I just joined this community because I couldn’t post on r/dogs but my dog’s nail is cracked. There’s no bleeding or anything. Do I clip it or leave it be?? He’s not really limping but when we were playing outside, I noticed he had one of his paws up. I checked and I saw his nail was cracked. There’s no bleeding or anything, but I’m curious what would you guys do? UPDATE!! my dad took a look at it… it’s cracked at the quick, so I was wrong. My dad said we’re gonna give it a day and we’re going to give my dog some pain medication, but if it doesn’t get better we’re going to the vet.
Vet appointment ASAP.
I would trim it so it doesn’t rip in half.
Urgent care vet. Dog nails are largely bone and if it’s broken past the quick it could need surgical repair or antibiotics to prevent serious infection.
That happened to my dog and he ended up needing to have his nail surgically removed.
That happened to mine, but she was limping and the vet didn’t have an appt for 3 days (weekend) so I clipped it myself each day a small amount. By Monday she didn’t need a vet appt. As long as it’s not bleeding it should be fine. I also glued it, but don’t do that unless you know what you are doing (daughter a vet tech).
Does the crack go all the way to the quick?
Are your dog’s nails clear or are they black? The quick is pink on a dog’s nails. It’s similar to human fingernails where there’s skin under our nails and if you cut into it, it bleeds. So if you see the split didn’t touch near the pink spot of the nail then you should be fine to gently clip them, and make sure not to hit their quick.
I wouldn’t tackle this myself. I would take the dog to a groomer who is used to dealing with this sort of thing. I’d call and ask.