Buster has torn a nail....

So he slid into something outside....on the ice. One of his nails was bleeding and once I got the bleeding stopped I could access the damage.... He has a tear all the way around the nail except underneath..... half way up the nail bed. No swelling, some pain. He is protecting it. How can I help it? Will take to the vet if it gets worse obviously. Keeping it clean to fight infection. Not going to attempt to cut the nail down until it is a bit less tender for him. (He has a nail clipping fear already that we have come a long way to overcome.) Can I add anything to his diet to help with nail growth? I am going to buy a boot to keep it clean and dry and keep him from chewing.....And to protect it when he is active. Any suggestions would be helpful

 

Mick has the same thing and I have been battling it for about a month now. I brought him to the vet beause he was limping on it and the vet said that he could rip it out or just let it grow out and keep it clean. I choose to not rip it out so he gave me some pain meds and I went home and he seems to be doing better although it still looks terrible.

 

ouch rip it off???? That just sounds horrible.... Bustter is leaving it alone and I've been putting clear nail polish to help keep it together til it grows some... Everything I've read said it may need to be removed, keep it clean and trim it down. Well he pulls away when I touch the top so it's still tender..... Unless it changes I think I'll just leave it be, clean it and put a protective boot on him...

 

Well Buster's nail is getting loose now.... I would think that it will come off in a week or so. He doesn't pull away now when I push on it to check it. I guess we will see when it comes off.

 

a friend of mine dog did that and it was quite some time for it to heal. He had multiple vet visits cause he wouldn't leave it alone and he got it infected. Took a long time.

 

Ouch. That made me cringe just reading your headline. I have never had to deal with that problem, knock on wood, so all I can add is I hope Buster heals up soon.

 

Well Buster played a bit and it has dislodged his nail a bit more.... ouch..... it is still hanging on by the top part of his nail quick.... not exactly sure what to do... I guess as long as it still looks ok and he isn't limping I will let it come off on its own???? it sure will look weird will the nail grow around the quick again??

 

Well.......the nail is off.....OUCH He did it all on his own by running out to pee..... didn't even phase him so that's good and it really didn't bleed so that's also good (for my carpet). It looks really deformed the nail bed that is. The vet said that part will shrivel up and then I can clip it down.
I'm now in process of getting his nails really down shorter so this doesn't happen again. I will have to chase the quick back for awhile. He just has thick nails.

 

Luther does that probably once or twice a year, like Busters, they usually just fell out on their own. I took him to the vet about it once, the vet yanked it out with the pliers, it didn't bother him too much.

 

Well now that the nail is off etc... I've now got a new way of keeping his nails in good shape... He loves it and it is so much easier on me..... I went to the beauty store and got a nail file that is really sturdy and rough and filing his nails.... about a once a week i file away you can get them really close without the discomfort.... works great!!!!!!!!