Weimaraner Addict

Hunter has a cracked nail. It's pretty bad. I can't think of what he could have done to it. We've been doing the agility, and tracking, and playing around the house. That's it. And I'm with him all the time, and never noticed him yelping or favoring or worrying at it. So I don't think it hurts him. But I want to keep it from causing problems. So I was wondering... can I put super glue on it? If it were MY nail, that's what I'd do.

Have you clipped the nail back as much as possible? That's what I would do first. And then I don't see any reason you couldn't put super glue on it.

This happened to Charlie a couple weeks ago, hers was cracked and jagged. but the quick was fine. So I just trimmed what was cracked and what i thought would get caught on carpet and such . And now it appears to be growing back in fine. Do you have a picture of it?

I've said that a few times.."when did that happen?"
She only limped and complained a couple times but it was connected to a bone spur.

Clipping what you can is probably best. As long as it doesn't seem to hurt, no redness or blood, i would think
glue would be fine.

She ripped her entire nail out about a year ago. I never thought it would heal and have no idea how she did it.
A miracle that it looks perfectly normal now. She has always been the brute huntress. Feels no pain.

Bob on the other hand will run back whimpering with the tiniest scratch on his nose. And he has never split a nail.
Delicate soul.

We did manage to wrap once with dental floss and dot with a bit of glue. (we were fixing a fly rod at the time)
Not terribly successful but it did help. No other attempts, like tape, have stayed on more than an hour.

I just took a very much closer look at it, and it looks like we probably have a visit to the vet ahead of us. Looks like there could be some infection around the very very base - up just under the skin where skin and nail meet. Checking to see what resources I might be able to free up to get it looked at. So.... no super glue for Mr. Hunter just now....

Vet tomorrow at 9am. Will let y'all know if it is actually infected. Looks it to me, but I have no previous experience with broken/cracked/infected nails!

Hmmm...it doesn't look infected to me. Is it warm or painful around the base? Is he still not favoring it? I've seen my dogs have (what looks to be) the same thing where they've just gotten it hung on something and the nail got grabbed a bit and pulled. It just grows out, splinters off some, I trim it/dremel it down, and they're fine. I'd probably just watch it as long as the toe isn't involved...but that's advice from a picture.

versatilek9s wrote:Hmmm...it doesn't look infected to me. Is it warm or painful around the base? Is he still not favoring it? I've seen my dogs have (what looks to be) the same thing where they've just gotten it hung on something and the nail got grabbed a bit and pulled. It just grows out, splinters off some, I trim it/dremel it down, and they're fine. I'd probably just watch it as long as the toe isn't involved...but that's advice from a picture.

We're taking him in to be safe - working dog and all... With any luck, it'll be just a bit of glue, after all, and some antibiotics or antifungals for a bit...

He let me manipulate it a bit last night. I was able to pull the skin back a bit and look at the nail bed, and it's white and a little gooey looking. The crust up around the top can be scraped off, and seems to be dried blood/pus. I really was just going to super glue it (I even found a site this morning that recommended it for _uninfected_ cracked nails!), but with the closer inspection, I just don't feel comfortable taking a wait and see approach. I did a stupid thing this morning and googled "Nail bed infection in dogs"... and now I'm really wishing I hadn't! You wouldn't believe the horrible things it could potentially be caused by!! At least I can let out a sigh of relief that it's just one nail, so likely not an auto-immune disorder. Like I said... I shouldn't have googled...

The closest thing to pain he showed was tuckin' and scurryin' after I let him go last night. And he was a bit leery of me calling him while sitting on the floor.

That looks ok. A bit of dried blood and may be tender and bruised?
The vet will probably just clean it good. And you will need to keep it that way.

I would hate to take a chance with infection. I look things up all the time...
(unplug your home office paper shredders! )

Hi Sue!
Hunter's nail will be fine!
You could soak the nail in warm water with Epsom salt. The bath soak will discourage the nail from splintering any further (as it grows out) as well as promote healthy nail growth.

Took Hunter to the vet this morning. Vet came in, looked at his other nails to make sure there wasn't anything else going on. Looked at the affected nail and did a little "Eeew!" under his breath. I caught it and said, "Was that an 'eew' I just heard?" "Yes it was."

Hunter's "cracked" nail is actually a longitudinally _fractured_ nail. It's fractured way back into the nail bed, and every time the nail hits the floor it fractures more, deeper. Doc said that it would never be able to grow out and would continue to fracture, even as new nail tried to come out. The nail bed IS infected, as I thought. Hunter was left behind at the vet for not-quite-emergency surgery to amputate the nail back past the nail bed, and to clean the infected area. He should be home later today, doped out from the general, and hopped up on pain meds and antibiotics.

Left untreated we were looking at the possibility of osteomyolitis in the not so distant future. So I'm glad I listened to my gut that said it was infected and needed treatment rather than figuring it would be fine on its own.

I was so not expecting to come home without my boy...

Hi, I'm not sure of the time difference - how's Hunter?

S.x

I posted this over in General Discussion a little bit ago, but will post it here, too:

Hunter's home! And running around just like before. You wouldn't even know he had anything done to his foot today, except to look at the place where there's no nail. They did not wrap it - want it open to heal. Though they did cauterize it. He's still not limping, and he's not favoring even a little, or licking on it. He came tearing around the corner at the vets, draggin' poor Missy behind him just like always. Yeah, he's one tough cookie!! He's super thirsty, and spent about 20 minutes when we got home outside doing the squat and poo and shuffle forward and poo and walk and squat and poo.... I don't know... maybe the anesthesia or the pain med they injected him with will do that? Or the penicillin? He's just a little bit tippy... like he's about to fall asleep and then wakes up, but different. And I have a whole list of do's and don'ts...

Here's the photo I just took of it, post surgical removal. He's still letting me look at it and all. What a good boy he has become in the a bit over a year and a half since he came to me!!


He was lying by me, but was sort of falling over. He finally decided to give up and go lie on the couch, where he can relax and not have to try to hold himself upright.