toenail

Question
Hello, my name is Lisa Pizzillo and I am awake at 11 pm frantically searching for the answer to my question: What is going on with my dogs toenail? My dog, Blazer, is a 90+ lb Australian Shepherd and he WILL NOT stop licking his toenail. (starting at the dew claw, it's the 4th toe) Upon my examination I have found that the hard, upper part of the toenail, what appears to be the actual claw, has separated from the soft, under part, maybe the nail tissue? In any case, it seems to be causing him a lot of pain and discomfort as he will not keep it out of his mouth. I would like to take him to a veterinarian, but seeing as I'm an unemployed college student, this is nearly impossible. You seemed to be the most knowledgeable, and available, person to ask, so I really hope you can help me. I would really appreciate hearing back from you, and thank you for taking the time to read this plea for help.

Answer
It sounds like he has split the nail and it's trying to come off of the nail bed itself. The nail bed is softer and more tender so yes, it is painful. The outer part of the nail that is black (or black and white) has no blood supply so it doesn't hurt. What I am wondering is if the dewclaw itself has actually grown around in a circle and is now cutting into the pad itself. Can you see if that is the case? That happens a lot.

If not, try and wrap his foot gently but snugly with some gauze and tape so he can keep his tongue off of it. You can give him an aspirin (regular buffered, not Tylenol, not Ibuprofen or Advil or anything else) for the pain.

But unless you can pull the nail off yourself, which will let it heal on its own, you will have to have the vet do it. I know all about being a college student and not having any money- but he is a priority so you need to find a way to get him in.

Broken toe nails and such usually don't cause many problems after the offending nail is removed- however- I have seen plenty of them become majorly infected and whole toes or more removed as a result.

So need to be treated accordingly. He may need antibitoics too, if this has already progressed to that point.

Soaking his foot in Epsons salt will help soften the broken nail and make it easier to trim or for it to fall off-whichever it does first.

So please get some rest after you wrap it tonight. You might also want to put a sock over it and tape that to his fur with a strip of duct tape. But again, loosely and not tight!! Just barely any pressure at all.
Tape part of the duct tape to the sock and to his hair or the sock will just slide off.

Don't leave the bandages on for more than a day at a time. Check it daily for smell and swelling.
I hope that helps some. Let me know how it goes in a couple of days.