Tore Nail Entirely Off -- Vet Visit Needed?

[mitchelldm7]

Hello all,

My nine year old Greyhound was playing a bit aggressively over the weekend while in dog daycare, and tore a nail entirely off her front paw. Not split, not broken, entirely gone. We managed to stop the bleeding, but it looks somewhat raw where the nail once was. She's licking it occasionally, and limping about 20% of the time. While I can imagine that it is painful, is there anything we should watch out for, or is a vet visit required? 

Thank you!

[greysmom]

If it's open and a little oozy I would soak her foot in Epsom salts a couple times a day to help keep it clean and hopefully avoid infection.  Keep it dry and lightly covered by a toddler sock or walking boot the rest of the time.

Any swelling, gross leaking of the wound, bad smell, or non-weight bearing would indicate a vet visit.

If you have a pain reliever or nsaid it will help the soreness for these first few days until the wound hardens.

[PatricksMom]

I would take her in in the am, but not rush in to the evet if she seems basically okay. Leo had a break and beneath where we could see there was another break that had to be cleaned up under sedation (he was fine by the way).

[MerseyGrey]

Buddy broke his nail without taking it off. We took him to the vet who booked him in for sedation and removal a couple of days later, but said that if it came off on it’s own then not to worry about it unless it was giving him obvious pain. She prescribed us an NSAID for the interim. We took him for a walk the next day and it must have broken off completely when he scratched after his toilet break with not a peep from him. I would echo what’s already been said - painkillers for a day or two and keep an eye open for infection. Buddy licked his for about three weeks (he’s a champion licker anyway) but he was right as rain and running around like a lunatic within a couple of days.

[cleptogrey]

felix's nail popped right off while playing on the hard cold ground one winter. it did bleed like a stuck pig. i quick called the vet, from which i had just returned from. i was told to use either quick stop or soap to stop the bleeding. since then i have learned that flour will do the same thing. it clotted and a couple of months later a funky little stub of a nail started growing back. no need for a NASID, vet (unless it doesn't stop bleeding) nor restricted activities. i followed the trail of blood and found the nail! do try to keep nails shorter if possible to prevent this. but he just hit it at the wrong angle.

[seeh2o]

I would, just to get an antibiotic.  

[cleptogrey]

if it clots well and is initially cleaned an antibiotic is not necessary. antibiotics should only be used when really needed. my dogs have had staples, rips, tears, infected puncture wounds. drawing salve for the puncture wounds and that's about it!

[GreytMom]

Late to comment, but my girl did this about 3 months ago. Completely gone and a bloody mess - so vet started her on 10 days of antibiotics to avoid any infection since there was an open wound on her toe, which is on the ground and dirty and all that. 3 months later still no sign of a nail but the vet said to watch her toe. If it becomes swollen or inflamed to get her in as she will need more antibiotics. And he said he can see the nail in there but it has yet to grow out at all. 

[cleptogrey]

13 hours ago, GreytMom said:

Late to comment, but my girl did this about 3 months ago. Completely gone and a bloody mess - so vet started her on 10 days of antibiotics to avoid any infection since there was an open wound on her toe, which is on the ground and dirty and all that. 3 months later still no sign of a nail but the vet said to watch her toe. If it becomes swollen or inflamed to get her in as she will need more antibiotics. And he said he can see the nail in there but it has yet to grow out at all. 

it took almost 6 months for the nub to appear. then even w/ dremmeling it still grew in wonky. 

[GreytMom]

37 minutes ago, cleptogrey said:

it took almost 6 months for the nub to appear. then even w/ dremmeling it still grew in wonky. 

Interesting. I guess it will show up eventually. She has several wonky nails so I wonder if this has happened to her before. I’ve only had her for 6 months. Thx for the info! 

[karinj]

This just happened to my Mia last night!  So glad for the advice.  I called the vet and they said just to keep clean and dry and not to let her lick it (always a challenge with any dog!!).  Like the earlier post, she didn't even react to it coming off!  I put her to bed in her crate and I always go back right before I go to bed to give extra kisses and tummy rubs to my pups...thankfully because there she was with puddles of blood everywhere!!  I was shocked!  We cleaned and wrapped it for the night.  I think I will leave it wrapped most of today just to be sure bleeding holds off and then let it get air this evening when I can watch her.  Then I will do the sock idea.  I will also put Vetricin on it a few times daily.  I LOVE that stuff.  Mia gets lots of little cysts and they pop open frequently and the Vetricin really helps with healing and keeping infection at bay.  

[seeh2o]

Just a cautionary tale here.  Carl got nailed by another dog on the top of his head, at the same time his nail was pulled completely out.  The ER vet really messed up what should have been at the most, 6 stitches and never so much as cleaned the paw/nail bed.  He ended up going to a different ER about 12 hours later when he was brought home (I was on vacation in Hawaii at the time) his head was massively swollen and he looked like a lab.  He spent 5 days in the hospital.  Again, torn toenail was never attended to because they were so worried about the head.  Later, he began limping, they thought it was osteo, until it wasn't.  He died horribly at home of sepsis - needlessly, I couldn't get him to the emergency vet fast enough.  I had taken him to really great vets because of the botched stitches, when I asked about the toenail, everyone poo-pooed it.  Moving forward, I always make sure when they rip out a toenail that it gets cleaned and they go on antibiotics.