My dog cut his nail. Should I take him to the vet or treat at home?

Poor baby. I would definitely go to the vet for that one. The groomer could pull it off, but there could be a lot of pain and bleeding. At the vet they can sedate him if needed, as well as send him home with a few days of pain medications or even antibiotics if he's been licking at it a lot.

This rarely get infected if disinfected properly, but a check up would be ideal just to cut off the remaining part of the nail. Disinfection may be started at home with very diluted hibiscrub or betadine or salted water baths (at least twice daily for the next 3-4 days. Buster collar may be useful as well to avoid any licking. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

Hello, thank you for your question about Kimi. Other than allowing the nail to grow/fall off on its own the only other option would be to cut the nail short below the split. Having the split portion of the nail removed will prevent it from getting caught and causing pain or problems in the future. However, cutting the nail below the split will likely mean encountering the blood vessel present in the nasal and mean that Kimi may have to wear a bandage on his foot for a little bit. If you would like to have the split nail cut I would recommend bringing Kimi to your veterinarian so that they can cut it, stop the bleeding, and place a bandage on his foot. Alternatively, you could continue monitoring the nail for catching on the ground or any discomfort. Hope this helps, good luck!

Since it is not actively bleeding you can trim the nail yourself. It doesn't look that bad but you need to cut off the top part that is "hanging" or it will catch on things and could potentially cause more damage and pain to her. When you trim it, it may bleed so if you are not prepared for that at home then you should have your vet do it. A groomer may not be comfortable doing this but you can ask them. I don't think it will need much after care especially if it does not bleed. This article may help you more. If you have more questions feel free to ask again. Best wishes. ( https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/first-aid-for-broken-nails-in-dogs )

I would be hesitant to do anything at home as it may be too painful. The dark part is likely old blood and discharge over the nerve part the shell protects. The shell is displaced exposing thisbtissue. Often times they need to be sedated to have it cleaned and trimmed back past the break to get to healthy tissue. You can try to soak it warm water to see if you can clean up around hr nail and get the discharge gone but it may be too painful to do. I would get him to your vet for this when you can

Sorry this happened to Thor! Honestly, the vet would pull off that top piece of nail (the white part) with a hemostat instrument. This is very painful and the nail may bleed a lot after that. So, if that part of the nail is very loose you may be able to pull it off - be aware that he may try to bite. It is very painful.... If it bleeds you can put some corn starch or flour on it and then bandage it. You can look at some YouTube videos on how to properly bandage the foot. Keep it bandaged for few days. If he is trying to eat the bandage or lick the nail you will need to get an E-collar (cone) to put on him until it's healed. It won't heal if he keeps licking it. Of course if he is limping, not eating, the nail won't stop bleeding, etc you will need to get Thor to the vet sooner. Hope this helps.

Please don't give any over-the-counter pain medications; they can be toxic to dogs at even low doses and giving them will confound your vet's ability to treat the pain with appropriate medications. The reality is that most of these nail injuries end up getting infected, and even if there's no infection they are exquisitely painful. You can compare it to losing your fingernail completely, but then having to walk on the uncovered cuticle. Patch likely needs to have the area numbed and the remaining nail pulled, then have a very soft/cushioning bandage placed, followed by antibiotics and pain medication. Please take him in to see his vet as soon as you can for this.