Rotti Nail Problem

[hermgill]

Hello Everyone, first time poster here!

Here's some bg info. My 3.5 year old rotti got a split nail, they were a tad bit too long and the nail got split till the start of the nail. Took him to the vet, the vet said the entire nail had to be removed and I believe he was right. About two months later now, just yesterday, my rotti started lifting the same paw he got the nail removed on. I didn't think much of it, he did it once or twice in a 8 hour period. However after i took him for a walk at around 7:00pm, he came back and was favouring it much more. He could walk normally - no limp - but once he would sit he would lift the paw up. I applied pressure to various areas and it was clear he was irritated in the nail area of the left paw. It looked the nail got infected, fairly quickly i may add, as it looked normal the night before.

So i naturally took him to the vet again today. My regular vet is gone on vacation for a few weeks so his replacement took a look. There is no swelling near the area, so he does not think it is an infection. He believes that when the removed the nail initially they did not remove the entire nail, and a portion of it was broken from the very back. So now he is suggesting to do the antibiotics for a week and see the results. If it does not help, they will have to sedate my poor rotti again and cut deeper into the paw to get the entire nail out. Somewhat frustrating because I already took him to there for that reason initially and feel it should've been taken care of initially. I have attached a picture of the split nail initially and what the nail currently looks like, the white stuff in it could just be the iodex my mom decided to put on it for some reason. I am wondering if what the vet is saying makes any sense, and what any of you may suggest it be from the pictures and description i have given. He allows me to touch his entire paw, apply pressure, except on the nail that is injured.

Thank you for your time everyone!

Split Nail

Nail Yesterday

Nail Today

[MaxaLisa]

It does make sense, but I don't know what an infected nail would look like, cut like that.

Pull back the hair on all of the other nails and check if there are any other nails looking like they might split, just to make sure that this is an isolated issue, and not some more systemic condition that can affect the nails.

I do know that nail stuff is VERY PAINFUL. My old boy had torn his dew claw, they trimmed it up, but he had to go back to have it amputated. It was painful and an ordeal. I hope that your boy heals quickly, and that the antibiotics do the trick. I would be tempted to clean it out with something, but Im' not sure what.