# Split Nail



## chewice (Jan 1, 2012)

Allo!

I noticed yesterday Cashew has a split nail on his right front paw. Ive tried to take pictures for you but... I suck so...look at them how you want 















.

It hasn't been bleeding and he doesn't seem to be limping or in pain.

The break starts about half way up his nail, goes horizontally thru, then starts going up.

Can I handle this myself, or should this be a vet


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

When we had a lab his nail actually broke off, and it bled. We just kept it clean and dry and he was fine. Didnt show any pain or anything like that. Just keep an eye on it, personally I wouldnt take him to the vet for it unless it starts to look infected, which I doubt it will. If you can, trim the nail too. Of course dont go too far, but just keep it shorter so it doesnt continue to snag and bend.


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## chewice (Jan 1, 2012)

Should I cut at the ... breakage point? It seems to me more than 50 percent thru, so im confused about the quick at that point. 

He has super long quicks that ive been working on...


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

just leave it alone, if it breaks off, it breaks off. We've had more than our fair share of completely broken off nails here... half of the time if they break it off and it's hanging there i just yank it off really quick without even so much as a wince. watch for infection setting in but in all honesty, if you have some betadine, or some chlorhexidine just mix it with some water and put it in a spray bottle, spray the area once or twice a day if you're paranoid about infection... I've never had a broken nail turn into anything more.

look at it as a quick fix to long quicks :lol: most of Tobi's nails are short quicks because he's broken them off nearly at the root at one time or another... they grow back just fine.


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## auntiemissa (Apr 19, 2010)

this happened to my labs dewclaw. the dog was limping so it was obviously bothering him so i took him in and vet clipped it. my main concern is that it will get caught on the rug or something and get yanked off. i would NOT clip it at breakage point but try to clip as much as u can up to that point if u want.i guess it all depends on how active your dog is and the ground hes running around on. we had carpet that would have been easy for nail to get caught in


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