Harvey is going crazy each time he gets up?

[Harv]

Hi there,

We took Harvey for a walk this afternoon and all was well, he was running around like he normally would.

We came back home and he had a sleep for an hour or so.

When he woke up, he went to stand up and get out of his bed and quickly run outside, he sort of scurried out kind of laying low, and kept looking at his back leg.

He has now done this a few times, each time he tries to get up on his feet? He seems alright when lying down but each time he tries to get up he seems distressed, like something is irritating or hurting him.

I thought it might be a bite, but why would he not be in discomfort when lying down?

Not sure what to do, as at the moment it doesn't look like he can walk around without being in discomfort? What could it be?

We looked for a sting or bite, we looked for a thorn or something in his paw but found nothing?

Any ideas?

 

[TwoDogs]

Pinched nerve or joint pain, maybe? How old is Harvey? Did you notice anything that might have caused him injury lately--perhaps he slipped or something? Has he engaged in any strenuous activity that might cause him to be stiff or sore?

 

[Harv]

I wondered if he had pinched a nerve or something like that.

Harvey is just about to turn 3, so is still quite young, so I presume it wouldn't be a joint thing?

He was running around really happy earlier this afternoon, didn't show any signs of discomfort. It seems to have started after he had his sleep, maybe he did something while getting up from sleeping, pulled a muscle of something.

We have taken another look at his leg and paw, he does seem to show a reaction when we touch his paw, so maybe the issue is there, can't see anything though?

He is still struggling to move when stood up and is reluctant to put weight on that leg.

 

[Harv]

Ok, I think we have found out what the problem is.

We looked at his toe nails and one of them is black, not sure if it's muck that has got in there or is actually infected. The whole toe nail looks black underneath though so I am thinking it could be infected.

He also reacts if we touch that toe so think we have narrowed it down to that. Strange how he wasn't bothered by it earlier today?

I suppose we just need to take him to the vet so they can take a look. The problem is we can't get to see a vet until Monday unless we get an emergency appointment.

Is there anything we could do for him now? I presume we should leave it to the vet so they can clean it out?

 

[TwoDogs]

If you can get him to stand for about 10 minutes in a few inches of warm water in the tub with some dissolved Epsom salt, that might help.

Is the nail intact? Or perhaps split? Is the "black" that you're seeing debris or is it dried blood? Does the toe feel swollen or hot to the touch?

If the nail is intact then you'll probably be fine waiting until Monday. If the nail is cracked, broken, or split bad then the quick could be exposed and that would be painful and a vector for infection.

If, after soaking, you see that it is split and you're comfortable cleaning it up yourself you can clip off any excess nail left hanging, put some antibacterial ointment on the exposed quick, and loosely wrap the foot to keep it clean. The wrap is just to keep it clean if he goes outside. When he's going to be inside, in his crate or sleeping you can remove the wrap to let the air get to the toe and help the quick dry and recede. The clipping will likely cause some pain so if you don't think you can do it quickly and efficiently, it might be best to just clean it as best as you can and save it for the vet.

Sometimes the nail back gets bent back or it gets caught on something as they are running and will not break or split but will pull away from the toe at the base. This can be harder to treat and I'd recommend having a vet look at the toe if you think this is the case.

The other thing it could be is a broken toe. That wouldn't cause a discolored nail, but if there was some trauma to the nail, it could have been enough to break a toe too. Unfortunately there's not much you can do about that. The vet would probably give you some anti-inflammatory/pain meds and limit his activity until the toe has a chance to heal--probably have you wrap the foot for a time.

 

[Harv]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

Well having had a good look at the toenail is doesn't appear to be broken or split, it seems intact.

It looks like one side of it is black right up to the root, it also looks like there is muck under the nail.

We did bath it with salt water and will continue to do this until he sees the vet. Hopefully he will be alright until Monday when he sees the vet, he has been up on the couch for the past couple of hours sleeping and getting cuddles, so he seems quite happy as long as he isn't stood on it. As long as he doesn't appear to be in continuous pain I am happy to wait for the vet on Monday.

Thanks again for your help, I will let you know how he gets on.

 

[Harv]

Thankfully Harvey seems a but better today, he us walking about now and again which he wasn't doing yesterday. You can see he is still a bit wary of his toe, but at least he doesn't seem as distressed as he did yesterday when trying to walk on it.

We will still take him to the vets tomorrow, so will see what they say.

 

[Harv]

The vet checked Harvey over today and said he was fine, toe nails were fine, the black was just pigmentation.

The vet thinks he just trod on something awkwardly which made his toe and paw sore, so hopefully he will be fine now.