Ouch! Marlee Lost a Nail

Last week Marlee was walking across the throw rug in the living room, and I suddenly noticed large spots of blood behind her. No yiping or any other sounds of pain, but I picked her up and hustled her into the kitchen because it was starting to look like someone had committed a chainsaw murder in there.

She had torn one of her left rear nails clean out (we later found the whole thing, intact, on the living room rug). Still don't know how she managed it, as that rug isn't particularly snaggy.

These things always seem to happen at 10 p.m., don't they? My mom, who had the same thing happen with her own pug (the late Spike) many years ago, took charge. I put pressure on it till the bleeding stopped, which took almost half an hour, then my mom disinfected it, fashioned a bootie for Marlee with cotton, gauze wrapping, and medical tape, and pronounced it fixed.

And it really was. Marlee managed to slip the bootie off the next day, but another was created and taped a little better, and now you'd never know that anything happened. It's healed beautifully and Mars, now happily bootie-less, is none the worse for wear.

This living with Mom thing has its perks.

Wow, that had to be scary. I'm just really glad that everything is ok now. Hugs to Marlee, you, and your mom.

Bella injured one once too, but it didn't really bleed or fall out. She just started limping. She had fractured the nail inside the toe and the vet had to sedate her to remove it. Looked painful!

Izzy lost a nail last month. She got it caught on a blanket and when she jumped off the couch it ripped out. Be really, really careful about infection. Our vet put Izzy on antibiotics and had me soak her foot in a betadyne solution every day for 15 minutes for the first couple weeks. She said an infection is very common after losing a nail and can be very serious and difficult to treat once it starts.