What To Do If Your Dog Steps On A Nail

My Dog Stepped On a Nail - Dog with paw hurt after stepping on a nail

"My dog walked on a nail: what should I do?" This is 1 question that we hear quite often and with good reason. Dogs can injure themselves when they walk on things like nails and depending on the severity of the injury; they tin crave surgery to correct.

An injury from a nail is called a puncture. As a canis familiaris owner, the first footstep is to evaluate the wound because you need to determine the severity of it. If the nail is deep stuck on your dog's manus then you lot should immediately have your dog to the Vet to take information technology x-rayed and cleaned. If you observe just a small scratch and yous are considering treating your dog'due south manus yourself, follow these quick steps:

Wash your easily using soap;
If your dog's wound is bleeding apply pressure with a towel or a gauze;
Make clean the wound of dirt and other debris with running warm clear water (don't utilise soap);
Inspect and if at that place's nevertheless debris on it, clean a pair of tweezers with isopropyl alcohol and remove the dirt;
If the cut is bigger than ¼ inch long (6.35mm) or information technology is haemorrhage nonstop, y'all must get run into a vet considering your dog may need stitches, and likewise antibiotics;
Else, make clean the wound daily and keep it dry. You can use an old clean sock to protect your canis familiaris's paw until the wound is completely healed.
You need to look for signs of infection. If the wound isn't healing and information technology is swelling or your dog has a fever he needs to run across a doc.

What To Practise If My Domestic dog Stepped On A Nail?

Bank check For Signs that He's Hurt

The first thing to practise is to await for signs of injury, trample, or discomfort. As mentioned earlier, the harm might not exist deep or visible if your domestic dog just scratched its paws and walked away. However, this doesn't mean in that location isn't any damage washed. So if you can't find any physical injury, cheque for signs of bruises or discomfort. Here is how to bank check for signs of hurt and hurting:

Wash your hand with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before treatment the dog to prevent germs from inbound the wound.
Take the dog to a placidity place, pet, cage, or try to reassure the canis familiaris before handling the area. If demand be, y'all tin can restrain the domestic dog or ask someone (this should be a friendly face, not a stranger) to help hold the dog while you bank check the surface area.
Gently raise the paws to examine the area. Specifically, cheque for signs of injury, bruises, and bleeding. If in that location are no physical signs, you tin gently touch the expanse to ensure in that location is no harm.
Also, check to come across if the nail is lodged in the paws. Sometimes, the nail or pieces of it might nonetheless be embedded in the paw.

Evaluating the Damage

Once y'all've establish the problem, you have to evaluate the injury. Some of the things to look out for here include:

Is in that location bleeding? If yes, how much.
Is the injury deep?
Is the paw swollen or torn?

Evaluating the damage can help you know if yous should become to a doctor immediately or y'all can treat your dog at habitation. If the boom isn't lodged in the paw and the injury isn't deep, you can first aid as a first response and visit the Vet later.

How To Treat A Puncture Wound On Dogs Paw

If it's a minor injury or y'all can't get to the Vet immediately, you have to follow these steps to treat the puncture wound. Check here for more emergency treat dog owners.

If at that place's any bleeding, apply force per unit area with a clean textile or sterilized gauze till it stops. Most experts agree to proceed the force per unit area on the area for 10 to 15 minutes.
Make clean the area with a sterilized and clean towel/cloth or rinse under make clean, warm water for few minutes.
Dry the expanse with a make clean towel and pat dry.
If you have in your beginning aid kit, you lot tin can applyNeosporin or Polysporin to forestall infections and promote healing. Check here for more information using Neosporin or Polysporin for dogs. You can get both at whatever nearby pharmacy.
Wrap the area with a sterile bandage to protect the injury from further impairment and prevent clay and germ from inbound the puncture. You should exist careful while wrapping the dressing so y'all don't restrict blood flow.

It's advisable to add together layers of cotton gauze starting time and so use adressing squarebandage because it ensures in that location is plenty claret flow and prevents the cotton gauze from getting muddy.

Clean and modify dressing at least once daily.
Reduce pressure level on the leg for the next few days to allow the paw to heal and lookout for signs of any infections.
Visit the Vet for more than examination as soon as possible. The doctor might also prescribe some antibiotics to forestall infections.

When Should I Take My Domestic dog To The Vet For A Puncture Wound?

You should visit the Vet if the puncture wound:

It won't stop bleeding after v to 10 minutes.
If the puncture wound is dirty or has something embedded in it
If the wound is deep
When there are no improvements afterward 2 days of taking first help activeness
When at that place are signs of infections

How To Know If My Canis familiaris Needs Stitches?

Puncture wounds usually don't crave any stitches. However, in some rare cases, your canis familiaris might crave stitches to treat an injury from a nail. It is always ameliorate for the Vet to make up one's mind if your canis familiaris will crave stitches or not, but you lot tin can easily tell from the post-obit:

If the nail is lodged deep within the paws.
If pieces of the nail are embedded in the wound, in such cases, the Vet will need to explore the area and remove the parts surgically.
If the injury doesn't stop bleeding.
If the puncture is very deep.

Tin Dogs Get Tetanus from Stepping on a Rusty Nail

Studies bear witness it is rare for a dog to get tetanus. This is because dogs have low susceptibility to tetanus compared to humans and livestock. And then, information technology is unlikely that your dog will get tetanus from stepping on a rusty blast if you treat it well.

In fact, your dog is more likely to get a tetanus infection from foxtails than from a puncture, co-ordinate to a study washed at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. The study examined 35 cases of tetanus in dogs and constitute that upward to 50% of the cases were probable a instance of a foxtail tract, and 27% were confirmed cases of a foxtail tract.

Are Centipedes Poisonous to Dogs?

Although your dog might not become tetanus from a nail puncture, however, it'southward not entirely unlikely. Information technology's meliorate to allow the Vet determine the possibility.

What Are The Signs Of Infection On Dogs?

Signs of infections are one of the things you accept to monitor when treating a nail puncture in dogs. If not detected early, they can crusade astringent or permanent harm to the legs. Common signs of infection include:

Fever
Excessive panting because of the pain
Pus or offensive discharge from the wound
Puffy or scarlet paws
Depression
Decrease in appetite
Reluctance to apply the legs

Aftercare For Puncture Injury and Final Thoughts

There are clear instructions you lot should follow regarding the aftercare of your dog's injury. Y'all should follow them advisedly for every bit long every bit the wound is open, you meet signs of discharge due to infection or for as long information technology takes for the wound to heal completely. Your veterinary will usually give you instructions on it; they consist of:

Keeping the area clean and dry equally much as possible
Modify bandages and dressing at least in one case daily. When changing the dressing, e'er check to come across the drainage. If information technology'due south clear, information technology means the injury is healing well. On the other manus, thick, bloody, or discolored drainage may be a sign of infection.
Use just clean and warm water to clean the expanse.
Avoid using hydrogen peroxide or any other solutions not recommended by the Vet.

After an injury, taking a domestic dog to a vet is the best practice, but if it is not possible, yous tin appraise how deep the wound is, what type of cloth caused information technology, if it has droppings on information technology, for instance. An early on cess and initiating treatment right abroad may very well avert further complications and help your dog heal correctly and quickly.

Source: https://dogadvisorycouncil.com/my-dog-stepped-on-a-nail/

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