Ten days ago my girl managed to damage her nail. It looks like it has been pulled upwards, leaving the quick exposed. There was no blood, lameness or licking, but I found it when I went to trim her feet. The following morning it was obviously bothering her so I took her to the vets. They think it is an old injury that she has caught again and think a new nail has started to grow. They managed to trim it back and have said that the new nail that is growing under it will push this one off if she doesn't catch it herself by then. For a couple of days after being trimmed back it was obviously very sore and a bit sticky, but had dried up well and the quick no longer looks angry and red.

Owe have been restricting her to road walksn the flat she is totally sound and . The vet had said we could continue to exercise as normal, so yesterday we thought we would risk it and let her have a run in the snow. She was happy to race around with another dog and dig for mice which we quickly stopped (I think she has done it originally) but when she was standing you could see she wasn't weight bearing properly. Once she was off the fields, she was happy and sound again.

Has anyone had such an injury before and if so how did they go on. Maybe I am expecting too much after ten days?

I have a dog with SLO who sloughs his nails quite regularly.  In the beginning these would just fall off very easily but now we are 'closing the gap' (quite literally) with dietary improvements, the root is stronger and less likely to fall away.  Like you we now sometimes have nails that remain attached despite having been pulled completely away from the quick.

The big issue to watch out for is infection so I recommend you keep the hanging nail as short as you possibly can - otherwise it simply traps dirt - and clean it after every walk.  I always wash the nail with dilute hibiscrub and leave him stood in it to soften and dissolve the mud.  I also give the paw regular salt baths whilst the quick looks red.  It generally calms down in a few days however so I'm a bit surprised you're still having problems after 10 days.

I too exercise as normal but don't forget that the snow, and mud, will be pushing the loose nail upwards and will feel uncomfortable.  The benefit though is this is the sort of exercise that will help the nail to loosen and fall off.  Try tugging the nail whilst her paw is very cold and wet.  Cold dulls the pain and the nail will be softer than usual.  Don't worry if it isn't loose enough to come off yet but do check regularly.  My lad came out of a snow drift last week with one nail pointing at right angles to the others and this one pulled straight off with just a v quick ouch!

Did your vet give you Metacam for her?  I find that some toes are more painful than others and an anti-inflammatory pain relief medication is needed.

I had a lab that done this at least once during shooting season. After numerous vet trips we all decided on one such visit when he was about 8 years old to remove the nail for good while he was still young and fit for the anesthetic. He never looked back and he continued for a good few more years shooting with no problems.

We are having problems with My Giant Schnauzer Gollie he has been  going back and forwards to the Vets he has had nails off and antibiotics now they are discussing taking a toe off for biopsy it is all very worrying for us he  is only five he seems to have always been having treatment as he also has episcleratitis  I did wonder if it could all be immune related any ideas ?

Regards Glenys

> discussing taking a toe off for biopsy

Hi Glenys, this is the only way for a definite diagnosis of SLO - Symmetrical Lupoid Onychodystrophy - but it's possible to start treating the condition without this.  Can you describe his nails to me?  We've opted not to have a biopsy but to start dietary treatment first which seems to be having a positive effect.

Hi thank you I can only describe it as the outer shell of the nail falls off when bathed we have been bathing them in hibiscrub soloution  but when the Vet has to remove the nails they just pull out  his feet are very sore and now he can only have small walks  I do have a picture of the nail.
He is on Fish 4 Dogs dry food with sardines or fresh meat sometimes

Glenys this does indeed sound like SLO that Dogs-a babe mentions and I also have a bc that suffers from this. A lot of infomation can be found Here
and it does get better Kitten is now in remission being maintained on high doses of Fish Oil, Evening Primrose Oil,Biotin, Vit E and Vit b Complex,after initially being treated with Tetracycline and Niacinamide as well.

Thank you it does sound exactly like that we have another appointment wednesday  looks like the biopsy will be next.

We didnt biopsy Kitten as couldn't see the point in loosing a toe. I actually gave my vet the link to that page and she was happy to start treatment with the proviso that obviously investigation would be resumed if she didn't respond.

Sorry for the delay in replying and thanks for your detailed reply. After what you said about exercise loosening the nail, I decided to go ahead and let her run as normal. Exercise is back to normal, although I am trying to stop her digging which is easier said than done. She doesn't appear to be in any discomfort now but the nail still feels firmly attached. Each walk I live in hope that we will get back and I will see it's dropped off.

I am keeping it clean and watching for infection. She still doesn't like me looking at it, but I think this is more that she suspects I am going to clip the nail.

Someone said that they had a similar problem and their vet had to trim the nail and quick right back to the nail bed to ensure it grew back properly. This sounds a bit painful to me, especially as she doesn't appear in any pain now, but then I don't like the idea that the nail won't grow back properly unless this is done.

Hope you get poor Gollie sorted Glenys x

Thank you everyone its really  put my mind at rest I will update you  on Gollie

Glenys I took heart from the information that satincollie was able to give me and I too used the link she's posted.  Actually my vet was onto the diagnosis before I was but I found it helpful for background reading and to be able to form intelligent questions!!

It's a more common condition than I realised and not too difficult for woof and I to manage, with care :)  I've added Essential Fatty Acids (Viacutan Plus) and Biotin (Onychotin) to his raw diet.  I've also upped his raw liver a bit too.

Hi Goldiemad, do look at removing the nail as soon as it's loose enough but there is no need whatsoever to remove any of the quick - it recedes when unprotected and the remainder quickly hardens to provide some protection.

The nail should simply fall away BUT if it doesn't then yes it should be clipped back hard as it will hamper the new growth - and may well become very painful if it flaps around.

My old girls had problems with her nail. it didnt llo good and we had a fair bit trimmed of but it didnt help so we went back and my vet was going to cut back more. but i said that i felt we should just go for toe removal as i had a gut feeling about it. and the result came came back that it was a squamas cell carcinoma. so once more my gut feeling was right and my girls was out of pain. although she still thought it was there as she hated anything being done to that foot. ie tidying up hair ect!

>Someone said that they had a similar problem and their vet had to trim the nail and quick right back to the nail bed
>This sounds a bit painful to me

It IS painful.  I always have my Beardies done under sedation.  My 12 year old must have had this done a couple of dozen times.  I won't have the toe removed.  It will only confirm what I already know, so I don't see the point.

When you say it didn't look good, how do you mean?

This nail looks absolutely fine other than the nail shell is sort of sticking up and the quick is totally seperate where it should be. If you think of an open pair of scissors, that is what it looks like. When she first did it the quick was all red and raw looking and was obviously really sore, but now it is black and doesn't seem to be bothering her.

not sure if a couple of comments are geared at me, I will reply anyway.

The nail looke differant to the others I felt the quick looked tender. It troubled my bitch, she was in obviouse pain with it. The vet trimmed the nail right back, but did it gradually, turned out there was no nerve in it, therefore the actual nail trim was not sore.

Had i not requested the toe to be removed the Squamous cell carcinoma could have spread. we removed the problem and Yes of course she was sedated to have her toes removed, i have never regretted it as prior to removal my girl was in great pain.

Thanks for that Tadog. Jade's nail looks perfectly normal apart from it being seperated if that makes sense. She has been racing around on it with no problems or signs of lameness so I am pretty sure it isn't painful now. In a couple of week we are off up to Scotland so it will be interesting if she loses it up there.

I really appreciate the warning though, and will be watching it like a hawk.

I dont know if this would help but when any of my hens damages a beak which sometimes happens (it sort of looks like a pair of scissors), like the top beak has split open and exposed the bloody flesh inside the hard shell :(
Hard to explain, anyway we stick them with superglue, it works and then they grow out and are ok.

That sounds just like her nail. Unfortunately it seems to be rubbing her other toe and has made an ulcer like sore, so we are off to the vets again tomorrow. :(

> Unfortunately it seems to be rubbing her other toe and has made an ulcer like sore

Did she not let you clip it off?

Just a helpful tip - soak her paw in a basin of salty water before you go to the vet, they'll be able to see it all better if there is no mud or debris to impede their view and the water will soften the nail to make clipping it away much easier.

Lets hope they get her sorted for you.

Yes, they clipped it back when I first took her, but not right back to the nail bed. They don't think it is going to drop off on it's own as it so firmly attached, so she is booked in to have it removed tomorrow. I am glad really as it least then it will have a chance for the new nail to come through properly, just wish it had been removed when I first took her.

Thanks for the tip, I will make sure her feet are clean. :)

Oh well, trundled off the the Vets this morning and there had been a mix up with appointment times, so they asked if I could possibly change it to late afternoon. It wasn't a problem, so we went for a walk instead. Half an hour before we left for the vet I went to wash her foot and the nail was gone!! I still took her down for them to check it, so she now has antibiotics for 10 days and hopefully that will be the end of it. :)

Hi Glenys

I see on LRNW you have the results now so wondered if you posted here you could get some feedback as well as you may have forgotten you posted on here x

The diagnoses is Lupoid onchytitis  Ive only just received it and he is now on prednisolone and Efavet   I am hoping for a good outcome one worry is that Gollie suffers from  or is treated permananently for Episcleratitis and has had it over two years  this also is an immune  problem any more ideas ? and thank you for the wealth of advice and the link as well I am grateful and to Lucy for remending me to update  champdogs.

No worries Glenys as know you have alot going on xx