Split Nail Removal: Recovery Pain/Time

On Wednesday SQ's split nail was removed by the vet. The split went far and there was infection, so the nail had to be cut/removed as far as possible. He seemed fine Wednesday evening and Thursday, but now 48 hours later he is limping and favoring the other leg and seems generally depressed/in pain. He's on Clavamox for infection, which he has had before.

Even when the nail was split and infected, he was running around like normal. SQ is a very stoic dog when comes to pain, never really showing signs of pain.

What remains of the nail looks dry and it's not red (ie, doesn't look infected).

I can see that he may have not been in pain Wednesday and yesterday, due to the sedative and local anesthesia (bupivicaine). But I would have thought the pain would have subsided by now.

Any ideas on how long the pain may last? Is this normal for nails that have to be cut as far as possible?

My regular vet is out until Monday, but I will get Tremadol from his partner tomorrow morning.

Thanks!!

RDandSQ

SQ is a 80 pound Chesapeake Bay Retriever boy. He is a very sweet and playful boy, almost 4 years old now.

do not know if it really is the same thing pain wise, but harley had part of his toe removed, including the nail. Well it took him 3 types of drugs for 2 months, codiene, rimadyl, and an antibiotic. # months in pain for my poor guy. And alot of rest

Poor Haley....sounds like a miserable 2-3 months - for your him, and for you.

This nail issue seems more minor since the toe is still intact. Thanks for your response, adds some perspective on how painful toe and nail issues can be....

Hello! I have a tough french bulldog going through the same exact thing! How long did it take for SQ to recover?

Cleatis broke his nail and the quik was exposed. He wasn't in any pain at all. We took him to the vet the next day. The vet cut off the entire nail (as most do) but without any pain meds or putting him under. That day Cleatis was running around doing just fine. We changed his bloody bandage (it was extremely bloody and smelly) after we noticed he started limping on it. Now the order is gone and it seems to look just fine. But poor cleatis is limping really bad and in pain. Cleatis is an extremely tough dog as he has gone through a lot in his short life so far. Just curious if I should be alarmed and take him back? Our vet says to give it more time, but I'm not sure how much I should trust the vet as they did such a quick job and told us to keep the bloody bandage on for 5 straight days. I hope SQ quickly recovered. Thanks for your time and input. :)

Sorry your having trouble! This is a really old thread and not likely the OP will be back to update! I would be wanting something especially if the dog is in pain. When did you last speak to the vet about it?