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Toenail is very short and turned black/crusty

B

BlairA

New Born Pup
Joined
Jun 24, 2019
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Location
Pittsburgh, PA
Hi!

As a preface, I have a vet appointment, but the vet it currently closed for the rest of the day. I wanted to see if anyone could help with what happened.

I found Lulu today with one of her toenails very short and black, with some crust. The skin itself is a little pinker than the rest of her toes, and somewhat swollen. I held her two days ago and i don't remember noticing this, so I think it happened within the last two days. Her toenails are normally clear white. The online emergency vet said to soak it in warm epsom salts for 5 minutes, and give a very small amount of Bene Bac one a day until we can get her into the vet in person. The vet said it might be an infection, or a tumor. I can't find any info on this anywhere else :(

I separated her from the two other bigs and put her in a very simple, one story flat cage set-up to try and help. I'm also doing a deep clean on the case in case the infection can spread.

IMG_6918.jpg
 
Could the nail have broken off somehow if she caught it on something? When you last saw it, was it normal length like the
The toe does look swollen and a little red. It’s good you’re getting her seen soon.

I wouldn’t have separated her from the rest though. You should put them all together in a neutral area when you’ve deep cleaned the cage and put her back in with them. They should hopefully still get along.

Please add your location to your profile - county/state or country will suffice. It makes it easier when you’re being given info as sometimes it can be more tailored to where you are. And there are members from around the world on here 😉
 
I'll put her back with the others, it's only been about 20 minutes :) I was nervous being with the others could hurt it more, or spread a fungal infection. And that cage has ramps in it to different floors. That was my initial thought that she ripped it off because I am 90% certain her toenail was normal length when I last saw it. She's going to the bathroom, running, eating and drinking like normal as well. When i touched it, she didn't even seem to notice. I was able to file the littlest sharp tip of it off with no pushback and she is pretty vocal. (I was scared that sharp bit would get caught on something and split the toenail)


(Location updated!)
 
Update! (in case someone else has this happen to them)

The vet said she definitely ripped her toenail off and it's a manageable infection. He could tell because 1. How it looks 2. her leg tendon on that foot was swollen. She's continuing epsom soaks & now on antibiotics (1 ML every 12 hours for ten days). The vet said she doesn't need the Bene Bac. Even after two soaks with epsom salts it's starting to look better.
 
What antibiotic was she given? If baytril it can kill the good gut bacteria and so probiotics can help with that - given either an hour before or after the antibiotic.

All the best.
 
:agr: It can be advisable to continue giving a probiotic such benebac to a piggy on antibiotics as some antibiotics can cause loss of appetite - not all and it doesn’t happen every time though
 
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