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Pulled a Toe Nail off

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GuineaGuy

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Sorry to have to trouble you again with our piggy woes and I hope this isn't too serious.

Whilst bathing our boys tonight one of them caught his too and pulled the nail off - right off, we have just been left with a black shell. However he didnt appear to tear the quick (sp?) And although there was blood, it hasn't continued to bleed or even bled much.

Obviously this happened when our vets are closed although we have spoken to them. They advised against seeking emergency treatment and suggested that they could see him tomorrow if we were worried.

We have changed their bedding and taken out anything too sharp or hard. They are on a fleece bedding so it is soft and it is light in colour so we can see any blood.

Does this all sound ok? Is there anything else we need to do for him? Is he likely to chew the quick or catch it on

We've just put him back in his cage and he had a quick run about and is now lying down, is he likely to be in much pain? Would you recommend an anti biotic as a precaution?

Sorry for all the questions and if it seems like we are panicking but we are still very sore about losing his brother last week.

Thanks in advance.
 
Hi, try not to worry too much! I did a similar thing whilst clipping, piggy in my avatar moved the last second and I lost the whole thing :(
I would give his foot a wash in salt water, I boil the kettle, put some salt in a dish and leave until luke warm. Keep an eye on it but if its hardly bled that's a good sign, mine bled for ages! I wouldn't do much more if it doesn't worsen
It'll be a bit tender and sore for a couple of days but will grow back fine. Pop along to the vet if hes struggling to walk, appears to be in physical pain or goes off his food. Just keep itclean and it should return shortly! :)
 
Don't worry; it is a relatively common injury! Please carefully clean and disinfect the nail once things have settled down; you can get some hibiscrub from your pharmacy. That should do the trick. Keep an eye on any sweeling or reddening in the area over the next few days, but there should hopefully be no problem.

The nail will usually grow back fairly quickly; it may be a bit thicker depending on how much the nail bed was involved. The missing nail won't bother your piggy.
 
Thank you both for bthe replies. He seems fine in himself, and is enjoying veggies so my mind is at ease a bit.

When should we be looking at disinfecting and cleaning his nail? Tomorrow evening or wait longer? Or sooner?
 
Personally I would do it asap just incase he gets any dirt in it and then depending on how it looks I'd do it again the following day. If it appears clean and dry, not weepy or bleeding then its on the mend and this won't be needed again :)
 
A couple of months ago our boss piggie Beemo fell off of his pigloo and managed to rip his nail clean off himself, just leaving the root exposed. It bled ALOT and at first I was incredibly worried what to do. We rang a 24 hour vets helpline (because silly Beemo did this at 0100AM) who simply said stem the bleeding and if the root is exposed take him to the vet in the morning. We did and all she did was cauterise the root so he didn't catch it to make it bleed again.

As everyone on here has said it's a fairly common injury, nothing to worry about. Just clean the cage ad keep an eye out for infection :)
 
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