@huntjul and petdoc

sfshorter

So my baby, whose legs are faster than his brain, ran into a metal post last night going really fast. He yelped for a minute then was fine. I get home tonight, and he had this big bloody spot on his eyeball. Dh and dd said nothing else happened to him today, so I guess it was from last night. He seems fine and I looked at his eye. The pupil looks fine and I don't see any scratches on the surface, but I'm still worried. Should I take him in?

I was actually going to ask y'all about his toe nail that is split all the way down the middle last night, but now this seems more important. He is special.

huntjul

If everything else about the eye looks fine (not sticking out farther than usual, good facial symmetry, not painful, no discharge beyond whatever his normal may be, etc) then it's probably just some broken blood vessels secondary to the trauma. You should see the blood disappear over the next few days as the body resorbs it. Nothing you can do to speed the process. 

As for a split nail, in general, prevent these by keeping nails trimmed shorter. For the one that's already split, trim it back as far as It is split, or as far as you can without making it bleed. If it bleeds, use a stryptic powder you can get at your pet store to stop the bleeding (or some of my clients will use flour or cornstarch, but it doesn't work as well).

sfshorter

Thank you! I trim his nails once a week and they still grow like crazy. This may seem weird, but the "wick" (don't know the medical term) of his nails, the fleshy part that is under his nail, is abnormally long compared to any dog I've had, so I am scared to trim them too short.
The nail is split all the way to his fur and doesn't seem to be growing back together. One side lifts up off his nail and gets hung, causing him pain. it's hard to see, but picture below.

huntjul

The part of the split nail that is lifting up and getting hung up needs to be cut off altogether at the base of the nail. Then the nail can grow back from the start as one piece. Unfortunately that's usually a painful trim job, so it should be done quickly and well so it doesn't need to be repeated. Also it's somewhat likely it'll bleed, so have the stryptic powder on hand and ready. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, a vet or a good groomer can do it.

sfshorter

Thanks so much. I might just take him in and let his vet trim it. I don't want to hurt him.

sfshorter

Yeah, he's something else. I got him a new bone to make him feel better, so he is ignoring us right now .

sfshorter

Thanks! I've got to take him in anyway to get his heartworm pills refilled, so I'll just see if they can do it then.

Charlie thanks you!