do with split toenail

Question
Hello,
I'm not sure if you can help or not, but maybe you have experienced this. We have an 8-year-old Great Dane who had a split toenail about a month ago- all the way to the base of her toe. We noticed it when she started limping a little bit. We took her to the vet, as it was swollen and obviously painful, and they trimmed it down. They also put her on antibiotics for a week. It was still bothering her after a week and not much better, and they gave her another round of antibiotics. We thought it was healing, but last night she started limping pretty badly. I looked at it, and the pinkish nub where the nail used to be has turned white, and her toe is once again swollen. All around her toe pad, on the bottom, she is pink and purple. We are very worried about a bad infection, especially at her age, and the vet had mentioned doing a biopsy to check for a tumor. Any advice or comments would be much appreciated! Thank you.

Answer
Heather,

This is starting to sound pretty serious...I think you should
get your Dane back to the vet ASAP. Infections are not something you want to mess with, especially at her age. If it is just an issue with the nail being unable to heal because she is on it all the time or she chews at it, they can put a "boot" on her to help it heal. If it is something more serious then that needs to be addressed as well.

Good Luck, please let me know what happens, I care.

Doe
www.doepiddle.isonfire.com
doepiddle@charter.net