ripped nail bed (oooowww!)

[sabrino]

Poor Milo.

We were playing ball the other day and after a retrieve I noticed his back paw was bleeding- alot- I carried him home from the field by which time it looked like I had had a part in a massacre and took him to the vets. The vet said he had managed to patially rip his claw at the nail bed. She gave him an antibiotic injection, told me to flush it with saline once a day and keep Milo on a lead in clean areas for the next three days. This was on friday. Yesterday went by no probs but today It has started bleeding again twice on two separate occasions. Does anyone have any more advice on what to do?! Poor ickle pup is obv uncomfortable.

I'm not sure if its worth going back to the vets because I can't see that there is alot they can do!

[spanielcrazy]

As long as it is still open and bleeding, I would continue with the saline washes. Feet are slow to heal, as they are very flexible so wounds will re-open, and walking rubs against them too.

Just make sure that it isn't swollen or red. You might want to keep him confined to the garden for a few days, if you are walking on concrete that will open it back up. He's better off on grass with a good flushing afterward. If bleeding in the house is a problem you can try bandaging the foot. (Good luck keeping it on  )

I had a Doberman who had this happen, he eventually lost the nail, but the healing was pretty uneventful, they usually do fine 

[Joelf]

Sidney, our lab, did exactly the same thing & his nail bed really bled!!

I took him to the vet & they sedated him & removed the whole claw.........poor Sid; my vet said he'd seen a dog with a broken leg make less fuss than he did!!

[sabrino]

Thanks for the advice. We've just been giving him lots of very short (10min) walks and trying to encourage him not to hare about up and down stairs but we all know what its like trying to keep a cocker still!  Not had any bleeding since I wrote the last post so fingers crossed it might be okay.