My dog broke a nail. Should I go to the vet or treat it at home?

Hello. Ouch! Morty did break the nail at the quick. Honestly, it would be best to take Morty to your vet & just clip the nail off. It will hurt for a second, but leaving the nail like this will cause constant pain, & may lead to an infection up the nail bed. Your vet can dress this properly & send Morty home with some antibiotics & pain medication that will help this to heal quickly. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello. This is such a common injury in dogs. Veterinarians deal with this by cutting the nail at the break & then applying an antibiotic cream mixed with a little lidocaine to stop the pain. The foot stays bandaged for a couple of days until the sensitive tissue starts to heal. From here, the nail will begin to grow out & Jack will be back to his old self. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would recommend taking her in to the vet to have this cut back so that the nail does not snag on anything and tear. She may need an antibiotic as well as a pain medication. Angel will be ok and it does not appear that there are any other concerning changes where the broken nail is. This should be quite simple for the veterinarian to address. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Blue! It’s hard to picture what the nail looks like. If he is that lame on the leg the nail should be evaluated. We do cut the nail back if needed. A cracked or torn nail is a constant source of pain. If you want to post a picture I could try to give you a better idea if Blue should go to the Vet. I hope this helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This appears to be a simple torn nail. Even though this looks really scary, it’s not usually a big deal. Gently clean the area with diluted iodine or plain warm water. If you have nail clippers, clip that nail as short as you feel comfortable doing. If the nail is dangling, sometimes it will come right off, leaving that red inner hub. If there is bleeding, just apply pressure with a clean cloth until it stops. If Izzy is licking it, put her in an E-collar 24 hours a day for about 3 days. And that’s it. As long as you keep it clean, most simple torn nails will grow in on their own within a month. If anything looks odd, it’s not healing, it’s smelly, or anything concerns you, it’s time to see the vet. Hope this helps and best of luck to you and Izzy!

Hello, thank you for your question about Louie. Based on the photos you’ve attached and the symptoms that you are describing I think that you could certainly continue to monitor and keep a loose fitting bandage on. It does not look like the nail is hanging or needs to be removed at this point. I would recommended changing this bandage twice daily and preventing the bandage material from getting wet/dirty as this can predispose Louie to infection. if the wound doesn’t improve or you notice any discharge or swelling of the associated toe I would recommend consulting with your veterinarian as this many indicated development of an infection. Hope this helps, good luck!

It looks like Dante broke his nail. I recommend getting a bootie to protect it and keeping it clean. Ideally Dante would have antibiotics and pain medication to help him which would come from a veterinarian. I would also recommend an elizabethan collar so Dante does not lick at that paw. If he does he can create an infection. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.