in2adventure Posted November 28, 2007 Report Share Posted November 28, 2007 About a weeka nd a half ago I notice Lucia licking her left leg a lot. When I checked it out, her dew claw nail was split horizontally (like if you or I pulled our nail off the nail bed - ouch!) It was full of dirt, so I cleaned it out and slowly trimmed the nail back a little each day so she wouldn't catch it on anything else. No limping, no redness, no bleeding. I let her do an agility class this weekend where the flooring was rubber mats and the nail got really irritated. The whole dew claw swelled up and turned bright red and the nail keeps bleeding I suppose I shouldn't have let her do agility, but didn't think this would happen. I've cleaned it every morning and evening, put a little dab of antibiotic oinmrnt on it, keeping it wrapped (she licks it like crazy) and dry. The redness is now gone, but it's still very swollen and bleeds a little whenever the bandage is changed. I soaked it in epsom salts tonight and letting her foot air dry for awhile. I'll wrap it again before bed to keep her from licking it. At what point, being concerned about the swelling, should I consider a vet? I think I'm doing all the right things for it, I'm just worried about infection. It doesn't look infected now that the redness is gone, but you never know. I don't want to pay a huge first time office visit (not near my reg vet) for someone to tell me to keep up what I'm doing. Anyone else have this happen before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryP Posted November 28, 2007 Report Share Posted November 28, 2007 Charlie is notorious for breaking nails, including his dew claws. He usually does this when playing frisbee. If the break is pretty high up, I take him to my vet and let him cut it off and cauterize it. If there isn't too much quick involved, I cut it myself and put Quick Stop on it to stop the bleeding. Milo has also had to have a dew claw clipped off by my vet. It's quick, relatively painless, and will prevent infection. If Lucia's nail is already infected, I'd suggest getting her to your vet. Milo had one that was infected a few years ago because I didn't realize that he had split it. By the time I got him to the vet, he ended up needing oral antibiotics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in2adventure Posted November 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2007 The split was really far back and involved the quick. That's why it keeps bleeding. It doesn't look infected, but the swelling around the nail is a concern. If it doesn't go down in the next couple days, I'll call a local vet. It looks good tonight (compared to what it looked like 2 days ago) and she doesn't seem to be messing with it too much. It's good to know , Lucia isn't the only pup etaring nails I still can't figure out how or exactly when she did it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in2adventure Posted November 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2007 This morning the swelling was almost gone and the toe actually looks like a toe again The nail it going to look funny for awhile though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenajo Posted November 28, 2007 Report Share Posted November 28, 2007 If it swells again, or in any way looks infected she needs to go the vet. nail infections can quickly spread into the bone and cause some pretty serious damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.