Broken nail and quick exposed

[Heather5]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to see i anyone had any advice for us. One of our dogs has a broken toe nail. It's the "pinkie nail" on her left back paw. It was broken a few years back and has since been growing out sideways a little (which is fine, according to out vet, but it makes it more prone to get caught on things). Well we just noticed today that it's broken again. the nail is almost broken off, about halfway down, but when my husband carefully bent it to see if he could cut it off all the way, the quick was right there, and it would have been all the way exposed (by a few millimeters or so) had we cut it off....so we didn't. The quick itself doesn't look injured. Any thoughts on what to do other than keeping it as clean as possible, considering she's a dog? We took her in last time it broke and was told we had to just wait for it to fall off, so I'm not sure if I should take her in or not.

[BoarZone]

My dog's nail was broken - possibly when I stepped on her foot on a walk. The nail broke clean away (halfway up the quick). There was no damage to the quick or bleeding. The quick is drying hard, but if I bandage it she'll just take it off. Should I just let the nail grow out? She doesn't seem to be in pain - the outside digit doesn't touch the ground.

[skydnsr]

Fidoinpain, can you please describe the injury in a bit more detail?  I'm familiar with the term "degloved," but I just can't picture it in relation to a dog's toenail.  What actually happened, if you don't mind?

[fidoinpain]

my dogs nail doesn't seem tobe broken, but more de-gloved from nail bed. will nail fall away on own(such as human) or should I try to remove?

[chasha33]

I wouldnt cut the nail any further back with clippers.If you did it would expose the quick and she might not allow you to mess with her feet anymore after that.Is there any way that you could use a dremmel and try to smooth out the rough edge.When you use a dremmel you dont have to worry about quicking it like clippers do.They do get hot fast so you would just do a little at a time and when you get close to the quick stop.That might help you in the future.That is how i do all my furbabies nails and it works great.If that doesnt work you could ask your vet about cutting the nail all the way back and letting it regrow.Sometimes after a nail has been torn off they will continue to grow abnormal.Well good luck and take care.

[skydnsr]

If it keeps getting rebroken and causing problems, I would ask if the whole nail can be removed surgically, so it can grow back in straight.  If you elect to do this, maybe it could be performed at the same time as some other procedure that requires aneasthesia, such as teeth cleaning.  That reduces the cost to you, as well as the stress for the dog.  For now, I would put betadine (or at least hydrogen peroxide) on it to keep it sanitary, and just wait it out, unless some complication arises.  I might go ahead and cut off the rest of the nail, just so it won't keep snagging on things, but that's up to your judgment.  If it doesn't look infected, and you've already been through this before, I don't see any particular need to take her to the vet each time it happens.  Just tell the vet next time you are in the office that it has been an ongoing problem.