Rottweiler, female, 11 years old.
Vertically split nail; under vet care but I think we need to get more decisive.
The vet trimmed the nail half way with local (dog has bad reaction to sedation protocol, narcotics, etc). Still hurt and vet said it would cause undue pain. However, the nail continues on splitting.
How common of a procedure is cutting the nail off all the way to nail bed? How does that improve outcome? How much faster is the recovery?
By what percentage is anesthesia risk lower with such a short procedure? (Has to be anesthesia as explained above). Last time, after anesthetic procedure, she had heart rhythm problems and other problems; became critical and almost died. But was also full of drugs and had pancreatitis as complication of splenectomy. I’d assume the shorter the time under, the lower risk of complications?
I’m concerned about putting her under but I’m also concerned about dragging this out for weeks, taking valuable time from her, and having to do it that way anyway eventually.
I really don’t know what is the best thing to do for her. Hubby leaning toward waiting if it heals but I’m not seeing it healing any time soon if at all. (Photo of the present state of the nail attached.
I’m sad, depressed, concerned, and don’t know what I should decide for her.
Hello, First I will admit that I have had cases like this and they are frustrating. So I remind my clients this. Next we take it in small steps. I do start with trimming the nail as much as able and start toe/foot soaks to keep the area clean and place an ecollar to stop the patient from licking and further traumatizing the nail and seeding infection from the mouth . I ask them to give it a week or two to heal. If it doesn’t or other nails start cracking we talk about oncodystrophy. And start talking about what… Read more »
It’s already been three weeks now. It appears the nail was vertically cracked from the beginning with the first part in the middle (which is now the end)
How well did the grinding to the nail bed work and what was the recovery?
The other nails appear to be fine.
Grinding the nail was a last resort for a difficult chronic case. It worked but it was a last resort treatment.
Actually, it looked quite bad and hurt every time she brushed it on something. We had the nail entirely removed last Friday. Anesthesia was a risk, but I didn’t want her to spend whatever time she has left trying to get that damn nail healed–she already lost months with the first one.
The upside–48 hours of bandage, some pain meds, and all done. It looks good now and doesn’t bother her at all. She can now get on with her life and have fun.
I hated taking the risk but I”m glad I did.