Blood between nails and quick

[susanm530]

Last week our Greyhound sealed when I tried to trim her nails.  I noticed blood around the quick and inside the nail - on several toes.  Vet said it was not SLO and prescribed an antiseptic shampoo Phytovet CK as a wash in case of fungus or bacteria.  After 2 days, the nail on a rear foot came off and left the quick bare.  Back to the vet who prescribed 16 mg Apoquel for seven days.  

Today, the nail next to the one that fell off, is very loose and she seems to be in some pain.  Vet not in until Monday.  

Can you please offer suggestions.  Can I give her buffered aspirin?

Thanks

[KF_in_Georgia]

If you give aspirin, a vet will have to wait through the wash-out period before you can give a heftier pain reliever. And aspirin may cause more bleeding (it's a blood thinner). If your vet's office has an answering machine, leave a message, asking the vet to call a prescription for a pain med to a local pharmacy. (You name the pharmacy and give their phone number.)

I think you want a new vet--one who won't leave you with a dog in pain without also leaving pain meds. One possibility is a veterinary dermatologist. (Just google those two words and add your zip code to find one near you.) My girl is seeing a dermatologist over her nails--but hers definitely isn't SLO and she isn't losing nails. (He thinks it's vasculitis.) But my guy said SLO isn't one disease: It's a term encompassing a few different nail problems that manifest similar symptoms and thus get lumped all together, so maybe that's why your vet says it isn't SLO.

[susanm530]

Thank you!  I'll do that right now.

[DocsDoctor]

Can I second the recommendation to find a veterinary dermatologist? Ken suffered, off and on, with swollen and bleeding nailbeds for too long. Our vet and I initially thought they were just prone to infections and would put him on antibiotics, they would clear up and then after a few months flare up again. His nails never fell off but he also sometimes had a sore spot on his nose. Then the vet at the practice changed and the new one sent us to see their specialist dermatologist. She took scrapings but ended up diagnosing something called muco-cutaneous lupus by a process of elimination - as KF_in_Georgia says there are a cluster of conditions that can affect nails, and nailbeds. Our specialist says the muco-cutaneous lupus is one she has seen quite often in greyhounds and whippets here in the UK.  The good news is, it's easy to treat - a short course of steroids to get his paws and nose back to normal, and now just twice-daily doses of nicotinamide (vitamin B3) and oxytetracycline (an antibiotic). Those aren't expensive, are simple to give as pills, and keep him in fine form.

[tbhounds]

Sure sounds like SLO-I would seek a derm vet at this point.

[susanm530]

I am the original poster for this topic.  We just returned home after a 2 hour appointment with the vet dermatologist.  I'm so glad you suggested we make the appointment.  She confirmed SLO and Pandi now has her own weekly AM/PM pillbox.   She took a scraping of the nail bed and a blood sample.

Treatment:  prednisone full dose for 7 days; 2/3 dose for 10 days; then every other day until next appointment

                    doxycycline;  Ketoconazole for yeast infections;  Atopica for inflammation and is not a steroid; Vitamin E and Eicosaderm liquid for fatty acid

                    also Pepcid AC for her tummy and Phytovet CK shampoo for her feet - 3 times a week

We are hoping for the best - no more nail loss!

Thanks again to everyone who replied.