Split fingernail

Vets only, Non urgent So I let the babies out to go pee and my girl stopped and I noticed she was bleeding. It wasn't a lot, I cleaned it and it stopped. Does she need a vet or should we just keep an eye on it maybe wrap it? Thank y

Hello!  Have you ever cut a nail so low down that it bleeds?   It hurts and the temptation is to play with it (lick it, in a dogs' case) until it's sore.   The bleeding can be a problem; usually it stops.  Licking can sometimes set it off again and can also introduce infection. It can make things sore, inflamed and itchy.  Dogs, frustratingly, tend to use them to walk around on in the dirt, as well. Sometimes a low-fractured nail can be easy to treat, but sometimes they can be difficult, with infection, continuous licking and even bandage complications if bandages are involved.  (I prefer buster collars in general but there are pros and cons with every case). For this reason I would recommend letting your vet treat it, who is used to assessing them and has access to buster collars, pain relief and antibiotics as necessary (never give human pain killers to animals - some very common, innocuous-seeming ones are fatally toxic). As a vet, I would sometimes make a judgement to cut them, depending how far up / how badly fractured them are. All the best and please let us know how you get on.

Hello!  Have you ever cut a nail so low down that it bleeds?   It hurts and the temptation is to play with it (lick it, in a dogs' case) until it's sore.   The bleeding can be a problem; usually it stops.  Licking can sometimes set it off again and can also introduce infection. It can make things sore, inflamed and itchy.  Dogs, frustratingly, tend to use them to walk around on in the dirt, as well. Sometimes a low-fractured nail can be easy to treat, but sometimes they can be difficult, with infection, continuous licking and even bandage complications if bandages are involved.  (I prefer buster collars in general but there are pros and cons with every case). For this reason I would recommend letting your vet treat it, who is used to assessing them and has access to buster collars, pain relief and antibiotics as necessary (never give human pain killers to animals - some very common, innocuous-seeming ones are fatally toxic). As a vet, I would sometimes make a judgement to cut them, depending how far up / how badly fractured them are. All the best and please let us know how you get on.

*they are* at the end, there.  Sorry.