Stubby

Let me set the scene for you...it's a Saturday afternoon, we'd been cleaning all day and had a nice dinner together, then were about to head out on a walk with the dogs to get ice cream (and of course I would share a few bites with Soph and Ollie). So as we're about to leave the backyard and head out front, I hear a loud yelp from Oliver. I look, but see nothing and he seems OK so on we go. Once we get onto the driveway I see a pool of blood coming from his foot and see that it is totally soaked in redness. I scream (remember, I do not do well with this) and Howard comes to grab him. Quickly we see that one of his back toe nails has been completely ripped off! We are guessing it got caught between two boards on the deck when he was coming down the stairs and pulled it right out. Ick! It still gives me the chills thinking how painful this would be. We quickly got him inside and put pressure on the wound, giving him lots of peanut butter in the meantime to keep him pre-occupied. The bleeding finally died down, but it continued to ooze. Remember, it's a Saturday night, no vets are open, but I called the emergency line and was told to make a paste of flour and water, which was to go directly on the nail bed. We did this and wrapped his little foot with gauze. Luckily I had left over doggie pain pills from their surgery, so he was able to down one of those immediately. He wimpered a bit, but then dozed off. We let him sleep with us in bed so that he wouldn't try to chew the bandage off and then it all seems to get a little foggy after that.

He was up every two hours or so, wanting to pee or just being uncomfortable. His oozing wound came through the bandage once, so of course I freaked out again and he started kicking his legs all over. Basically we got about three hours of sleep collectively and I personally feel as though I've been at a sleep over where you stay up all night, feeling super crummy the next day.

I read up some more on the ripped off toe nails online this morning and there's not much that can really be done. We just have to keep an eye out for infection. He has been running around today with his three toe nails and one stub. Poor little guy, he's had enough injuries to last a lifetime...for now, he's happily enjoying a bully stick!