Member

Posts: 33
From:Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 11-30-2003 04:47 PM         

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Hi,
I can't find any info on this in earlier posts...maybe this isn't a common occurrence! Noticed Tyson was licking his toenails alot and finally looked closely at them and noticed one was split in half almost right to the top. We tried to trim the ends but it obviously hurt so we're waiting till we can get to the vet. He doesn't favour that foot though & certainly runs around as much as usual. Anyone know how this happens (I hope to God it's not poor nutrition as we're paying an arm & leg for his food!)? How is it treated? Thanks everyone!

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Posts: 116
From:mcminnville tn usa
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 11-30-2003 05:16 PM         

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Forrest, my miniature schnauzer had to have surgery on a split nail, we have no idea how he got it, he eats healthy food, and he exercises as much as he wants, but it clicked when he walked and he winced when we touched his leg. The surgery went well though, so if your dog has to have surgery, i wouldn't be too worried, forrest got around well after the surgery, but he gnawed off his bright green bandage, lol he couldn't stand the thing!

[This message has been edited by daphne (edited 11-30-2003).]

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From:
Registered: Mar 2003

posted 11-30-2003 09:48 PM         

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You might try to clean it with peroxide/water mix, or betadine, just to keep infection from starting. Otherwise, let the vet handle it. Some can just be left alone, or the piece pulled/cut off, but your pup's sounds like a more serious split, so the vet need's to check it. I would guess that it's not from poor nutrition, as I've seen/heard of it happening to many different dogs on various diets. It does tend to happen when the nails get long, and often during rough play or exercise, when the nail is put under a lot of stress.

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Registered: May 2003

posted 12-01-2003 10:00 AM         

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Wylies split her nail pretty good one time _ think w\from just playing and I took hr to the vet and just clipped it almost to nothing. I dont think they even bandaged it. I would have the vet take a look at it

Honeybear

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Posts: 33
From:Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 12-01-2003 10:48 AM         

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Wow! Daphne, I had no idea surgery might be necessary. Is there such a thing as local anesthesia for dogs? I'd heard that general anesthesia can kill some dogs. Honeybear I'll be crossing my fingers that it turns out as simple as it was for Wylie!

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From:Columbus, Tx ,USA
Registered: Dec 2003

posted 12-01-2003 01:11 PM         

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I've had my heelers split their nails after work. Wash it really good and clip what you can, if its all the way to the quick. If not then just trim it and let them go about their way.
Most dogs will fix it themselves. By licking their wounds they have an acid in their mouth that creates a healing affect, so its best to leave a small wound alone. Toenails are about the same, mostly my dogs will trim them their selves but occasionally we have to help a split nail.

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Posts: 1179
From:,Calif. U.S.A.
Registered: Dec 2002

posted 12-01-2003 05:18 PM         

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My poodles dewclaw was torn off when I first got her. The gromer just told me to clean it with peroxide and then put neosporin and a bandage. I changed the bandage twice a day. It grew back too.
Some people actually take their dogs to the vet abd have the vet quick the dogs toenails under anestesia. Not me thou. So maybe the vet can at least shorten the one with the problem. Try to make sure you are trimming toenails frequently.

I have never ever heard of a dog trimming his own nails other than from walking on the cement. Thats strange.

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Posts: 36
From:Canada
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 12-01-2003 10:54 PM         

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My in-laws spaniel chews on his nails and even though he's an indoor dog his nails are always short because he "trims" them.

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Posts: 33
From:Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 12-05-2003 10:28 AM         

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Well, for $50 the vet said to soak his paw in warm water with Epsom salts for a few minutes a few times a day! Not sure what that's going to do....he sure doesn't like it, it's a 2 man job keeping him still!

Someone told me about a kind of varnish you can put on their nails that seals the split...anyone heard of that?

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Posts: 1387
From:Portland, Oregon US
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 12-05-2003 11:42 AM         

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$50???? sheesh! That would make me mad. It's $20 for an exam at my office. Did he actually do anything for the nail?

I can't see the nail of course, but I would probably leave it alone if it's not bleeding or infected. Dooley has one nail that will crush if I don't use a really sharp trimmer. His nails are black but you can see this one nail has a crack in it always, not an open crack...you can just see the line. The first time that happened I freaked, I used styptic powder to stop the bleeding and then used a putty product I have for my horses hooves to kind of fuse it back together. It kept the nail together until it could grow out a bit more. His nail has split like that twice since then and both of those times I just used the powder to stop the bleeding,cleaned it with peroxide and left it alone. When I clip that nail now I have to use very sharp trimmers and take little bits at a time off.
My husband had an abcess once and he was told to soak it in epsom salts too. His mother used epsom salts for everything,literally everything! We joke about it all the time. My horse has gotten bruised soles before and we were told to soak her feet in epsom salts....you think it's hard to get a dog to stand still...try making a 1200 pound horse keep her foot in a bucket. The good news is that the more you have to do these things, the more efficient and resourceful you learn to become when it comes to your animals.

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posted 12-05-2003 12:18 PM         

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Epsom salts do have medicinal properties. It has something to do with drawing bad stuff out of your cells. I can't find the article I read about it once, but I did find this:

"Epsom salt is Magnesium Sulfate (MgSO + 7H2O)...Researchers in nutrition, through controlled experimentation, have found that Magnesium Sulfate accelerates the body's healing time by 1/3. As an example, if an injury required three weeks to heal under normal or standard conditions, it would only require two weeks to heal if Magnesium Sulfate was added to the diet as a nutrition. Epsom Salts are used to charge up your body and assist the physical aspect of your body to repair or heal itself and/or to create a higher physical stress envelope."

All the vets I have ever gone to charge $50 for the exam fee. Then any other expenses get added on top. I even paid $50 to have my mouse examined. I think I am going to move to Portland.

Jamiya

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From:Portland, Oregon US
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 12-05-2003 12:28 PM         

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It doesn't even cost me $50 to have my horses vet drive out to my barn!...of course everything else she does while there costs me an arm and a leg but still!

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From:Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 12-05-2003 12:49 PM         

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We did get a nail trim out of the deal! (only for the broken one)...I guess he only cries to his parents bc my boyfriend said he was a perfect gentleman when the vet did it (or perhaps we just don't know how to do it properly!)

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From:Portland, Oregon US
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 12-05-2003 01:01 PM         

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Dooley used to be really good about having his nails trimmed. Then we got Witt and it was world war three to trim his nails, Dooley mysteriously started acting the same way about it. Now Witt does wonderfully having them trimmed and Dooley is a pain in the *ss! Dooley does much better when Shawn isn't "helping" me, and even better if Shawn isn't home at all. It was the same with changing bandages... remember I said I was afraid I couldn't hold Dooley down to super glue his wound shut without Shawns help....well I ended up doing it while Shawn was at work and my 11 year old daughter held him for me, he didn't even struggle! I think it's Shawn thats been pegged the "easy" one or sucker.

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Posts: 33
From:Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 12-12-2003 05:34 PM         

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AUGH! I'm still worried about this split nail thing. It's almost two weeks now and the nail is still split right up to the top, it doesn't look like it's growing in. What's the normal rate for a large dog's nail to grow? Should I wait awhile yet?
He's not showing any pain at all still & has stopped licking it all the time...that must be a good sign.

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Registered: May 2003

posted 12-15-2003 10:17 AM         

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If she is not shwing any pain I would let it grow out and then clip it. It is strange the vet didnt clip the nail. wouls just be worried she would get it caught on somethingand re-injure it. Wylie did this to her nail and they cut the nail off (of course I would never do this at home due to quick, and bleeding, but they are the experts) but it did take quite awhile to grow back.

Honeybear

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From:
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 12-15-2003 11:10 AM         

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Hey Maisey, the emergency vet charges $62 for the exam. Yippee!!

Jamiya

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Posts: 552
From:
Registered: Mar 2003

posted 12-16-2003 01:49 AM         

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lovemydog, you might check with the vet to see if you can use superglue to hold the nail together so the split won't continue up the nail as it grows out. The only problem is that if the inside part becomes infected, it may abcess because the glue seals the infection in. That's why you need to check with the vet first.

The only other thing I can think of is that if you have a dremel or similar small power sander, you can use that to grind the nail down, a bit every day, to keep pressure (when the nail hits the ground, it's possibly causing the split to go further up the nail) down, and hopefully get the crack gone and new nail grown in faster.

If you decide to try to sand the nail down, take the nail all the way back to the quick if possible the first day, then each day afterwards, take it back to the quick again. This will force it to recede, so you'll be able to shorten the nail faster. There's a good page on dremeling nails on this page: http://www.doberdawn.com

Scroll down to where it says "dremeling your dogs nails" or some such.

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