Dog injury - advice please.

[JaynieB]

My dog got her foot caught in some plastic netting whilst out on a walk this morning. She freed herself, no fuss, no yelping, carried on as normal. I noticed a bit later that there was some blood on the floor in the hall and she has lost a claw on her back foot - presumably pulled it off on the netting. Its not bleeding now and she's not even limping (she's a tough dog) - but does this need attention? Will it grow back?

If it is a claw,rather than the toe it should be fine.Personally would bathe in salt water and apply antispetic or better still,anit-biotic cream and all should be fine.

It looks like it is just the claw, I've bathed it in salt water but she wasn't terribly co-operative unsurprisngly!

Funny how they are never overly co-operative Just keep an eye on it,if the area gets hot or swollen-off to the vets,otherwise,keep bathing,especially if out walking and there is a chance of dirt getting into it.

Do keep an eye on it.

One of our dogs injured a claw and it ended up cosing us hundreds of pounds! We were unlucky - first it became infected, then she had a dreadful reaction to the antibiotics that were prescribed.

At one point they thought they might have to amputate her toe, but luckiky it didn't come to that.

She was never very cooperative - she had to wear a protective boot for a while and getting it on her was a two person job.

Hope your dog is alright and heals quickly.

If you apply antibiotic powder or cream, make sure it's for dogs, not for humans as that made for us can be harmful to dogs. For minor injuries I've found Bob Martin's antiseptic powder very effective (can be bought in most pet shops). As has been said, keep a careful eye on the injury, keep it clean and dry and consult a vet if you are at all concerned about it.

When you say it is broken, can you describe how? For example is it a clean break (like the nail has been cut) or is it split? And how far up does it go?

Our lab broke one of the nails on her back paw a month ago, she split right up to the quick. It wouldn't stop bleeding so we had to take her to the emergency vet (it was a Sunday - £100!) and they gave us a 5 day course of antibiotics. She said usually they cut the nail off if it's hanging off anyway, but this was so far up she said it would be far too painful, so we would just have to let it grow and keep trimming a bit at a time until the split part was gone. On the Friay her ABs had finished and she was still in pain, so we took her to our own vet. She had to go in for surgery straight away because the nail had gone septic - she had to have it cut right back to the bone and was in a cast for a week. Here she is feeling very sorry for herself on the day she came home! It ended up costing us £200 in the end, and it still hasn't grown back properly.

If it's a clean break and it's not bleeding, just keep an eye on it for a few days. You'll need to bathe it in salt water every time she's been out to keep it clean. The easiest way is to fill a measuring jug half way, dunk her back paw in it and lift the front leg on same side, that way she can't lift her foot out (or she'll fall over). Use tepid water and put enough salt in to make the water cloudy, then stir it until it's clear. It will sting, so sit by her head and give her a cuddle and a few treats to take her mind off it. Keep her paw in the water for about a minute if she'll let you, and then take it out and dry it with a soft towel. If she's licking at it, limping or seems in any discomfort, take her to the vet as she may need ABs to stop it getting infected.

The nail is simply not there, I think she must have pulled it out altogether. I'll try and get some of that powder tomorrow and will bathe it - excellent tip about holding the other paw! She's been getting more biscuits than usual today and has been following me around, so I think she is feeling a bit off even though she's not limping or licking at it.

If there's no nail at all, you'll need to take her to the vet for ABs unfortunately. Usually with a broken nail (or one cut too short) the quick bleeds for a while and then retreats back into the remaining part of the nail so it's got some protection. If there's no nail at all to protect it, infection could set in and spread to the bone, which would be very serious. That's the problem with paw injuries unfortunately, they're always in the muck! It sounds as though she's managed to rip the quick off too, so that'll be why it's not bothering her too much (the quick is the live part of the nail with all the nerves). Keeping it clean will help, but she'll need the ABs to prevent infection. It should grow back, but it'll take a few months to get back to normal (ours only has about 2mm of growth and it's been a month).

I'll have a good look tomorrow and see if I can work out what is missing - thanks for all the advice.

Its a very clean neat looking wound, no bleeding today, I've got some antiseptic stuff to put on it. Limping a little bit - I think its dawned on her its a bit sore, but quite quickly forgotten when out on a walk!