# bad broken toenail



## lazy8man (Mar 22, 2008)

Any suggestions on a bad broken toenail? You can see the core (fully exposed). 

Chad


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## Predators My Prey (Nov 27, 2006)

You need to get ahold of campbamf his dog is always getting hurt(full steam ahead) Ripped off many of toe nails... I will call him now....


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## Mickey Finn (Jan 21, 2005)

If you mean split length wise. Super glue. clean it real well with a bulb syringe and hydrogen peroxide. Then, appy it in side and around the edge. Get in the nail as deep as possible. Then hold it together til it sets. After awhile it may split in another layer, just reapply the glue. When it grows out clip off what you can of the damaged part. When it's all clipped off, your worries are over til next time.


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## BIGSP (Sep 16, 2004)

I dealt with this last year with my male and once before with my female.

Couple of questions for you. Does it look like the nail tore off over the top just leaving a bloody stub? Did the nail crack deep and all the way up the nail? If you are in town I would call the vet and just have them look it over. Mine both happened in the U.P.


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## snowman11 (Nov 21, 2006)

If the broken part is still hanging there, you need to get it off. A pair of scissor type nail trimmers works well. Watch out for your dogs mouth, a perfectly tame dog still dislikes this procedure! 

If it is bleeding profusely, you can use styptic powder, which is not a whole lot more than corn starch usually mixed with a little benzocaine for pain relief. 

This is a wound that will usually get a quick injection of penicillin, which I don't entirely understand...it's just the way we roll at the clinic I work in.


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## BIGSP (Sep 16, 2004)

Mickey Finn said:


> If you mean split length wise. Super glue. clean it real well with a bulb syringe and hydrogen peroxide. Then, appy it in side and around the edge. Get in the nail as deep as possible. Then hold it together til it sets. After awhile it may split in another layer, just reapply the glue. When it grows out clip off what you can of the damaged part. When it's all clipped off, your worries are over til next time.


Mickey,

I heard of this before as well and did it with my female when she cracked her toenail. I must not have gotten it completely clean (which is a tough thing to do) and when I cut her nails a couple of weeks later a nasty smell and puss came out of it. So, I would be careful with the super glue trick. I would consult a vet first. A bad infection can lead to some serious problems down the road.


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## snowman11 (Nov 21, 2006)

I'm gonna have to agree. Do not seal any wound in unless it's had a surgical scrub, it has to be able to breathe.


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## Crowhunter (Aug 27, 2005)

It may come back Cody my lab tore off a nail a few years ago I took him to the vet and he said to keep it clean and he did not know if it would come back or not ,it grew out in a month ,I think as long as the nail bed is there you are going to be alright ,Bud


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## Mickey Finn (Jan 21, 2005)

BIGSP said:


> Mickey,
> 
> I heard of this before as well and did it with my female when she cracked her toenail. I must not have gotten it completely clean (which is a tough thing to do) and when I cut her nails a couple of weeks later a nasty smell and puss came out of it. So, I would be careful with the super glue trick. I would consult a vet first. A bad infection can lead to some serious problems down the road.


Good point! When in doubt, see the vet. To be honest, I've never smelled the dogs feet. :lol: clean is important. Sealing it with glue occludes further bacteria etc. from entering. As you can tell from the lack of bleeding. This area is not well perfused. So, I would think an infection could be tougher to cure. You have to keep on top of it. When it splits at a different layer. Clean again and seal. 

Lazyman8, if your unsure about handling it yourself. Then the Vet is your best bet. Snowman11 would know better, but I think they remove the damaged nail. This could take your dog out of action for a while. But, there really isn't much going on right now. Unless you go after grinners and raccoons. So, the timing couldn't be better for that.
Good luck.

p.s. If the nail is torn off, superglue won't help.


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## DanP (Mar 1, 2005)

My Maggie just did that last week. Tore the nail leaving it partially attached with a bloody stump. Took her to the vet - they cut off the last of the nail, cleaned and bandaged the foot for two days - then left open to air dry. ran foot in a boot for a couple of days when outside. Also a course of keflex 1000 mg a day for 7 days.

Looking good now but still tender. clipping her nails next time is going to be a real trip.


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## lazy8man (Mar 22, 2008)

She has not been to the vet. There is no problem with infection. It is broken laterally along the full length of the nail. Kind of like the open hood of a car. I took the top piece off right away. The bottom half of the nail is there still. You can see the core sitting there like a peanut in a shell. It is about a week old injury now. I want to keep running and was wondering if there is something to put on it to make it less sensitive/prone to injury. She will still go but I do not want to injure it worse. I also do not want to lay her up for the next month or more. Theres only a month left!

She has good feet and nails but it must have just been an accident. It happened while the ground was bare of snow but frozen solid. Always a tough time of year for feet injuries.

I figured some of you trialers must have some method of dealing with this to keep going.

Chad


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## DiversWelcome (Jan 15, 2007)

My dog just broke 2, one all the way down to the bone, now she is in a cone and can't run around for 7 days sucks bad


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## CampBamf (Jul 25, 2006)

Yep, Vegas gets hurt all the time, It happens when you got hunting dogs,
There is alot of good advice thats been given. I never hesitate to take Vegas to the docs, considering the time and money I have into her another $200 just adds to her value:lol::lol: toenails are nothing to mess with they can get infected easy and you never know how far the the break goes up the toenail. Vegas has done this several times and each time there has been slightly different kinds of treatment.( antibiotics, keep clean, keep covered, let it have open air etc..) let the doc tell you what to do. I can say you need to get a syringe and clean that nail 5-6 times a day and everytime the dog comes in from outside. Good luck


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## Tecumseh (Aug 13, 2004)

One of my dogs snapped their nail in two way back close to the toe. I didn't notice it right away and it didn't seem to bother him so I trimmed it back as far as I could, packed it with neosporin and it healed and grew back with no ill effects. Hopefully your dog's will be as painless on the wallet as mine was.


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## tedshunter (Dec 27, 2004)

I had my G.S.P. tear her nail back pretty far(1st time)Took her to the Vet and they trimmed it off wrapped her up and sent us home with some antibiotics and she was good in about 2 weeks. You have to give the paw time for a new nail to start growing.As for running your dog thru this injury I would'nt do it to my dog thats just meI know I would'nt want to be running in the woods etc on a paw that just had the nail ripped off for a week or 2.Since the injury is already a week old you are probably going to be o.k. with infection.


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## Hoppe's no.10 (Sep 16, 2007)

Been through this any number of times with my GSPs. Finally learned my lesson the hard way - inspect and if needed trim the dog's nails the night before going out - especially if any nails are 'hooked." And it doesn't hurt to round off any sharp edges with an emery board - an ounce of prevention can save you a lot of $$$ and potential down time of your dog. IMO superglue is to be used in cases of a split nail or the like but not really suitable for a hanging nail, exposed quick etc. Good possibility of a serious infection with nasty consequences. Keep the dog's nails trimmed back and you will eliminate much of this sort of thing happening.

Hoppe's no.10


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## birdog12 (Feb 5, 2007)

Hey Chad, sorry to hear about the injury. I'm assuming it's Fern. I'd be interested to find out how you end up protecting the nail core. Hope she heels up real fast for you.


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## lazy8man (Mar 22, 2008)

Thanks for the info fellas. It has healed up good on its own. We will be back at it now. Just in time.

chad


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