Hi,

I wonder if anyone out there could help or give me any advice....I have a 2.5yr old ACTIVE Border Collie, who over the last 9 mths or so has intermitantly been suffering from broken nails. Initially it started with a jew claw being broken in half which led to it falling out - then about 2 mths later - the exact same happened with the other one. Then, I noticed she had caught a nail on her front foot. At this point, Abby was being walked by a dog walker who took other dogs out and I spoke to her about incase they were being walked somewhere that would endanger Abby but that was not the case. We then moved house and the problem continued...the nail appears to be seperating from the quick of the nail. It has got to the stage we no longer throw the ball for her in fear of her hurting her nail....(which always happens and is sore on the dog) When we moved house we got a new vetinary practise but the new vet told me to add a raw egg to her dinner as he felt she was being fed sufficient nutrients. So we have done but alas the problem is still there. I went back and saw the head vet who has prescribed a nail boost which is used primarily for horses and is called BIOTIN (made by Lincoln) and told me to stop giving her raw egg ! Abby now has several crooked nails....anyone else came across this problem ?     For info - I feed Abby Scrabled Egg every morning with a small amount of pedigree mixer. For dinner I give her winalot meat or mixer. she then always gets a denti stick. Occasionally she will get sausages as a treat in with mixer.

Any advice or help would be appreciated - I just want my dog to run and have fun again without hurting herself.

Hi

I have in the past had a dog (when I still had bigger dogs) who unlike his siblings suffered from nail splitting condition, the vets tried many different drugs and supplements but nothing really worked.  I gave up with the vets after a while and started trying to treat it myself for the most part, only going back to the vets to have a nail fragment removed.  I found after many trials of different things that omega oils help to stop them splitting as badly.  But as you know once they start to crack it can be hard to stop the crack spreading.  I ended up putting him in padded boots like the dogs that do search and rescue wear.  This at least stopped him catching them once he had stopped walking funny and trying to rip them off.  Then I tried to keep the nails as short as possible by weekly trimming but before trimming I would make him stand in the bath with a couple of inches of water to soften the nails so that when I cut them they didnt splinter as much.  Also make sure you get a really sharp pair of nail clippers otherwise trimming will just crack them more.  I know it sounds like a human beauty routine but it did work and he went for many months at a time not needing to wear the boots by this trimming method.

Read this link about all the possible conditions that you still need to check he hasnt got first as their may be a vet treatment for them- http://lowchensaustralia.com/grooming/nailconditions.htm

You may also want to consider switching her to a complete food like royal canin or pro plan that have ones for coat condition, these have the same omega oils in them.

Good luck

Emma