out to keep the dirt

& lawn chemicals out...(everyone around here treats their yard & I have a deathly fear of chemicals getting into an open sore.

 

Hope the Cephalexin works miracles & neither have to go through this again.

 

Kathy

Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest aeroangie

When I adopted my second Greyhoud Blaze in 2000, he came off the track with one of these. Two surgeries had to be performed over the next year. With the second operation, they had to amputate half of that digit. It wasn't at all fun but he finally got total relief. In fact, this was the reason for his non- racing status.

 

I wonder if this is common for Greyhounds?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

RedTigerJazz............wondering how the feet are doing. Did the epsom salts soak help? That is something I never thought of

(don't know why, sounds perfectly logical). I figure DesiRay's toes will "flare up" again sometime in the future, and I will try

that, too, if you think it helped your kids.

Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
Guest RedTigerJazz

Sorry, DesiRayMom. I never checked back on this thread.

 

The epsom salt soaks were a PIA. Difficult to keep the paw in the water. A round of antibiotics cleared everything up, though. :)

 

~Lisa~

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nixon injured one of his hind toes and the nail a couple of weeks ago doing zoomy spins in the yard.

I treated with polysporin for a few days, but the nail bed still looked quite raw, so we took him in to the clinic and he is on an antibiotic.

We're 'trying' to do the epsom salt soaks. Not easy, but we're getting better at it.

 

Nancy...Mom to Sid (Peteles Tiger), Kibo (112 Carlota Galgos) and Joshi.  Missing Casey, Gomer, Mona, Penelope, BillieJean, Bandit, Nixon (Starz Sammie),  Ruby (Watch Me Dash) Nigel (Nigel), and especially little Mario, waiting at the Bridge.

 

 

SKJ-summer.jpg.31e290e1b8b0d604d47a8be586ae7361.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest TeddysMom

This is not just a GH problem. I have had several foster boxers that had horrible nail bed infections that just kept coming back also a Great Pyr that had ongoing problems. Hope you can get this cleared up and it never comes back. Good Luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my crazy male always rips up his nail beds - usually an outside toe, front. the last time he screwed up his nail bed he also cut the flesh starting at the bed for a good 1/4 to 3/8s of an inch.he runs really hard in our yard which is all mulch. i tried soaking w/ epsoms, no luck but i was able to keep it clean. had a couple of suggestions here on line, but things were looking raw and not healing. i finally called my adoption rep, who i don't like to bother, but she is a vet. her answer...medicated powder and keep it dry. after nearly 2 weeks of soaking, leaving it alone- gently wrapped- some initial topical antibiotics... the nasty cut was healed and dry in a matter of days. ammen's original medicated powder was the answer. i think gold bond will work as well.

 

i have used ammen's on raw webbing as well, my crazy guy really does his paws in at the beach.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
Guest beejer52

So glad I found this topic. Have an 8 year old grey that is having a nail bed problem. Discovered it when nails were clipped. There was a clear fluid coming from the nail with a very distinct odor. As of now, she is on something for pain (as vet says these are quite painful) and a antibiotic. She wasn't really showing any discomfort when we went for the original trim, but since she's been on medication, she seems to be favoring the foot. My vet versed me on something (can't remember what it was called, but said he's only seen a handful of cases) where the nail and or toe has to be removed. He also said it can effect all nails/toes since it is an auto immune disease. His discription sounded herefic and I so hope this is not what my little girl is facing. I read something about having the fluid sent to a lab on one of the earlier posts? Any input is welcome so I can discuss futher with my vet.

BJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like your vet is thinking SLO. Do NOT amputate the toe for that -- not needed. You might get more responses if you start a new topic in this Health and Medical area. Best luck!

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like your vet is thinking SLO. Do NOT amputate the toe for that -- not needed. You might get more responses if you start a new topic in this Health and Medical area. Best luck!

Yup- sounds like SLO-- do NOT amputate!!!!! This condition can be controlled with medications.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My Plummer has infected nail beds and it is ongoing and challenging. I was biopsied and SLO had to be ruled out as the tissue was to small to be conclusive.

So 5 years later, I am determined to control this.

So for now, I use to use Epson salt but have switched to Selsun Blue shampoo, recommended by my Vet. Also a antifungel topical and he was on Doxcycline but it is not working.

He has been on antibiotics for years with no success.

I am going to call vet tomorrow and try Cephalexin .

I also am using a topical silver sulfadiazine cream by prescription which has seemed to help dry up the area.

Baby socks are a staple in this house along with masking tape.

 

This nail bed infection is a job. But Plummer seems less stressed and doesn't lick his paws anymore. He has it on 2 paws.

 

Good luck and hope your pupper gets some relief. Keep this post going and we can bounce off some ideas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update on Desi's nails.......what an ordeal. Cephalexin did nothing, nor did Doxy, nor did the SLO protocol.

 

Fungal culture of the ooze was negative.

 

Even with soaks and topicals, they just kept getting worse & worse. One toe on right rear = horrible; one toe on each

of other 3 paws also affected, but not as badly.

 

Right now, am trying Atopica (immune suppressant). I had high hopes....in 2 weeks, all lesions were healing & looking

better than I'd ever seen them. However, side effects are absolutely miserable. And the longer he's on it (next week

will be 4 weeks) the worse they seem to get. Anxiety, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss. I'm torn between having his

feet making him miserable, or the feet being fine & him just generally feeling rotten. After 30 days, we start to wean

the Atopica back to every other day; shooting for a final dose of twice a week. Maybe that will be better.

 

This is what the worst toe looked like before we started Atopica.

 

oct2011013.jpg

 

Now it's all pretty pink healthy tissue, even though it looks kind of scarred and I doubt it he'll ever have fur there again.

You can see the icky crud oozing from around the nail bed. He wore toddler socks nealy all the time & boots outside because

I was so worried about dirt & lawn chemicals getting into the lesion. He's been "barefoot" for 2 weeks now.

Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update on Desi's nails.......what an ordeal. Cephalexin did nothing, nor did Doxy, nor did the SLO protocol.

 

Fungal culture of the ooze was negative.

 

Even with soaks and topicals, they just kept getting worse & worse. One toe on right rear = horrible; one toe on each

of other 3 paws also affected, but not as badly.

 

Right now, am trying Atopica (immune suppressant). I had high hopes....in 2 weeks, all lesions were healing & looking

better than I'd ever seen them. However, side effects are absolutely miserable. And the longer he's on it (next week

will be 4 weeks) the worse they seem to get. Anxiety, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss. I'm torn between having his

feet making him miserable, or the feet being fine & him just generally feeling rotten. After 30 days, we start to wean

the Atopica back to every other day; shooting for a final dose of twice a week. Maybe that will be better.

 

This is what the worst toe looked like before we started Atopica.

 

oct2011013.jpg

 

Now it's all pretty pink healthy tissue, even though it looks kind of scarred and I doubt it he'll ever have fur there again.

You can see the icky crud oozing from around the nail bed. He wore toddler socks nealy all the time & boots outside because

I was so worried about dirt & lawn chemicals getting into the lesion. He's been "barefoot" for 2 weeks now.

Are you keeping the Atopica in the freezer?? If frozen the side effects should be reduced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep! Atopica in freezer, always. Side effects came on gradually. First week was horrible anxiety & soft stool.

Second week, anxiety lessened, soft stool continued, but I can deal with that.

Third week, came the vomiting & lethargy, weight loss, watery diarrhea. Just this weekend, he's started "posturing"

on walks, like he's straining to have BM. He just looks like he's got miserable gut cramps and the vomiting is becoming

more frequent.

 

Derm specialist from Novartis is coming to clinic on Tuesday......I have LOTS of questions & opinions for him!!

Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest beejer52

Update on Desi's nails.......what an ordeal. Cephalexin did nothing, nor did Doxy, nor did the SLO protocol.

 

Fungal culture of the ooze was negative.

 

Even with soaks and topicals, they just kept getting worse & worse. One toe on right rear = horrible; one toe on each

of other 3 paws also affected, but not as badly.

 

Right now, am trying Atopica (immune suppressant). I had high hopes....in 2 weeks, all lesions were healing & looking

better than I'd ever seen them. However, side effects are absolutely miserable. And the longer he's on it (next week

will be 4 weeks) the worse they seem to get. Anxiety, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss. I'm torn between having his

feet making him miserable, or the feet being fine & him just generally feeling rotten. After 30 days, we start to wean

the Atopica back to every other day; shooting for a final dose of twice a week. Maybe that will be better.

 

This is what the worst toe looked like before we started Atopica.

 

oct2011013.jpg

 

Now it's all pretty pink healthy tissue, even though it looks kind of scarred and I doubt it he'll ever have fur there again.

You can see the icky crud oozing from around the nail bed. He wore toddler socks nealy all the time & boots outside because

I was so worried about dirt & lawn chemicals getting into the lesion. He's been "barefoot" for 2 weeks now.

 

Update on Desi's nails.......what an ordeal. Cephalexin did nothing, nor did Doxy, nor did the SLO protocol.

 

Fungal culture of the ooze was negative.

 

Even with soaks and topicals, they just kept getting worse & worse. One toe on right rear = horrible; one toe on each

of other 3 paws also affected, but not as badly.

 

Right now, am trying Atopica (immune suppressant). I had high hopes....in 2 weeks, all lesions were healing & looking

better than I'd ever seen them. However, side effects are absolutely miserable. And the longer he's on it (next week

will be 4 weeks) the worse they seem to get. Anxiety, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss. I'm torn between having his

feet making him miserable, or the feet being fine & him just generally feeling rotten. After 30 days, we start to wean

the Atopica back to every other day; shooting for a final dose of twice a week. Maybe that will be better.

 

This is what the worst toe looked like before we started Atopica.

 

oct2011013.jpg

 

Now it's all pretty pink healthy tissue, even though it looks kind of scarred and I doubt it he'll ever have fur there again.

You can see the icky crud oozing from around the nail bed. He wore toddler socks nealy all the time & boots outside because

I was so worried about dirt & lawn chemicals getting into the lesion. He's been "barefoot" for 2 weeks now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest beejer52

Sounds like your vet is thinking SLO. Do NOT amputate the toe for that -- not needed. You might get more responses if you start a new topic in this Health and Medical area. Best luck!

Yup- sounds like SLO-- do NOT amputate!!!!! This condition can be controlled with medications.

Thanks, I do not want to even think about pulling the nail, or removing the toe, that is why I am here. I saw the pic of Desimom, my girls toe looks nothing like this. The toe itself is fine it is only her nail. The nail seems almost hollow, with a clear drainage. She's just finished round one antibiotics, don't appear to have improved as seems to favor the foot. I'm putting Neosporin on it just because I can, can't hurt. She will have a follow up this week, at which time I will suggest a culture if there is still drainage, or perhaps trying the cephalex mentioned on this thread.

 

I saw the pic for Desimom and my gals toe looks nothing like this, hers is nail only. Nail seems to be almost hollow, with clear drainage. Vet did suggest SLO but read this forum as I do not want to have nail or toe removed. She has finished first round of antibiotic, no change noticed, seems to favor the foot now in fact. Will suggest trying the Cephalex as mentioned in this forum, perhaps a culture of fluid if still present.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...