Nail bed infection.

PapaverFollis

PapaverFollis

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Anyone any experience of this?

Think the sprollie has one. He's not lame on it fortunately but it's hurting him as he's being grumpy when I try to look at it.

Will get him to the vets asap. (I'm vets best friend at the moment). But does anyone have any insight?

I'm blaming myself cos I think it's the nail that I cut too short a few months ago.
 
No experience of nail bed infections but plenty of split claw experience! Could it be a split claw? Sometimes the split is not obvious until the swelling kind of pops it open. This is Jake's most recent claw injury after removal of the nail. Sore!image.jpeg
 
I thought he just had a little cut on his toe at first. So I just bathed it. But it's not cleared up and the nail is discoloured. He's been licking it but not frantically. I don't think the nail is broken but it might be because it did bleed... hence I thought it was a cut.
 
It could easily be a split claw, they get infected at the drop of a hat and are really painful. I'd take him to the vet, Jake has always needed antibiotics (even before he was the spleenless one). In the meantime bathe it really thoroughly with hibiscrub or salt water, dry well and put a cotton sock on to stop him licking it. Good luck 🐾
 
He's not limping and he's let me give it a good wash but he is being a grump about me having a close look so am assuming it is sore BUT he's also a complete wuss about his feet generally so might not be that painful.

I'll get him to the vets asap. Would be typical of him to need it chopped off to be honest! I really wouldn't be shocked. Disaster dog.
 
Vet thinks it's hanging nail. But not bad enough that she'd be able to remove without sedation. I think I know what she means. It is a bit infected though. So anti-inflammatory injection and a course of antibiotics. And The Cone. Literally just taken The Cone off the spaniel! And then wait and see.

I'm getting him boots. 😂
 
Nasty. Jake has always had his removed without sedation but he is Mr Chill and it is over in milliseconds. He's had 7 over the last few years. He's now on a supplement that were hoping will help. Hope your fella is feeling better soon.
 
What supplement do you use, Stiff Knees? He skins his pads a lot too which may or may not be relevant. Wonder if he needs something to help.

She said she could have taken it off without sedation if it was worse... think it's all still too attached to come away. She did warn me to check for the infection tracking. I can see us ending up back at the vets to be honest but we'll see. Hopefully stopping him licking and the drugs will sort it out.

He's either done it at agility or we went for a walk in the forest and he was brush scrambling over some felled tree debris and he's caught it then. Pleased I can stop blaming myself for cutting his nail too short though!
 
Me again.

I'm not sure what to do.

Antibiotics have reduced the swelling and he's not been licking it because hes in The Cone. But it's obviously still quite painful as he's not happy with me handling it. Now the swelling is down I think it's a half hanging nail. But what now?

Him being in the cone of shame is driving us all mad. I can't walk him anywhere muddy cos it'll get infected again. He can't go to agility when it's hurting him. He's fine trotting in straight lines but twisting and turning wouldn't be good. I could take him to the beach but I'm not sure getting sand in around it is a good idea even though the salt water would probably be good for it.

Do I just have to wait? Will it grow out? Does he need sedated at the vets? The vet wasn't very clear about this bit/I didn't take the information in!

Poor sod has had a shit boring week! And I'm not sure I can make the next one any less shit for him!

I probably need to take him back to the vets.
 
Oh dear, I think another visit to the vets is called for, although I think you'll have to wait for it to grow out. Personally I wouldn't take him to the beach as sand is very abrasive. If you look at the picture in post no. 3, Jakes claw looks really sore but two days after this he was on normal walks with simple salt water bathing on his return. No soreness, no infection, wound dry and clean.
 
I think I might get him back to the vets. If it'll heal quicker if he gets sedated and has it removed then that would be preferable then it taking ages to grow out.
 
I'm not sure Jake's was the same as your fella's but we've always had the loose part of the nail removed, then within a matter of days the soft pulp dries out and shrinks leaving the claw to grow out. This can take months but once the pulp is dry there's no chance of infection getting in because it seals the wound. Good luck. 🐾
 
In the mean-time, you could bathe with Calendula tincture. It's anti-bacterial and will treat any infection. Very cheap but very effective. And you could possibly take the cone off if he doesn't chew at it....licking is perfectly safe with Calendula. If you want to use it, just put a few drops (about 20) into half a cup of "just off the boil" water. (The bottle comes with a dropper in it.) Leave uncovered to cool. Apply as often as you want. You can buy it at Baldwins. (They are my preferred herbalists.)

For boredom, try some static training work, so no pressure. Good luck.
 
No real change. It doesn't look as red anymore but the skin around the nail is still a bit thickened. There's what looks like dried blood on the outside of the nail which I can't seem to wash off. He hasn't been licking it though. I took the cone off because he was getting upset. Poor chap gets worried when it's windy and I think the cone as well was just too much! He's also had an upset stomach probably from the antibiotics.

So he's not having the happiest time. I may still be going to the vets on Monday.
 
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