Fractured or broken nail? - Page 1

About three weeks ago, my dog (appears to have) fractured his nail.  Honestly, I'm not sure how it happened.  All of a sudden he was running around with a bloody foot and it was coming from his outermost nail on his back left paw.  I assume he caught it on his kennel or a piece of carpet.

Initially, I thought he ripped the skin outside/around his nail, but as I found out this weekend when he re-injured himself, it appears that the nail broke off at the root (inside his toe), as there was blood oozing out from around the nail, starting inside his toe.

I am wondering if anyone has a dog that's experienced this sort of injury.  It just doesn't seem to be healing.  We've gone to two different vets that just keep wrapping it up in a bandage.  This past weekend, I was told to let it "breathe" so I did, and when he did something as simple as jump off the couch, he hurt himself again.  Blood everywhere, just oozing out from around the nail.

He's on antibiotics, and has a cone to prevent him from licking.  That's been another issue, as he is so freakishly flexibly that when he wants to, he can get around the cone.  I had to buy two large cones and tape them together, and he can STILL get around it.  I posted a picture of his giant cone.  Further, I've tried the donut cone, but that does nothing, either.

Is it commonplace to ever remove the nail? I want to clarify that superficially, it looks 100% normal.  It is an injury INSIDE of his toe, where the nail begins. Any advice as far as his nail, or even how to keep him away from him would be SO appreciated.  Him and I are both going nuts because of this injury.

JMHO, but you need to take the cone and the bandage off.  if you think he needs the
antibiotics, continue with them, but the rest of it is ridiculous.  if he still has a bit of nail
in his foot, the nail will grow back.  if the nail is gone, there's nothing you can do about
it anyway.  let him be a dog.  :)  best of luck.
pjp

The entire nail is still there.  As I said, superficially it looks completely normal.  But it's definitely, definitely not.

if the nail has been torn loose inside the toe it will either live or it will die & fall out.  i'm sorry :( but
you are overreacting.  the cone & the bandage will not change the outcome.  i suspect that he
will be just fine & you are just being a worrisome dogmom.  either way, the damage has been
done & the only thing you can do is wait to see :)  once again, good luck with it.
pjp

Yes i've seen a bunch of these injuries. Really annoying they are, like a tail injury. Every time the dog moves they hit their tail and blood goes everywhere.
It will heal but it's going to seemly take forever. And the nail may recover or it may grow back weird and twisted.
Not sure the cone is going to make any real difference. Soaking the foot in epson salts may help dry it up and get it to heal faster.
I've been through on myself on my old female dog. Hers healed just fine and she was able to remove every bandage, e-collar, muzzle and speck of tape i tried.
so good luck and just try to keep it clean.
Fry

Jyota managed to do the same thing. I took her to the vet, it required the nail being pulled off.
She was given antibiotics, pain killers and a few days of crate rest.
After just a few days the nail bed dried and hardened and was no longer painful.
After about 6 weeks, the nail grew back as good as new.

No bandage or no silly collar required.

A few years back I came home from a week of vacation with my parents and saw a small blood spot on my comforter.  My husband didn't notice it (part of it is red, so not totally his fault) and when I checked all my dogs I found my male GSD had a broken nail on the rear foot.  I cleaned it up.  He kept chewing at it and after a few more days I noticed it was swollen and he was favoring that leg, so we went into the vet.  The nail had cracked and the infection was into the nailbed/toe so she gave us some pain pills (this dog NEVER shows pain so the fact he was limping told me it really hurt) and some antibiotics.  I was to keep it clean and prevent him from chewing it.  I would soak the foot in warm water with Epsom salt 2-3 times a day and then wrap the foot.  The vet did not say to air it out but keep it covered, mostly to keep it clean and add another layer to keep the dog from chewing it.  I got a stash of old socks and would put a sock on it, then wrap in duct tape.  If he wanted to go outside, I put a small rubber dog bootie over top for traction and waterproofing.  The problem was he still would chew it.  Somehow he could hook his foot inside of the cone, I had the biggest cone I could find.  After two more weeks it was still very swollen and infected.  The vet decided to try a stronger antibiotic and wait one more course before surgery.  They would have removed the nail and possibly part of the toe.  I also borrowed a very nice basket muzzle and this stopped the chewing.  He wore the muzzle during the day while I was gone, the cone at night, and I just kept an eye on him while I was around.  I continued soaking in Epsom salt water and slowly trimming back the broken nail and dead tissue (thank goodness my dog lets me cut his nails, even when in pain!).  Finally the infection dried out and the wound closed.  For a while he had a white nail but since then it has fully grown out and is black again.  Removing the nail and even the toe would not have been the end of the world but the vet wanted to exhaust trying to clear out the infection first.  It took us over a month but most of the lost time was just figuring out ways to keep the dog from chewing the foot.

This is what it looked like about a month after the nail split

 

My dog did that, I am sure there are still posts about it somewhere in archive...
She was leaping over the brick steps and landed a bit short, hitting her foot on a brick...the way nail was pointing i thought she broke her toe...week later she was still bleeding and she kept licking at it...i thought she kept re-injuring it because it kept bleeding, slightest push or even getting caught on the carpet would be enough to generate blood drops, we did not know at the time but I believe nail was already broken at the base but it was still very much attached (i tried pulling and trimming but it was painful to her), Anyways until 2-3 weeks later (it could have been longer because this happened to my dobie years ago and i didnt worry too much) when nail fell out/off it kept bleeding.....she kept it clean so we didn't mess with it...once nail was off we had no issues, new nail came in and she stopped touching (licking) her toes, new nail is still a bit turned but u would never know unless i pointed out...
P.S.
I almost choked on my coffee when i saw his photo....he looks soooooo pathetic...
I think we need to start a thread with Cones Photos...please post yours once its up....this is too funny!

How old is your dog? Its probably a nail busted at the root but toenail cancer happens in dogs. Or the bone could be infected. Might want to have the toe X rayed. If if its not cancer or bone infection, might be worth having the dog knocked out and having the toenail cut off right at the root so it stops hurting and he stops messing with it.

Side note... ​niacinamide is good to help the nail repair itself.  Make sure you use this and not niacin.  You will also notice an improvement in his coat.  You can use human grade.  Do not let anyone convince you these are the same; they are not.

i give Baron 1 per day sprinkled over his food.