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I was dremeling my labrador's toenails today. One of the 'outer' nails is split all the way across the bottom, separating it and making it like a hood over the quick. Looking at the nail from above, the nail looks perfectly normal. But when you look at it from the bottom, you can see the entire "inner" nail. It's completely separate from the outer nail. I'm not sure what to do about this. I didn't dremel back as far on that nail because it worries me that his "outer" nail might fall away. He's not in pain. This is a very old injury. I just never noticed how badly it had split until now.
Not until next week. Closed for the holiday. It doesn't qualify as an emergency in my world of dog ownership.
It's not even like an injury. It's like it just dried out and split underneith the length of the nail (from front to back) a very long time ago.
It's clear that it has been like this for a very long time. He's not in pain.
I'm just not sure how to continue trimming the nail when it is damaged like that. I don't want to cause more damage, but I think letting it grow long would cause problems.
He's an old dog. His nails don't sharpen on their own.
Was hoping someone here had experience with this previously.
This sounds nuts, but it may work as a temporary fix. I split a toe nail playing soccer with the dogs and used the fake nail acrylic powder stuff to fill it in as it grew out. It dries quickly and may provide some extra strength for his nail. My dogs would never sit still for me to do something like that, but yours sounds like he's a good boy. I'm sure your vet will have a better answer next week.
This sounds nuts, but it may work as a temporary fix. I split a toe nail playing soccer with the dogs and used the fake nail acrylic powder stuff to fill it in as it grew out. It dries quickly and may provide some extra strength for his nail. My dogs would never sit still for me to do something like that, but yours sounds like he's a good boy. I'm sure your vet will have a better answer next week.
It's not crazy. I read about repairing dog nails with crazy glue on dog grooming websites. I'll stop by the groomer at Petco and ask them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katie1
Uh You do know that Dogs & Cats Shed their nails?!!!!?
CATS shed nails. That's a no brainer. Unless there's some obscure breed that sheds nails, I'm only aware of injury and nail diseases causing dogs to shed nails. My dog is 14 years old. He has NEVER lost a nail or 'shed' part of his nails aside from a think outer layer peeling off. What I'm describing is the ENTIRE nail becoming separated from the quick. That's entirely different from slight shedding of scale on the surface. What I'm describing has never happened with any of my dogs in my entire life---and I have owned many dogs of many breeds.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dogmama50
My cats always shed their nails, but my dogs never have. Is it breed specific in dogs?
I have never heard of it either. I know it's not normal for the breeds I own.
Well, for what it's worth... we go through this a lot. It's a result (in our case) of severe allergies - brittle nails I mean.
Last instance was just a couple of weeks ago - the nail was attached by a "strand" to the quick. Lift the nail and the entire nail bed - raw as only unexposed surfaces can be - had been "uncovered".
In her case, I wash/apply something like Neosporin with pain relief and then cut the nail back as much as I can. I'll bandage while she's out, air while she's in - to minimise dirt and airing to allow drying out/healing. We'll do that until I decide it's at a point to just leave it alone (usually just a couple - maybe 3 - days). Then it's time to let Mother Nature take over - only keeping an eye on it for possible infection (which, knock wood, we've never had). Once the quick/nail bed has a new coating, the old needs to be removed if possible (or just keep cutting back if it's still attached to something live) so it doesn't catch or snag on something.
A new nail grows in time. The painful bit is until it gets a new coating.
Well, for what it's worth... we go through this a lot. It's a result (in our case) of severe allergies - brittle nails I mean.
Last instance was just a couple of weeks ago - the nail was attached by a "strand" to the quick. Lift the nail and the entire nail bed - raw as only unexposed surfaces can be - had been "uncovered".
In her case, I wash/apply something like Neosporin with pain relief and then cut the nail back as much as I can. I'll bandage while she's out, air while she's in - to minimise dirt and airing to allow drying out/healing. We'll do that until I decide it's at a point to just leave it alone (usually just a couple - maybe 3 - days). Then it's time to let Mother Nature take over - only keeping an eye on it for possible infection (which, knock wood, we've never had). Once the quick/nail bed has a new coating, the old needs to be removed if possible (or just keep cutting back if it's still attached to something live) so it doesn't catch or snag on something.
A new nail grows in time. The painful bit is until it gets a new coating.
THANK YOU! My dog has allergies too. His nails seem brittle compared to my other dog's nails, but not overly brittle.
It's been partially exposed for a while. I'm betting there is already a new coating over the quick. That's probably why it's not bothering him. It probably did bother him a long time ago---was probably licking his paw a lot, but we didn't notice because he tends to lick his paw when allergies are bothering him.
I wonder if the quick will receed from the trimming like the other nails. His nails were a bit long when I dremmed them yesterday. At what point do you feel comfident about trimming the newly nail covered quick? The new nail must be somewhat thinner than the other nails at first right?
At what point do you feel comfident about trimming the newly nail covered quick?
Oh gosh. Here I have a confession to make. Once it's healed and we've escaped yet again without an infection.... um, I tend to kind of forget about it. I just trim the ones that need trimming when I - ahem - actually notice there are some long ones.
(Confessions of the distracted dog owner here! )
The nails must all grow back more or less the same as the others. She's lost quite a few over the past three years (mostly the same two on each paw, the two on the ends) but there's no difference between them.
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I just trim the ones that need trimming when I - ahem - actually notice there are some long ones. 
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