My GSD has lost a toenail. It doesn't seem to bother him, although the
area is red. He licks it occasionally. He doesn't limp. He doesn't
object to me handling the foot and the toe is appaently not painful.

Should I put medication on the area and if so, what? I don't want him to
lick off anything toxic.

He hasn't seen a vet as yet and I doubt that this is necessary. Opinions
and advice appreciated.

Thanks,
Jan

wrote in message
...
My GSD has lost a toenail. It doesn't seem to bother him, although the
area is red. He licks it occasionally. He doesn't limp. He doesn't
object to me handling the foot and the toe is appaently not painful.

Should I put medication on the area and if so, what? I don't want him to
lick off anything toxic.

He hasn't seen a vet as yet and I doubt that this is necessary. Opinions
and advice appreciated.

...........the whole toenail is just gone? There's a disease which can cause
all the toenails to fall off....something or other dystrophy, can't remember
the name now. Check Dr. Mike at www.vetinfo.com as I believe he has/had a
dog this happened to.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

On Tue, 16 May 2006 11:11:41 GMT, "buglady"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
My GSD has lost a toenail. It doesn't seem to bother him, although the
area is red. He licks it occasionally. He doesn't limp. He doesn't
object to me handling the foot and the toe is appaently not painful.

Should I put medication on the area and if so, what? I don't want him to
lick off anything toxic.

He hasn't seen a vet as yet and I doubt that this is necessary. Opinions
and advice appreciated.

..........the whole toenail is just gone? There's a disease which can cause
all the toenails to fall off....something or other dystrophy, can't remember
the name now. Check Dr. Mike at www.vetinfo.com as I believe he has/had a
dog this happened to.

Onychodystrophy, might be sympathetic onychodystrophy. It's an
immune-mediated condition, very common in greyhounds.

Mustang Sally

On Tue, 16 May 2006 10:36:50 -0400, sighthounds & siberians
wrote:

On Tue, 16 May 2006 11:11:41 GMT, "buglady"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
My GSD has lost a toenail. It doesn't seem to bother him, although the
area is red. He licks it occasionally. He doesn't limp. He doesn't
object to me handling the foot and the toe is appaently not painful.

Should I put medication on the area and if so, what? I don't want him to
lick off anything toxic.

He hasn't seen a vet as yet and I doubt that this is necessary. Opinions
and advice appreciated.

..........the whole toenail is just gone? There's a disease which can cause
all the toenails to fall off....something or other dystrophy, can't remember
the name now. Check Dr. Mike at www.vetinfo.com as I believe he has/had a
dog this happened to.

Onychodystrophy, might be sympathetic onychodystrophy. It's an
immune-mediated condition, very common in greyhounds.

I know I should have added info on treatment, but we've only had one
foster dog that had this, and to be honest, I don't recall for sure
how he was treated. Wait, it's coming back to me. He was
successfully treated with rather high-dose fish oil supplements. I
don't recall whether he was ever given prednisone, as we took him from
another adoption group. Also don't recall whether all the toenails
were affected or just some. But fish oil supplements is usually the
treatment for this type of onychodystrophy in ex-racers.

Mustang Sally

Thanks for the responses. I think this is not a disease but due to an
injury.

A few weeks ago he seemed to have perhaps tweaked a nail in getting out
of a car, but the nail was not torn off at that time. He limped slightly
for about 15 minutes, then was very active playing ball.

I have noticed him occasionall licking the area since then, but the nail
was not gone until Sunday.

Maybe he removed it himself? But I don't know whether he needs vet care
or if I should use applied meds or let him handle it.

He seems okay. Active as usual.

Thanks! Jan

On Tue, 16 May 2006 09:02:30 -0700, wrote:

Thanks for the responses. I think this is not a disease but due to an
injury.

A few weeks ago he seemed to have perhaps tweaked a nail in getting out
of a car, but the nail was not torn off at that time. He limped slightly
for about 15 minutes, then was very active playing ball.

I have noticed him occasionall licking the area since then, but the nail
was not gone until Sunday.

Maybe he removed it himself? But I don't know whether he needs vet care
or if I should use applied meds or let him handle it.

He seems okay. Active as usual.

I think a vet visit is a good idea, just to be sure there's nothing
else going on. Most likely the only treatment needed would be a
little antibiotic ointment, perhaps a bandage for a few days depending
on the appearance of the toe.

Mustang Sally

wrote in message
...
Thanks for the responses. I think this is not a disease but due to an
injury.

A few weeks ago he seemed to have perhaps tweaked a nail in getting out
of a car, but the nail was not torn off at that time. He limped slightly
for about 15 minutes, then was very active playing ball.

I have noticed him occasionall licking the area since then, but the nail
was not gone until Sunday.

Maybe he removed it himself? But I don't know whether he needs vet care
or if I should use applied meds or let him handle it.

He seems okay. Active as usual.

My dog injured his nail bed many years ago. Had it checked and was glad I
did. Turned out the injury was so far down into the nail bed, that is was
near the bone. He could have gotten a bone infection from lack of treating
it.

I would take him in.

Tara

Thanks for responses. The vet said " no treatment, no medication, let
the dog handle it".

Jan