Colorado Dobes

I came home today and my older girl would not stop licking her paw. I got down and looked at it, and found that the entire tip of her claw has been torn off, and a huge portion of the quick of her nail is exposed. It looks so painful! What should I do? Wrap it? Should I put any ointment on it?

Julie W

Nothing at all, just leave it and let it heal on it's own. The more you fuss with it, the more they will fuss with it. Just keep an eye on it and look for obvious signs of infection (swelling, heat). It should be just fine and heal on it's own. If it's a split nail and doesn't grow out without continual splitting you may have to have it cut way back past the split, but if it's just broken off it should be fine. Keep her quiet and off of harsh surfaces like gravel until it's healed.

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Linda H

She will probably limp for two or three days and that will be it.

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DLS

Gad, living off the grid is great, but not when you are in the middle of posting something and your generater runs out of gas. LOL. OK, let's see if I can remember what I had already writin.

My Male Stormy loves to go hiking with me, he runs in and out of the bush like a freakin' maniac and has ripped the top off of his nail right down to the nail bed on a few occasions. He has those hard black short nails that curve like a hook at the ends, even though he seems to wear them all down naturally if there is just the slightest curve left it will hook and rip. Most of the time I just keep an eye on it and they grow out again with no problems, though he definitely favors that foot for awhile. On occasion I have been concerned about it getting infected so I will soak his foot in a salt water solution 3 or 4 times a day, it helps and he loves the special attention too.

reddobes

I would make sure she's not continuing to lick at it. There are lots of bacteria in the mouth and the licking can cause further irritation/inflammation.
If it is red/swollen or any discharge, then you should bring her in to your vet.

To help keep her from licking at it a few tips
Give her something better to eat/chew on - i.e. a good bone or filled kong.
Sometime a cotton sock will work for some dogs -- still lets air in, but keeps them from licking -- NOT a good option if you think the dog will eat the sock (like my boy dobe who will eat just about anything)
Elizabethan collar ("lamp shade" type collar) if she really won't leave it alone.

**The other thing I would check is to look at all of the other nails - do they look normal? or do they look brittle/irregular/flaky? The most common cause of broken/avulsed nails is trauma, but can also be from immune mediated disease (symmetrical lupoid onychodystrophy), infection in the nail bed, etc.
**One last thing to check is the appearance of the toe -- if it is swollen/irregular at all, I would bring her to your vet. Malignant melanomas are one of the more frequent toe tumors and are common in Dobes (other common location is the oral cavity) and these can be very aggressive tumors so early intervention is important ...and there is a new vaccine available at oncologists to help in treatment.

Colorado Dobes

It is looking better. The quick has already started to dry up and is at least no longer sticking out past the tip of the toe, so that's good. I spoke to the vet, and he said for me to watch for signs of infection. I put some triple antibiotic ointment on it and then taped a sock over her paw. I can't believe she isn't even chewing at the sock - she's usually bad about that when she has hurt her foot and it has to be bandaged.

reddobes

Glad it is looking better!

BackInBlack

Ouch!!!! I dont have any advice for you, but I hope it gets better soon!

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Jenny

That is exactly what happened with Isabelle. We actually just got back from the oncologist. Isabelle split a toe nail & is never healed. So keep an eye on it. She just finished with the new vaccine about a month ago!