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Long story short, we just found my a dog awhile in the kitchen, she ripped one of her main nails on her right paw clean off (nothing left on it) No yelping or even whines at all really too....
After the bleeding slowed, we finally put that shit (it happened to be really old stuff) that's basically a medical version of flour (which is also what I've read to put on the claw/paw if it's bleeding) and wrapped it up in gauze, and she's acting like nothign even happened (including walking on it, but it's not like Im gonna be able to keep a Jack Russel laying down)
So right now, all Im thinking is: a)we didn't clean it totally yet
b)it bleeding/her chewing the badnage/her arm in the night
any ideas? tips? other shit? Im freaking out out cause I freakin' love this dog, and Im ready to rip everyone's elses heads off because they're hardly giving two shits....
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take the dog to a vet tomorrow.
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my wife is a veterinarian and I just asked her about this for you. she said you don't necessarily have to go to the vet unless you can't stop the bleeding, the dog seems in pain, or the place where the nail came off looks swollen and nasty. where she's acting like nothing happened, that's probably a good sign right now...but that doesn't mean it can't become infected later. The treatment you gave so far was the right thing to do...keep an eye on the wound and if you're just not sure, then go to the vet. Obviously, if she is gnawing at it or if it seems like it hurts her, then you should go to the vet.
As far as her loosing the nail - in general, it's not a big deal (unless infection sets in). It may grow back depending on where the nail broke off. But if it never grows back, she can live normally without it.
So for now, monitor the situation the best you can. If she just never seems in pain or the wound doesn't become a problem / gets infected / keeps bleeding, then don't worry about it too much. If she's gnawing at it, then you may want to go to the vet to get a cone for her to wear until it heals.
so from what my wife said, it's not a life or death situation or anything. but if you're still really worried or concerned, like Jor said, go see your vet. hope that helps [img]smile.gif[/img]
<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ September 12, 2005 09:13 PM: Message edited by: munkkeychusetts ]</font>
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yeah when we called the Humane society they sai try all the shit we did first, and the nearest place they recommended was a good 30-40 minutes, and Im the middle of a friggin city! [img]eek.gif[/img] So we might try going there tomorrow... I think she's just chewing at the bandage because it's something new, and she probably wants to lick the wound
Thing about it to is, not really much swelling when I looked at it before wrapping it up, but it looks like the nail was ripped completely off/out of whatever, no sign of it, if ya dont mind, mind asking your wife:
a) what are some pretty blatant signs of infection
and
b) if alchohol's alright to clean the wound with
'preciate the help! [img]biggrin.gif[/img]
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no problem....
obvious signs of infection - redness /swelling around wound (hard to see with fur, I know), any mucus / puss leaking from the wound, a strange odor emitting from the wound, and again if the dog is in pain that's always a bad thing.
and my wife said DON'T clean the wound with alcohol - this will really sting. She said use hydrogen peroxide, or you can soak the wound in epsom salt. If you don't have any of those things available right now, just use warm water for the time being.
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and you want to discourage her from licking the wound. try to keep it covered the best you can. licking it will potentially make it worse or lead to infection. you can try to put a little sock or two over the bandage to help add layers and protection.
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I gotta hit the hay, but I'll check the board agian in the morning if you have more questions.
for now, just keep an eye on things and as long as your dog doesn't seem uncomfrotable or in pain, you probably don't have too much to worry about. And even if she is in some pain or if it looks like infectin is setting in, she should be o.k. until you can get to the vet for meds. try not worry too much [img]smile.gif[/img]
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well, now I think it's set in that her claws missing, and she seems a little shell-shocked, but not in much pain at all, she still wnats to run and climb stairs any chew toys.... and I was actually thinking about Hydrogen Peroxide as well, and now that you mention it, we actually already had a sock on her! [img]tongue.gif[/img]
again, thanks for the help!
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Our dog got a nasty cut on her foot awhile ago and had to wear a cone. It was kind of depressing, but humorous at the same time.
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yeah I've been contemplating fashioning a makeshift cone [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Well, she's obviously not doing too bad when she can fall alseep while Im holding her while we wrap her arm up again [img]wink.gif[/img]
