Christmas Day Emergency (a real nail biter)

Christmas Day 2012. Shadow is sitting on the carpet, hovering over his bone, waiting to play. All of the sudden, my husband realizes the outside nail on his left front paw is protruding at a grossly unnatural way. It's broken. Hanging on by a thread. Oh, and his paw is stained dark red. Sound the alarm!!

The torn nail

It was gross, and we freaked. Should we cancel all our Christmas plans? Hunt down the vet while he's at his house opening presents? Shadow had just come inside from a walk and from throwing the ball around. When did it break? How? And why on Earth did he not seem to care? Like, at ALL?

What we did:

This was one scenario in which the Dog Bible failed me. So a frantic Internet search told us that yes, we should consult a vet to avoid infection. But because it was a holiday and this was not a life-or-death situation, we had to wait until the next day.

Meanwhile, we used his Pawtector booty each time he went outside. We abandoned all hope of getting him to cover it up while inside the house, which turned out to be fine. Because the quick was already torn apart, I (cringing) cut the nail off completely so it wouldn't get caught on anything. Then I dunked his "toe" in Styptic for the first time, to lessen any pain.

Shadow visited the vet the next day. The fact that he wasn't touching/licking/biting at the injury, indicated that it was not infected. This was a $57, three-second diagnosis. (Meanwhile, his human counterparts have ignored their own ailments and $20 co-pays for years. Ain't it the truth.)

The vet's advice: Keep using that booty outdoors, and soak his paw for five minutes a day in an antimicrobial solution (1 tbsp Nolvasan Skin and Wound Cleanser, 1 cup warm water). Oh, and keep keep his nails trim!

Planning ahead: Nolvasan is available at Amazon.com, 1-800-Petmeds, and Doctors Fosters and Smith, to name a few.


This experience is one of many that will be added to the new page, "When Things Go Wrong." The point of this page is to give dog owners a little perspective when their furry friends run into trouble. Give it a read before panicking.